Simple things

I have found out that after having Ruthie it's the simple things that bring the most pleasure. It's wonderful to give her things I didn't have, but it brings more pleasure to me to give her the same things I had growing up. Some would say I am not exposing her to the world b/c we live in a rinky-dink town with no stoplight. It's so small. It's crazy. I live 5 minutes away from the house I grew up in. I adore watching her play in my mom & dad's house and enjoy the same things I did. I was able to take her on their 4-wheeler down in the bottoms and along the railroad tracks. I walked those tracks all the time growing up. We rode 4-wheelers in the bottoms and enjoyed the country life. It brings so much joy to my life to watch her grow and love the same things I do. She ADORES the 4-wheeler, so we are going to make it a weekly thing, probably on Saturdays.

Today we enjoyed the weather! We were outside quite a bit while I had kiddos today. After they all left, we sent Randall off to work and went for a walk, b/c Lord knows I need to walk and lose all this fat. We have to drive into town to go for a walk b/c we live on a dirt road. Ruthie loves to ride in the stroller, so we had to have pavement. My back was hurting (b/c I *thought* I could life something a month ago) and I told her it was time to go. She was really upset so I told her we'd go home and get her bike and head to the park. When we got there, I saw one of my high school friends, and she was there with her 3 kiddos. I had a nice time chatting with an ADULT, while Ruthie played with her kids. I was in desperate need of adult conversation. That's one of the downsides to staying at home with kiddos. We had a nice chat. We had to leave b/c Ruthie had to go potty (imagine that!), but it was time for baths and bed anyways. It made for a really nice evening.

She's out for the night, so I need to head to bed as well. I hope everyone had a good Monday!

I just had to share.....

Ruthie's love for her Bible! My sister's bought her a small New Testament Bible when she was born with her name engraved on it. She watches Randall & I read ours so she wanted one too. I grabbed this one and let her use it for a while. She misplaced it in the house, so I found a similar one that she could use. She LOVES it! She will carry it around and "read" it! While we were at Randall's dad's house a couple of weekends ago, she did the same thing. She just carried it around everywhere. My mom bought her a cute Bible tote bag that says "Jesus Loves Me." I carry a Bible bag to church, so she has to as well. Today, she found the Bible that my sister's got her and wanted to "read" it, so she sat on the couch and looked at it for a while. Here's a photo. Oh, yes I know she's reading it upside down! She's just that smart!

Also, my sister-in-law let me borrow her Veggie Tales Sunday Morning Songs CD. Ruthie adores this cd. It makes me smile listening to her little voice sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children," "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho," "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands," and all the other ones. Those are her favorites. Oh, and "I've Got the Joy"! We sing them all the time in the truck. She is so precious to my heart!

I am loving this weather!

Friday it was a little colder than we all wanted. Since we were having a BBQ on Saturday, we were both hoping it would warm up! It did and it was an amazing day! Everyone came over, and we all enjoyed ourselves. I don't think I have had that much fun in a while. Nobody left too early, everyone stuck around for quite some time. My house was a disaster, but oh well! I *thought* I had enough paper plates for everyone to eat their meal, and cake and ice cream. Boy was I wrong! We had to pull all my plates out, so I had a lot of dishes to do. I don't have a dishwasher, so I wasn't looking forward to that, but it was worth it. We all had a great time! Ruthie played so hard with all her cousins. It was perfect weather and GREAT food! Randall grilled ribs & hot dogs, while we also had baked beans, cake and ice cream! YUMMY! We both wish we could do it more often. We all live nearby, as in 30 minutes of each other, but everyone has jobs and ball games. It's so hard to get together like that. My mom and dad rode their new 4-wheeler over. Ruthie wanted to leave with them, so she threw a fit when they left. "I wanna ride 4-wheeler (which sounds like river)!" She's a mess. My mom and dad got a kick out of that b/c she crosses her arms and pokes out her lips. Kind of like this:


My brother Joe and his daughters Lexie & Josie, stayed longer than anyone. Alisha (his wife) had to go back to work, so he stayed and let Ruthie and Lexie play together. They had a ball! They played dress up and ate chips and ketchup. (Not very healthy I know. They didn't have much.) Josie slept the whole time. It was a very nice evening.

Sunday Ruthie and I went to church. Randall had to work and has to for the next 3 Sundays. That's about the only thing he hates about his job is his hours. He works for 3 days- 7am-7pm, off for 3 days, then works for 3 nights- 7pm-7am, then off for 3 days, and back to 3 days, and you get the point!

Brother Troy talked preached on Habakkuk chapter 1. He started out with Habakkuk's first complaint and said he would finish up the sermon during the night service. It was a really nice sermon. He talked about how Habakkuk questioned God, but never fell from his faith. There is a difference. Habakkuk didn't understand why God was allowing the Babylonians to take over the land of Judah. He said the Babylonians were horrible people and his people knew who God was. God told him that it is worse for a believer to sin then it is for a non-believer. God gave his people plenty of chances. Even though Habakkuk doubted God, he never strayed from his faith. He was always walking in the light.

After church, it was too nice to stay inside, so Ruthie and I walked around and I took tons of pics, so here are a few.

This is a little creek that runs behind our house. I am not sure what these ruins are. There used to be railroad tracks running behind it. Ruthie LOVES to go and throw rocks in the water.
Walking down our dirt road-
Yes, we need to paint!
More on the dirt road-

Almost Friday.....

It's coming, very, very slowly. Friday that is. Seems like each week gets longer and longer. I guess it's because I am loving my weekends now that the weather is much nicer. I am so ready for it to be even warmer. My parents have a nice swimming pool and they only live about 5 minutes away!

I had a full house of kiddos yesterday. It made for a long, long day, but I made it through. It's just much harder when I have an infant with toddlers and preschool age. It'll be even harder if I have one of my own though so I better get used to it if we want another!

Randall had to work the past few nights. Ruthie wasn't feeling well, but she's back to herself. Randall is off today, Friday, & Saturday, but he is laying carpet today and tomorrow for a few people. I hope he can take all day Saturday off b/c we need family time as well. We are also celebrating my sister's and his b-day. We are going to have a BBQ at our house and just enjoy family time.

I have been making my own cards lately and I love doing so! I love to scrap, but now card making has taken over! I need to do a few more layouts to get caught up on 2008. Right now I have one b-day card, 7 mother's day cards, and a thinking of you card to make. I need to be making them right now, but I am getting caught up on bills and blogging, so it'll have to wait. The kids are all asleep, so it's "me" time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday and a long, long weekend! ;)

Random thoughts....

It's been a while since I have posted. Guess we've been pretty busy here lately.

This weekend we headed up to see Randall's dad. We were only able to stay Friday and leave Saturday evening b/c Randall had to work on Sunday. He wasn't scheduled to, but the other guy was going to have to work 9 days, 12 hour shifts in a row. I don't think that's fair. Grandad went up with us. Ruthie had so much fun with him. I had to tell him how much it meant to me to be able to see them two playing together. I don't have any memories of Ruthie and my Grandma playing together, so this weekend made some sweet memories for me. They hung out in the room playing with toys for about an hour. While we were in the living room, she would go sit in his seat, and he'd chase her around saying, "you better get out of my seat!" while she was giggling the whole time! I think he had as much fun as she did. He is so sweet with her. We had a really good time there. We all wished we could have stayed longer b/c we wanted to join them for church Sunday morning, but we couldn't. We will soon though.

Ruthie isn't feeling well right now. My nephew Simon is home with strep they think, so I am praying Ruthie doesn't have that. They both started a fever the same day. Makes me wonder if she does have strep. She is acting fine, just has a low grade fever. I am waiting to see if it goes down on it's own. If it doesn't, Randall will take her to the doc tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be bad. I hate seeing her sick.

It's only Monday and I am looking forward to this weekend. I know this week will be long b/c it'll be busy, but maybe it won't be so bad.

Last night before church, I went and visited my mom and dad. I was cramping pretty bad, so I asked my mom if she had anything. She told me she had some extra strength Tylenol. I went and grabbed a bottle of Tylenol and took one. It didn't dawn on me that there were two different bottles. Luckily I only grabbed one pill b/c it was a Tylenol pm! During church, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I knew I was tired, but I am never that tired. We had a guest speaker who had a monotone voice speaking about a mission trip one of our ladies is going on. I felt bad b/c I kept yawning. When I got home, I called my mom and asked her if I took something else. She asked me where I got the bottle from and she told me it was Tylenol pm. She died laughing. She thought it was the funniest thing! I thought it was pretty funny too. I ended up going to be before Ruthie or Randall last night! Guess I need to pay more attention huh?

Women of Faith Conference-

We had an amazing time at the conference! It felt so good to go and listen to a group of ladies, and one male speaker, speak only of the amazing work of our Lord! I went praying for an open heart, to hear a speech that would help me in the few struggles I am going through.

Friday night, we heard a few speakers, but the one who stuck out was Max Lucado. He spoke of his new book 3:16, which of course is based on John 3:16. He went on to recite the scripture and he said the one word that stood out to him was the word, "whoever." He asked us to raise our hand if we weren't a "whoever." That word does not discriminate gender, race, nor anything else. It's amazing to see how the Lord accepts us all, and shows it in many, many scriptures. He also used the words "however," "whenever," and "wherever." It doesn't matter, He loves you no matter what. He used the story of the prodigal son, and it has hit me pretty hard. I have heard two sermons about the story in the last few weeks. My brother is going through a rough time right now, and I plan on talking to him and using this story to lend him a helping hand. I feel the Lord has put me in these places to hear these sermons, so I can help him. Please be praying for him.

We also heard Nicole C. Mullen, which I have never heard of before. She was awesome! I couldn't understand a lot of what she was singing b/c it was too loud, but it was still beautiful and it brought tears to my eyes. You know it's beautiful if you can't understand the words, but still cry! I am enjoying her cds now!

These were the other speakers we heard-
Patsy Clairmont- Talk about the cutest little woman with so much spunk! She was hilarious! I really want to read her new book- I Second That Emotion
Marilyn Meberg- She was really fun. She had a lot of good things to talk about!
Sandi Patty- Talk about making me cry. She inspires me. I am so ready to read her new book- Layers
Luci Swindol- She was really funny too! She told us how we just need to ask the Lord to help us with our weakness, and He will be there.
Sheila Walsh- Loved her accent! She was real, truly funny, and super easy to relate to. I also want to read her new book- Get Off Your Knees and Pray
Allison Allen- At first I thought she was just funny, but she spoke and just brought me to tears. Her speech was the one that caught me off guard b/c it was something I didn't even know I needed to work on. God works in mysterious ways!

I was lucky enough to share a room with the ladies I felt most comfortable with and we stayed up way too late and had too much fun. Wait, there is no such thing right?! We laughed and got to know each other better.

The second day, we heard even more wonderful speakers. I had an amazing time and enjoyed every minute of it. The crowd was rough, but we made it! Coming from such a small town, I am not used to so many people.

Sunday, Randall and I finally made it to Sunday School. Shame on us for never going, but we both truly enjoyed it! I know it can only make us stronger! During the service, one of the ladies came up to me and told me Brother Troy wanted her to call on me and ask me to say something about the conference. I am not sure if he particularly wanted ME to say something, but I felt like I needed to! Most of you don't know me too well, but I get extremely nervous when I have to speak in front of people. I just say a few things and sit down, but I can't remember what I say. I turn bright red. So, I just kept telling myself not to worry, b/c she won't call on me. She didn't, but she did say, "any of you younger ladies in the back want to say something?" There were three of us, but I knew she meant me. I get up and just say "I wanted to get to know the ladies better, and enjoy myself worshiping our wonderful Lord. We had an amazing time and I heard some speeches that pertained to me." Well, that's what Randall said I said! LOL! I felt weak and shaky. I am not a great speaker, that's for sure! Then while Brother Troy was talking during the invitation, he said, "the Lord will bless you when you are baptized. Then he called on Randall and said, "Isn't that right Bro. Randall!" You have to remember this is a church of 150+ people, and when he calls your name out, it makes you feel special. I feel like he knows there is something more that we can do. I love feeling that way. What a great church family we have!

Randall had to work that Friday night that I left. Ruthie went to stay with Aunt Sue, Haley, and Alex, and she had a BALL! There was no doubt that she wouldn't! She adores them and vice versa! She didn't even cry for us! Kind of makes me sad though. Randall picked her up as soon as he got off work, and the went to visit Pops, Aunt Steph, and they went fishing! Randall said she loved fishing, but didn't quite get the hang of it. She would push the button to make the line drop, then pick up the line and throw it into the water! She's a mess I tell you!

We converted her crib to a toddler bed, only b/c she tried to climb out of her crib! She would have went over head first, but her foot was stuck, thank goodness! She wasn't adapting very well at first. I truly thought she would b/c all we did was convert her crib to a toddler bed. It wasn't a whole new bed. Boy was I wrong. She screamed and cried the first few times at nap-time and bed-time. It was rough, but she is doing wonderful now. After the first night, I thought, we will never make this. She never fails to amaze me though! She didn't even cry last night or today! Here are a few new photos, including her new bed!

First night. Looks like she was excited huh? Ummm....not so much!


She asked me if we could go to the railroad tracks and take a walk, so we did!

Bath time story-

So bath time is supposed to be fun for all children right?! Aren't they supposed to ask for baths, and smile when you tell them it's time!? Well, the past few weeks have been a struggle to get Miss Ruthie to take a bath. I dread bath time now. She went from loving it, to HATING it. She wouldn't sit on her bottom. She would just squat. The water was the perfect temp. I have no idea what happened. I got in the tub with her, Randall got in the tub with her, I put the baby seat in there, and I put a towel down, but nothing worked. She was screaming like something horrible was happening. After I washed her hair and her body, I told her it was time to play. She played, but while squatting. I was stressed out. Finally, thanks to this :
I was able to get her to sit down. I told her George (she LOVES Curious George) was sitting down and he needed a bath too. She finally sat down and gave George a bath! She played for about an hour b/c I wanted her to be okay in the bathtub next time! She enjoyed it after George!


She still screamed the next time we gave her a bath, but it is getting easier. Thank goodness. Last time it took a baby doll to get her to sit down. Crazy times I tell you!