Ma-shoo-what?

Have you ever heard of the game, "Mashoonga?" ........neither did we until the Hutt family gave it to Mikey for his birthday. It comes with two spongy swords, and the goal is to hit your opponent 6 times. The game starts off with each player's forehead resting on their weapon. When they both say, "Mashoonga," they draw their swords, and it's game on! One of our children is the Mashoonga master. Can you guess which one?


Could it be our oldest and strongest child?


Or, could it be the motherly one?


Maybe the loving one?


How about old poker-face here?


Or, is it our sweet baby?


Did you figure it out?


Well, don't let ole "poker face" up there fool ya. Emma is indeed the Master of Mashoonga! When you place a sword in that girl's hand, she's out for blood. Emma said that she wanted to play against Matt, I gave him a motherly, stern look and said, "Be gentle with her." Apparently, I should have given that information to Emma. As soon as the sword was placed into Emma's hand, she transformed into the "Incredible Hulk." Her eyes bulged out with fire and her inner caged animal came out!

The bell in the boxing ring rang, and she came out with her sword waving. She immediately wacked Matt in the legs, and then in the gut, the shoulder, back to the legs, and the gut once again. She was better than Luke Skywalker with that sword!

Matt kept telling her to wait a second....



The mad woman continued until Matt was down.....but it wasn't over for her, yet! NO MERCY!


Finally, he said, "That's it! I surrender! Emma, you win!!!"


Mary was on the run 3 seconds into her match. Emma was chasing her all over the yard, while Mary was yelling, "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK!"



Don't let this sweet, innocent face fool you!



She turns into this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suzy Snowflake is here!

IT'S OCTOBER, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!! Look what we woke up to.



Isn't this suppose to happen after all the leaves fall?


(Snowball fight, anyone?)


Mary was thrilled to see the snow. She exclaimed, "Mommy! when Emma and I were having our devotions last night, she prayed for snow!!!" I gave her a blank stare and said, "Really?" She said, "YEAH! I'm not kidding. I wrote it down in my journal under the prayer requests section." I said, "Well, you can check this one off." As she skipped to her room to get her journal, I yelled up the stairs, "And by the way, next time, run all of Emma's prayer requests by me first." :o)

Guess Whose 7?

October 26, 2001, God sent us a gift. Our sweet, little, blonde, sparkly-eyed baby boy was born. (correction: he was born with dark hair, not blonde) Mikey is our tender-hearted, caring child. He is always looking out for his sisters.



Most days, he can be found quietly putting together some work of art with his legos. He also loves to play army outside. Emma was allowed the great honor of being a soldier with Mikey. Annie was the nurse.....

(ummm, someone might want to let the nurse know her fly is down)


Mikey loves football...in particular the Patriots. He is the only one who will sit with Joel through a whole game, and not fall asleep...



Dad and Mom, this is what Mikey chose to buy with his birthday money. He truely believes that he is on the Patriots football team now. He pulled it out of the box, and ran to put it on. Yesterday, he was outside all afternoon, throwing his football up in the air and running to catch it, all the while making crowd noises for himself.



Then, he would strut down the field, head held high, like he just made the winning point. He was having the time of his life all alone, just him and his imagination!




It's 8:00 in the morning, and guess who just came downstairs in full uniform? Presently, he is trying to eat his scrambled eggs through his helmet.



I look at him and wonder what he'll grow up to be. He says that he wants to be "a soccer and a football player, a Daddy who goes to work, AND he's going to marry Isabella." Isabella is my friend, DeAnna's, daughter. We have jokingly said since Isabella was born that our children will get married someday.

About 3 years ago, Mikey and I were in the car on our way to the doctors. "Mommy?" he said, "Does Isabella love God?" I said, "Well, she's a little baby right now, but she has a mommy and daddy who love God and they are teaching her about Him." He sat, thinking for a moment, "What happens if I marry someone who doesn't love God?" I said, "Oh honey, than you will have a hard life, and that would make me sad." His eyes grew wide, and he let out a nervous sigh, "Ohhhh, I really hope Isabella will love God." :o)

Here is his little girlfriend today:


loving God with all her heart..... :o)

Adorable, isn't she?!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mikey. Thank you for adding so much love and sweetness to our family. Someday, we will look back on this picture and say, "Ohhhh, look how little he was." But for right now, I'm dabbing my eyes saying, "Look how big he's getting."
I love you, baby!

Oh Lord, help us raise this little man for you!

Run-away thoughts

Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," delcares the Lord.




I don't know what it is with me, but when the sun goes down and the stars come out, I lay in bed and the wheels in my mind begin to turn. I think about everything from my grocery list to who my children will marry.

I think about my husband.




I think about my children.



I think about what tomorrow will bring...


Sometimes my thoughts are good and healthy thoughts. -thoughts that I need to think about. Othertimes, I find that my thoughts have turned to worry, and my mind is suddently plagued with all the "what if's."

When the sun goes down tonight, and you find yourself laying in bed, with run-away thoughts, I hope you'll thank Him for the things that matter most. Let your thoughts "be still" and think about God and all that He has done for you.


Sweet Dreams! :o)

Annie conquers a fear

The other day, we went to the park. It was a beautiful fall day!




Annie decided she was going to conquer the largest slide...



A little unsure about her decision on the way down....


But happy she braved the trail anyhow....




Just a few more snapshots from our day...












Happy Wednesday, ya'll. -Ya'll? Where'd that come from? You southern bell gals are rubbing off on me.

A Sad Day

The leaves have changed color and they are falling.



There's frost on the ground. We woke up to 27 degree weather. This can mean only one thing...



It's time to say goodbye to Grampy and Grammy. How in the world can 5 months go by so fast? It seems like we were all standing in the driveway, jumping up and down when the motor home pulled in and now, we're wiping tears as it pulls away. The Bible tells us that time goes by quickly. In fact, God says that our lives are like a vapor. I never really thought about that until Joel held up his steaming, hot cup of coffee one morning and said, "Look at that. The steam is just rising up and disappearing. That's how fast God says our life will go by." Time is precious. This summer has been precious. I'm thankful for the family that God has given me.




Emma will miss "helping Grampy work." If I couldn't find her, all I had to do was call Dad and there she was.



It was sad to say goodbye. Annie and I took a little walk together after the huge motor home pulled away. I wanted to just sit on their porch, and think about our memories.



It has been a wonderful summer, filled with blueberry picking, hide and go seek, golf cart travel, cook outs, roasting marshmellows, swimming, toast with honey and gallons upon gallons of coffee.


As Annie and I walked along, she stopped abrupty. She was frozen with fear. Finally she said, "Ahhhhhh, someone took da mota home." Apparently, Einstein missed the gigantic home on wheels that transported her grandparents out of here.


Dad and Mom, when I got to your porch, someone was already there, sticking his tongue out at me.

Yet, another thing that kept the grandchildren and Grampy busy this summer. Catching the chipmunks in the "have a heart trap", and then loading up in the golf cart to dump them at our house was great fun for all. I enjoyed watching them come down the driveway, open the trap, let the little critter out, load back up on the golf cart, and join together in singing a victory tune as they pulled away...only to have the same chipmunk run down the driveway after them. Dad, I think you caught this same chipmunk 5,438 times.


WE MISS YOU!! Christmas is only 10 weeks away, and we're already playing Christmas music.

We love you!!!! See you soon!

BIG NEWS for Mikey!

Last night, Emma came screaming downstairs. She was so out of breath and excited that I could barely understand her. Mikey came flying around the corner, hair wind blown from running so fast down the stairs. He was grinning from ear to ear.





Finally! he lost a tooth! He has been wiggling this little baby tooth for months now. This morning, he was delighted to wake up with a dollar under his pillow. Now, Emma is wiggling her teeth like mad. (so am I)

Becky's Top 10

Top 10 reasons why I haven't been faithfully posting on my blog....

1.) Church




2.) School




3.) Painting pumpkins





4.) Bird catching



(I'll give ya three chances to guess Mikey's hiding spot)


5.) Cheering at soccer games




6.) Trying to keep warm



7.) Music practice




8.) Getting rid of clothes (and ties) that are too small



9.) Cooking nutritious meals for my family



10.) Spending time with the one I love most