update

My sister and her family finally got their electricity back on late Saturday night. It was 2 whole weeks that they were without power!!! Can you believe that?

They packed up and went home Sunday evening. I know that they are happy to be home. Now we are trying to get back on track here. M, J, P and A are all in their own beds at the normal bed time. It has been rough getting on our schedule. There has been whining, back talking, arguing, moodiness, and struggles. I can't blame the kids. Their lives were turned upside down for a couple of weeks, I can't expect them to jump right back to the way things were. It is going to take a few days....or even a week.

J and P finally went to school today. It has also been 2 weeks that they've been off because of Ike. They were sooo happy to go back and see their teachers and friends. I am glad that they are enjoying preschool. P's teacher told me that she thoroughly enjoys her. That she is very creative and not shy one bit. That made me feel good for P. It puts my mind at ease some what to know that she is doing well when I am not around. The first day she was clingy and wasn't sure about being in a class without J. She is my sweet girl and has been wanting extra attention from me lately. I have taken advantage of it too.

J told me that he made 2 new friends. He also said that a little girl in his class kissed him. What kind of school am I sending my kids to! Ha ha. I guess he's going to be a lady's man. I can definitely wait on that. He is a sweet boy and is always concerned for others....especially the girls. I was on the phone yesterday and he sat down by me and started rubbing my back. I asked what I did to deserve that. He said only because he loved me.

Mo's homeschooling is going well. We have to play catch up since we weren't doing work while my sister's family was here. But all is well because there is no stress with trying to get every thing done at a certain time. We are blessed and truly are having a good time with this new adventure. I have seen a subtle change in her attitude and attention span since we have begun homeschooling. I know that this is what we are suppose to be doing. Mo is a smart girl and will succeed in every thing she sets her mind to.

opportunities

Morgan has the opportunity, once a month, to attend classes at the science museum. The first one was the Thursday before Ike and was cancelled because of traffic and safety issues. The make up day was yesterday. She was extremely excited about going. I was unable to go with her so she rode with a friend. When she got home she couldn't talk about any thing else but dissecting a starfish. She thought it was fantastic to be able to use the scalpel and actually cut open a starfish....or any thing else for that matter. She explained how they cut one of the "legs" off and saw what was inside. They had enough for each child to have their own. I asked what else she did. Oh, they had a skyscraper class and just walked around was her reply. They didn't see the hissing cockroaches, butterfly exhibit or go to the IMAX. I couldn't get any specifics out of her because it wasn't as interesting as dissecting. My Mo's favorite subject is science. I am grateful that she is able to do this. One of the wonderful opportunities of being home schooled.

Trust

There is a verse that keeps popping up in my life. In my mind, on KSBJ, during services,....you get the point.

It is Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths strait." I believe this is the story of the Wilsons' lives. If we could just trust in our Lord and not try to figure things out on our own our lives would be so much easier. If I wouldn't try to understand every little thing that God throws at me......and just TRUST in His word He will guide us on a strait path.

We're not sure about our paths lately. Todd is out of a job because of Ike. I quit my job the first part of August to home school Mo and be a full time wife and mom. So we are in a tight spot. We have taken advantage of benefits from FEMA but that will only go so far. I tend to let these things consume my every thought. I feel like I have to fix the problem right now instead of being STILL. Laying all of it God's hands.

Don't get me wrong,we are blessed in sooo many ways!! God kept us safe during the hurricane. Our house had minor damage and wasn't really caused by Ike but he made it worse. (a leak in the roof) A tree uprooted and took down some of our fence, falling the OPPOSITE way from our home. We were out of electricity for only 2 1/2 days. We have a home that family can take refuge in since their electricity has been off since Ike. It is going on 13 days that we have had company. It has been cramped and nerves are on edge but we really have enjoyed being with them. Todd's home and the kids have really enjoyed spending all of the extra time with him. I have too, not to mention loving the fact that Daddy's around to help more with playing, corralling, disciplining, cooking, loving, and just being here.

But there is still the nagging in my mind.....how are we going to pay our bills, will Todd find a job soon, what if some thing else happens, we're negative in the bank because we needed things during Ike and thought that we would have money to replace it....now what???!!! Do I need to go back to CFBC for a while until Todd gets on his feet?

Why can't I just lean on God and have complete faith that He's going to lead us down the strait path. Why do I continue to beleive that I have controll over our lives. Why can't I just let go and give all of my worries to God and leave them with Him. I once heard Beth Moore say that our problems maybe above our heads but they are below God's feet. Nothing is bigger than Him!! There isn't any thing that He can't handle.

So why is it so hard then?

can you hear that??

It's silence!! My wonderful, fabulous Mother in law, Susan came over and took 4 of the 6 kids to the mall. They were going to the museum and to ride the carousel. We have had 10 people at our house since last Sunday. 6 kids and 4 adults. My sister and her family have been out of electricity since IKE. My other sister and her family are roughing it too. I ran out of space for any more people.

So you can imagine how crowded and stir crazy it has been over here. So Susan, who is awesome, called and told me that she would take ALL the kids today. I wouldn't do that to her and neither would my sis, Shelly. My nephew,18, went to work with his dad and Addison stayed with us. I wanted some time with her alone, without the other kiddos. But that hasn't worked out because she has been sleeping since every one else left. She needs to catch up on her rest though, so I am letting her sleep.

This is much needed for all of us, including the kids. We were all getting on each others' nerves. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH SUSAN, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!

unwanted visitor

Ike got to our place late Friday night, early Saturday morning. He was like a distant family member that shows up at your house, stays way too long, messes up every thing and leaves with a few things that don't belong to him. No particular person in mind!!

The last picture is our back fence and the tree is uprooted. We are truly blessed!!!!

Praying for all that have been affected by this storm. Love to all.

I know

Yes, I know that all of you have seen most of the pictures in the slideshow. I was trying to post it permanently on this blog but couldn't figure it out. Computer illiteracy over here. I also didn't want my hard work going out the window either, so there it is. Any way, who wouldn't want to see all my kids pictures again. They're so darn cute.

slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Baby Girl

Here is my baby girl. Yes, I still call her that even though she is almost 12 years old. She will always be my baby. Isn't she beautiful???

Mo is the best. I don't tell her that enough and I am working on it. Sometimes I am way too hard on her. Todd tells me to lighten up and he's right. I want Mo and I to have the best relationship possible. If I don't relax with her....it isn't going to happen.

She was the only kid around our house until she was almost seven. She completely embraced her role as big sister to twins...and then to Addi close to two years ago. She is growing into a wonderful, loving, caring, sweet, strong willed, faithful, compassionate young woman. It is happening too fast for me. I want time to stand still for a little longer so that I can cherish her more. Before I know it she will be grown and out of the house. But for now.....we're making the most of it.

We started our chapter of homeschool last Tuesday. J and P also began preschool that day so we just had Addi with us. Morgan did great. We dropped the twinkies off and was back home by 10. We ate breakfast and got to work on her studies. We did have some music playing and she was able to focus on her work. Every once in a while we kidded and played around some. It was a very laid back environment, no stress to get it all done. Mo went at her own pace and before we knew it she was finished and it was almost time to pick up J and P.

I really have a complete peace about homeschooling Morgan. I realize that she doesn't have to sit at a desk all day working on math, spelling, geography, etc etc. She can study about 2 or 3 pages of each subject and take a brake when she needs to. Her attention span is limited and her mind begins to wander if she sits too long on one thing. That is when we do something fun and active. Burn some energy off. Then we go back to school work. This works for Morgan. Homeschool works for Morgan. She is stress free!! I am stress free.

Pillow

It seems like I am always telling the cute, funny things Jacob says and nothing about my Princess Payton. She is the more serious one when it comes to the twinkies and Jacob is the comedian.

Well, she had me and my mom giggling the other night.

Me, " Payton, you need to put your pillowcase on your pillow."

Payton, looking at me very serious, " I can't Mommy. It just won't let me."

Since when do pillows and pillowcases have a mind of their own.......

homeschooling life saver

O.K I have heard a lot of great reviews about this homeschool planner. It has lesson ideas, helpful articles, recipes, calendars...whatever you need as a homeschooling mom the planner has it. I desperately need this planner and maybe you do too.

You can get a sneak peek of The School House Planner.

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2499&zenid=f1538c6589d3ceb21c3d05b06e0117f9

Sorry, I gave up trying to get the cute schoolhouse picture link. I'll figure it out one day.

PS I have a chance to win this awesome planner that would help this hectic, chaotic, unorganized thing I like to call our life.