H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N

I have something to admit to you all.

I LOVE Halloween!

Love it!

If you know me well, you already know this. I love to dress the kids up, go trick or treating, give out candy...it's so much fun! My favorite part is the dressing up! We have had some great outfits in the past.

• Year 1 - Caleb was a frog. The cutest little frog I've ever seen!
• Year 2 - Caleb was a tiger. Super cute!
• Year 3 - Caleb was a fireman and Luke was a dalmatian! Luke was only 2 months old and looked adorable!
• Year 4 - Caleb was a cowboy and Luke was an Indian!
• Year 5 - Caleb was Batman and Luke was Robin!

And now we have the twinkies... And I'm stressed out trying to figure out a group theme!! This is BIG! This is probably the only year that I can get away with picking something out for them and getting them to go along with it. There will be a small battle from Caleb, but I *think* I can win. But this is the last Halloween battle that I will probably get to win. From this point on I will only get veto power, but NOT deciding power! So this is big...

To the right (above our profile) I have created a poll and am hoping that you all can help me decide. I am also up for suggestions, so if you have one that isn't listed please feel free to comment and let me know.

I am so excited... This is keeping me up at night!

This is going to be so fun!!!!

H, A, DOUBLE L, O, W, DOUBLE E, N - Spells Halloween!

Big Daddy is comin' home!

Can I get a...D
Can I get a...A
Can I get a...DDY
What does that spell???
DADDY!!!

The Love comes home today after having been gone for the past month and we are super excited!!! Well, I should re-phrase that. Caleb and I are excited, the girls have no idea what they hay is going on, Titan will be thrilled to get some lovin' again and Luke is... well, Luke is mad. He doesn't want Daddy to come home and is mad that he left. I have a sneaking suspicion (ooh, that was fun to write!) that he will warm up once the Daddy gets off the plane with a gift for the young lad. Luke and I are very alike...gifts always save the day!

It has been hard with Joseph gone, but not near as bad as it has been in the past. The first time was for 6 weeks and I was so prego with the twinkies, uncomfortable and it was our first time apart for any length of time.

The second time was for 5 weeks and the girls were only a month old when he left and not sleeping through the night. That was painful and we had people here to help! Not a good time!

Now this time was for 4 weeks and it wasn't bad at all. I am growing up and learning to do this on my own. We don't need Joseph. We love and appreciate him. That probably sounds weird. But Joseph will know what I mean. I have always been overly reliant on Joseph and could barely muster a day by myself without needing him to come and save the day. Way too dependant on Joseph and not trusting enough in myself. The tide is changing and that is a good thing for all of us! God is growing me and I am becoming more reliant on Him and less reliant on The Love. With all that said, I can't wait to see him and have missed him mucho! This place is not the same without him...there's less laundry to do - Kidding! (sort of) ;)

Brothers

These two crack me up.
They fight like crazy these days. Over everything. It's making me crazy!! All I hear all day is, "He's not sharing" or "he hit me" or "he didn't say he was sorry" or "I had it first" or "that's not fair"... UGH!! The quarrelling is out of control and I am trying different methods to deal with it. I don't want to ignore it or be lazy in dealing with it. I want to raise boys who love, respect and care about each other. I am constantly talking about being a servant, being kind and using words that build up, not tear down. All that takes so much patience and is exhausting. They are boys (and kids) and are aggressive, physical and easily frustrated and angered. They would much rather use their fists (or their feet!) than their words. But I feel like if I give them the tools on how to handle conflict now, it will set a foundation that will be invaluable in the future. I have to remind myself of that often.
With all that said, though, they do love each other. They don't like to go anywhere unless the other one is going too. The pictures above were taken before the kids went to school the other day. Caleb picked out Luke's outfit, helped Luke get dressed, combed his hair and helped him brush his teeth. They giggle together, help each other and I love hearing them talk to one another - especially when they are talking nicely!
Caleb named his blog "I love my brother" and recently blogged about Luke.
Have patience Sabrina. As Joseph says about parenting, "This is a marathon, not a sprint."

*SIGH*

I made a slide show and then saw that if you scroll down to the end of this page (or click here) there is another slide show that I made almost 2 months ago...the girls have changed so much! It's going by way too fast!!! Check it out...

Check out my Slide Show!

Daniel- week 2

We finished week 2 of our Daniel study and what I learned is twofold. First of all, God is in charge! Secondly, it's not all about me! The first one was easy to believe, but the second thing I learned was not so easy for me to believe. (What! The whole world doesn't revolve about me?! When did that happen?)

When explaining the meaning of "providence", Beth quotes
Harper's Bible Dictionary as saying, "This God has a plan and purpose for us in this world. Providence is not a principle of orderliness or reason; rather, providence is the will of the Creator who is actively involved in moving his creation to a goal. History is not a cynical process of repetition; history is being moved toward the predetermined end."


Beth goes on to say, "A thesaurus might use words such as fate, chance, and luck as synonyms for 'providence' but those words find no room in the divine definition. God's providence is intentional and purposeful. God's sovereignty and providence mean that He does what He pleases to accomplish His goals; and, He is pleased to involve us in His process. Afterall, His entire point in creating us was to involve us in His life."

NEWS FLASH SABRINA: God created you to be involved in His life, not the other way around! God is the focus, not you! All the things in your life should revolve around Him, not you!

I also liked her point that God is here and dwells among us. Exodus 25:8 & John 1:14 remind me of the song, "Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy. Tried and true. With thanksgiving, I want to be a living sanctuary for you."

Week 2 was a very good reminder that although the God we serve is a big God, he is also a God of detail (Matt. 10:13) and cares about the details in our lives.

We did the video for week 3 and I am VERY EXCITED about it... Looks super yummy!!!

Random Ramblings...

I just read a great devo by Chuck Swindoll on Micah 6:6-8. Micah 6:8 is actually one of my favorite verses. Micah was cool and my kind of prophet. You can check out the devotion I read today. Good stuff!

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I have to tell you some cute things that Luke has said recently. Hehe...

1. "My stomach hurts...I think I need some M&M's."
2. (After telling Luke how proud I am of him, what a big boy he's becoming, how much I love him) "Tell me that again mom."
3. (After telling him that again) "But you're not proud of Caleb right?"

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We finally found a church that we like. I think that is the hardest part about being military is that it takes about 1 year to get settled in, which is a long time, and then you have a year or two to enjoy the places you have found before it is time to move again. Finding a church and a group of friends is ALWAYS the most painful. This time we thought that we wanted a church with lots of "programs" for the kids. Well, we found one that has an amazing children's ministry, but it lacks on adult studies/fellowship. It was huge and really hard to get involved in - unless you wanted to work in the children's ministry every Sunday! Good church, not for us.

Thankfully we have found a church that we like! I was able to take the kids by myself on Sunday and had so many people offer to help me. We haven't been there very long and people recognized me (by name!) and stopped to chat. The boys like their classes better than the big "programs church". I think Caleb was feeling lost in the big church and feels better in this smaller church. This church doesn't have many "programs", but it does have community, fellowship and bible teaching. We'll take that any day!

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The kids and I are having our first family sleep over! Kellie's hubby is on call and won't be home until tomorrow so we thought that since we are both home alone we might as well be home alone together! We're gonna put the kids down and start working on our scrapbooks!!! Super excited!

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One of my friends here, Julie, is a personal trainer and going to work with me!!! I need to get back on the program. I fell off the wagon and need to get back on! Just in time for the Holidays!

Well, I have no idea why I can't sleep this morning and have just spent this time on the computer! It's 7:30am and all my children are sleeping!! Shouldn't I be too?!!?

Soccer Mom - PART 2

As I am getting ready for soccer yesterday, Luke the Bear is following me around whining. I have no idea what he is whining about since I am trying to get all the gear (cleats, sock, shin guards, formula, bottles, water bottles, oh - and let's not forget the kids!) into the car - whining is the last thing on my list of issues to deal with at the time. So after a while I think the whining was getting on Caleb's nerves because I hear him say, "Luke, Mommy only has 2 hands and 4 kids. You need to be patient."
I find 2 things humorous about his statement. 1.) I must say this often because he repeats it often. 2.) Caleb only reminds Luke of this when Luke is the one whining. I've never heard him remind himself!

In any case, the pictures above document my situation: a mom with 4 kids, 2 hands and a hubby that was working and unable to attend the first practice! I was the queen of multi-tasking yesterday. I was running the soccer field and trying to encourage Lukie (who isn't a follower) to follow the other kids and the coach, I was feeding 2 babies, trying to take pictures of Luke's first practice, answer 1000 rapid fire questions from Caleb and let's not forget the well meaning stranger who all want to comment on our, uh-hmm, situation. Yep, it's no wonder The Girlfriends are stuck in their seats drinking a bottle that is propped up with a blanket. At least they're getting fed right?

It's only just begun!

Luke barely made the cutoff for the 3 year old league and started soccer this year. He is sooo excited! He has been watching his big brother play for the past 2 years and is thrilled that he is getting shin guards, cleats and his very own soccer shirt. Actually, I think that thrilled would be an understatement. I'm not sure I will ever be able to get him out of this outfit.
He did pretty well at his first practice. He watched from the sides and didn't want to participate right away, but soon warmed up and jumped right in. His coach's name is Coach Diego...that was quite exciting for his as well. Coach Diego seems like the perfect coach to have for your first year of soccer. His only expectations are that they are all running the same direction and they try not to use their hands. Realistic expectations for 3 year olds. I'm impressed.
Doesn't my boy look cute?!

And here is Caleb in his 3rd year of soccer. I wasn't able to go to Caleb's first practice and am really bummed about that. It was crazy enough to take all the kids by myself to Luke's practice, and then Caleb's practice time was 3 hours later. Miss Angela, and her hubby Dan, took him and he seemed just fine with that. Apparently the coach noticed how good Caleb was and commented that he must have played last year. Caleb has been looking forward to soccer all summer and was tickled to get his new uniform.

I now know what it is like to be a soccer mom . I thought that I knew what it would feel like 2 years ago, but looking back it was easy then. Now it is getting tricky with 2 kids playing, different days for practice and different time games on Saturdays. We will be spending lots of time at the soccer field this fall.

Luke The Mars

Little Buddies

Here is Lukie with his friend Luke "the Mars". His last name is LaMar, but the boys both say "the Mars" and I think that is so adorable. Luke the Mars mommy is the reason that Joseph says I am sane these days. She is amazing. Its kinda funny how we know each other...
I have a friend that I knew in DC that would always talk about her friend, Kellie. Then one day I got an email from this Kellie and she was moving to Minot, so I gave her some people to look up, a church we went to and my OB I used there. Well, she hooked up with all those people and made good friends with my friends in Minot so I would occasionally hear about Kellie from them. A couple of months ago Kellie moved to Texas and looked us up. We met and now I won't let her have a minute of peace. She has been one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time! I love her, love her, love her. As I get older and have more children it is becoming increasingly harder and harder to find friends than it used to be when I was younger. So when I find one I latch on like leach... Poor Kellie.

I have a crush

It's one of those I-love-you-from-afar-and-can't-take-my-eyes-off-you crushes.

It may be more than a crush...it might be true love. My heart skips a beat when I see you and if we are in the same room I feel like I can't breathe. I daydream about you and think of all the ways I would love to explore you. There are people in my life who try to keep me from thinking of you (MOM & JOSEPH!) but all that does is make me want you more! True love CANNOT be kept apart.

Many of my other friends had had a fling with you and say you are worth it! They will never be satisfied by another.

Will I ever need anything else in the world? I think not.

I want to share with everyone who my crush is, but I'm not sure that I can even speak your name without getting faint. I will try...

D.....

Dys....

(I can do this - I know I can!)

DYSON!!!!
Magnificent....
One day I may get to experience, but until then I will just dream.

Stop the Clock!!!

This is going by way too fast! The girls are 4 months old as of yesterday. I can't believe it. They are so cute and I am totally in love with them. Seriously, I look at them and want to squeeze them so tight. Please don't call CPS on me, but I am so in love with them I want to EAT THEM!!!
I remember there was a time when I was prego with them and I asked, "What if I don't love them as much as I love the boys?" And now I look back and think what-was-I-smoking?!?!? Look at them. How could I not love these little dolly faces?!?! Take a deep breath Sabrina. Have I mentioned that I think this is going by way too fast yet?

This is their abbreviated "tummy time". They still hate being on their tummies, but will tolerate it if the boppy is underneath them.

Don't they look so much alike in this picture? Whoever is on the left is showing off their spitting up technique!

Kids these days!

For the past couple of months, Caleb has been asking me to start a blog for him. I have put him off and put him off until finally I helped make him a blog. He's too cute! He wanted to name the blog "I love my brother". When I asked him what he wanted to put on his blog, he thought about it for a moment and said "pictures of my brother". Then when I asked him what he wanted to name his blog he came up with "I love my brother".

You can find a link to his blog on the left. Check it out and leave him a comment. He'll get a kick out of that!

*Everything on there is exactly how he said it.

To homeschool or not to homeschool...this is the question!

Never say never.

5 years ago, back when Caleb was first born and I thought I knew everything about parenting, I would have laughed if you would have told me that I would be considering homeschool as an option for our family. And here I am 3 kids later, more experienced in parenting, sure I know nothing about what I'm doing, and considering homeschooling.

I have been putting this whole question of school on the back burner and I have to make a decision this year. Caleb was eligible for kindergarten this year, but we held him back because if his late birthday, because I wasn't sure if I wanted him to go to a public school, private school or if we wanted to homeschool him and because I wasn't ready to send him off yet. Well, the time is quickly approaching.

This is such a huge decision that Joseph and I have to make. Joseph would love me to homeschool, but would never make me do anything and knows that whatever we chose I will be the one with the responsibility to see it through. So he is letting me make the decision and wants to support me 100%. So much pressure.

I have been praying about it and still find myself so fickle. Last week I wasn't going to homeschool for anything and this week I'm so excited at the idea of it. Joseph and I did set a date by which we have to make a decision. December 14. Less than 3 months. I'm terrible with deadlines...

I'm SURE there will be more to come on this subject.

Naughty, Naughty, Naughty!

If you have been reading our blog for a while you will have probably noticed that Ella Grace tends to be the more cantankerous twin. Until recently she has been the one to fuss more, not sleep as well and just get an all around bad rap compared to Lily Kate. Well, the tide is changing! And with it we are finding out that Lily Kate is definitely a little devious when our backs are turned! Here is the proof.

Aww, how sweet right? WRONG! If left in this position Silly Lily will wake up and start kicking her sister in the face. She has been caught red...footed many times!!! I guess this is when we should be thinking about moving them into different cribs, but I'm not sure that I am ready for that. I may not be ready, but it looks like Ella may be!

Sometimes I have to take a deep breath...

..when it hits me I have twins!

Tonight I went to my Mother's of Multiples meeting and suddenly out of no where I realized that we actually have twins. Two babies were in my stomach causing drama. TWO!
I know at this point you are probably thinking I need to be committed, but there really are times when I am quite overwhelmed with the idea of 2 babies. So I think I block it out. And then there I am in a room with women who are all in the same boat as me (2 ladies had 2 sets of twins!! I'm not in that boat!) and it dawns on me what we all have in common - knowing what it is like to have had more than one baby in our belly and knowing the day to day issues of having more than one baby. Although I didn't know these women I was oddly comforted by them. It was weird. And I sound weirder (is that a word?) trying to explain it. So I won't any more. Because heaven forbid anyone think I am any weirder (there's that word again!) than I already am!
At the meeting tonight they had a panel of adult twins talk about their experiences being twins. It was quite interesting.

Then I come home to find my 2 darling boys up to NO good! First of all they were still awake at 9:25 and that was issue number one. Issue number two was that had some how gotten their hands on rope and had tied it all over the place (including the door knob) and it looked like a spider's web in there. They hung clothes up on the rope to make a tent, so actually it looked more like a refugee camp than a spiders web or tent!
Question 1 - where in the world did they get rope?
Question 2 - were those clothes clean or dirty??

DANIEL - week 1

We just finished week one of our Daniel study and it was delicious!!! One of my favorite quotes of Beth this week was:

"While Babylon did everything it could to indoctrinate their minds and steal their souls, God granted the young men His own knowledge and understanding in every matter. In other words, whatever Babylon taught them, God interpreted to them. They learned the language, literature, and customs all right, but only so God could use them in the midst of it. They read the language of their culture with the lens of God. Thereby, they became culturally relevant without becoming spiritually irrelevant. Against all odds, they retained a God-centered worldview so that ultimately the world could view their God. Amazing." (Bold print was my addition.)

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I especially love this as a prayer for my kids. Replace "Babylon" with "today's culture" and this is the perfect thing I want to pray for my family. I so want our kids to be bright lights in the world, boldly sharing their love for their Savior. The desire of my heart is that my family is always finding ways to reach out to the lost people all around us without becoming lost ourselves. Huge prayer...reaching the ears of a HUGE God!

A first and hopefully LAST!

A couple of my favorite things about our neighborhood are that my kids can ride their bikes in the street and that they have lots kids their age to play with. I love sitting outside and watching "the gang", all on their bikes, standing around talking. They look pretty intense and I am always super curious as to what they could have to talk about with such serious looks on their faces. (Especially since between the 7 of them they have, maybe, 30 years of life experience!) I am such a nosy mom and I'm afraid I need to reign that way in prior to the kids starting high school. My mom was so nosy *don't deny it mom* and it drove me crazy as a teenager. I don't want to be, but I am just a curious person. And only curious about other people's business.
I digress...Most of the kids in "the gang" are good kids, but there is this one little boy that is...different. And when the boys are playing with this "different" child I have to be more vigilant about what they are doing and how they are talking to each other. Tonight was NO exception.
The "different" child was riding his bike over a water bottle that he drank from and then threw on the ground (I'm now adding "litter bug" to his "different" status). My kids started riding their bikes over the water bottle too. It was going well for a while. Until Caleb's front tire caught the water bottle in an odd position and stopped the bike suddenly, throwing Caleb over the front of his handle bars. He did a somersault in the air and landed on his right arm. When my kids get hurt I usually wait to see what their reaction is before I speak, but a gasp slipped out of my mouth this time. Caleb looked up at me, with big eyes, when he landed and at first started to say how cool that was. I think it was at this point that the pain settled in, his smile turned upside down and his face crumbled into a cry.
In typical, dramatic, Caleb fashion he asks, "Am I bleeding everywhere?"
To which I respond, "No Caleb. There isn't blood anywhere."
"Well, this is why I have to wear a bike helmet," was his crying response.

I am a pretty laid back mom. Especially compared to "the Hovercraft" - the loving nickname we have given my hovering mom. I don't want my kids to get hurt, but I do want them to be boys and learn from their mistakes. With that said, I am a stickler for the bike helmet. I'd make my boys wear one everyday and everywhere they went if it weren't for fear of them being labled the "special child". I have no idea why people have to label kids!!! ;)

I heart you Babe!

*Photograph by Caleb Photography*

Supermom...or Supercrazy!

There was once a time in our marriage that I could barely handle 1 child, didn't know how a lawn mower worked and had never taken out the trash a day in my life.

And my, how things change in 5 short years! And how I've changed in 5 years!

Tonight I mowed the lawn (while playing referee to the boys and keeping an eye on the girls), fed 4 kids, bathed 4 kids and put 4 kids to bed on my own.

And all that was done in 2 hours.

I'm pretty impressed with myself! It would all be more impressive if I hadn't run out of gas on the home stretch. Oh and if I knew how to use the edger... That might take me 5 more years!

Picasso Ain't Got Nuttin' On The Mad Boys!

I have been wanting some of the kids art work for our playroom walls, so we decided to have some friends over to paint and play. It was a blast and the kids did a great job painting. I was especially impressed with Caleb's work...

Caleb is intensely at work on his creation. I was quite surprised at how great his airplanes came out...didn't even know he could paint airplanes! (That child continues to surprise me every day!)

Cute curly haired boy!

And then there is sweet Lukie...all he wanted was black paint and had NO interest in any other color...

and somehow the paint always ends up on that cute belly!

The Masterpieces hanging out to dry

Caleb's completed airplane drawings. Isn't he amazing?!?!

The Mad Kids!

Caleb is so in love with his sisters! It is adorable. He always wants to hold them, kiss them and talk to them. I pray that he is always a great brother to his baby sisters and is always as protective and loving towards them as he is now.

Daddy getting in on the cute action!

The Brothers and The Sisters! I love them! Are they not the cutest?!? Isn't that so much fun?!? I honestly couldn't have planned it better and feel so blessed to have these kiddo's! Okay enough gushing...

back to reality! (I love the looks that the girls are giving Luke the Fusser!)

Portrait of a Stay-at-home Daddy

Yeah, so I ask Joseph to watch the girls for me the other day and above is what I find when I return. This is his idea of "watching the babies". If ONLY that were how I spent my days!

Ella's Deep Thoughts

"I think, therefore I am."

East to West

There is this song I absolutely love, by Casting Crowns, called "East to West". It reminds me how far God had brought me from my lowest point in life. There are many, many times that I need to be reminded because I often feel as though there is so much that I want to change about myself - so many things I can't stand about myself. So much sin & "yuckiness" in my heart. How could God ever love me? I see my past & present sins and have a hard time loving myself...I often leave my sin at the cross and then turn to pick it up again.
Yeah, I love this song. It reminds me that he has removed my sin as far as the east is from the west. Leave that sin at the cross Sabrina. And become the new creation that God wants you to be. "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)

"East To West"

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other

Laughter...or something like it!

The Girlfriends started laughing this past week. Actually they giggle more than laugh. Okay, maybe it's more like deep grunting. Whatever it is it's stinkin' cute!! Lily Kate is especially ticklish! I have yet to capture a good picture of them both smiling at the same time, but here is a good one of them smiling separately.
Aren't they SO YUMMY?!?!?

Boys and Bungee cords

My boy love bungee cords. Love them. And find many interesting uses for them. Most of those uses I would NOT recommend! Number one on the list...bungee tying your baby brother to his bed. Probably my fault since I am telling Luke that if he gets out of his bed I will tie him to it. These two crack me up.

Thank God for bike helmets!

First thing I noticed when I saw this picture - no shoes. And this child is constantly complaining that his socks have holes in them. Well, put some shoes on!