Busy, Busy, Busy...

We have been in revival this week and on Saturday we took our Junior Church kids on a "field trip" to a local fire station. We had kids show up for the field trip that we hadn't seen in months! (Isn't that how it always works?!) :) We had 27 kids and 9 adults so it wasn't too bad. The real chaos was when we took them to Snappy Tomato Pizza for lunch! (We had called the day before to "warn" them that we were coming so they would be prepared! Well, the boss forgot to tell them we were coming so they were floored when we all came piling in just before noon! About 12:45pm their phone rang and it was their boss telling them we were coming! (Just a smidge late...)

Today we had another "hero" come to speak to the kids! My best friend, Amy Holsapple's husband, Jeremy, is a fire fighter and he came to talk to the kids about his job! As always, they thoroughly enjoyed it and asked all kinds of questions! They barely left me any time for a story! We told the 3 Hebrew children and the fiery furnace to go along with the fireman theme! Today was my last Sunday to have to teach for a while! I enjoy teaching when it is my turn,but also breathe a sigh of relief when I know a have a few months off! (So does my Mom since she has to fight my kids while I am teaching!!! :)
I enjoyed getting to visit and have lunch with my friend, Amy. We have been best friends since Kindergarten and even though we don't see each other often, we are still close friends today!
We are closing out our revival tonight and Brother and Sister Miller have done a great job this week. He has preached some wonderful messages on how to become a better Christian, walking with God, building altars, etc. It has been a help to me and I really appreciate their ministry!
Tomorrow I am taking supper to Gene's cousin, Shelly, who is going through Chemo and Radiation! Please remember to keep her in your prayers as you think of her. She is having a difficult time.

In closing, I will say "Happy Birthday to my Blog!!!" I can't believe I have been doing this for a year already! Time flies when you are having fun!!!

Have a great week!

Memory Verse...

Last weekend we were in the car going over Parker's memory verse. He started out fine by saying "Then said Jesus unto them..." (Here's where he blew it...) "Go West!" Trying not to laugh hysterically, we got him back on track!

We are busy with revival this week with Brother and Sister Henry Miller so that explains my absenteeism! Plus, nothing exciting is going on around here!
Jonathan and I have to sing in a wedding on Saturday and I have developed a head full of gross stuff and a barky cough to go along with it! I may be singing bass with a nasal sound! (I am sure the bride and groom will be thrilled!!!)

We are also in the process of getting rid of his little truck and getting a different 2nd vehicle! I don't have much say in the matter, but don't mind as long as he keeps my payments at a reasonable rate! Anything is better than me driving a pick-up truck back and forth to work! (I am not a truck kind of girl by any means!)

Until next time...

A busy Easter weekend...

We spent part of Good Friday at the outlet mall finishing up our Easter shopping! I can't believe how fast my kids feet grow!

Saturday morning, we had brunch at Mom's at 10am! She fixed a yummy french toast casserole, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and fresh fruit! The brunch is always a treat for us adults to look forward to before the big egg hunt! After breakfast, the kids were so excited to get their Easter baskets from Papa and Grandma! They were finally allowed upstairs to raid the bedrooms for hidden Easter eggs!! Papa hid over 150 eggs and it didn't take them but about 5-8 minutes to find every one! The twins caught on quickly and the race was on between the 6 grand kids! The parents were just thrilled to find out that every egg was stuffed with some sort of candy! (Can you say hyper???)

Saturday evening, we spent visiting with friends and got home late to begin ironing and stuffing the Easter baskets! Shortly before 11:30pm, my iron bit the dust! It "puked" brown stuff all over Parker's shirt and Peyton's pants! I was completely in tears as I had everyone else's outfits hanging there all wrinkled! Jonathan quickly ran to Wal-mart and ran as fast as he could to buy us a new iron before the Sabbath! Unfortunately, when he got home with the new product, it was now Resurrection morning and I had to finish ironing!

Today began bright and early with the kids getting their baskets, fixing food and hurriedly rushing out the door to make it by 9:30am!

Mom had the Thompson's over for Easter dinner... ...and it was also my nephew, Brycen's 2nd birthday! (See Mom's blog...) We enjoyed the afternoon and once again it was time to rush back to church for our little Easter Singspiration! Everything went as planned with a couple of minor exceptions! (Jonathan of all people, forgot to turn his mic on when he had a feature song and it had 5 verses!!!!!!!!) He made sure the rest of our mics were on but didn't think to check his own! Duh... I kept trying to give him my mic during his song but he would not take it for anything! I felt completely stupid so I finally just aimed my mic at him in hopes that it would pick up a little anyway!! He finally realized it wasn't on and about blew us out of the sanctuary when he flipped it on! Another nice blunder was when we were singing the song "Gone" and 3 of us forgot that we were to repeat the chorus! Of course, Jonathan, who was singing bass, was the only one who remembered and "growled" out his part alone! It sounded quite funny so we decided we better join in and help him out!

My house is now a total wreck from the weekend festivities, I have to work the next two days and we start revival Tuesday night with Bro. and Sis. Henry Miller! Busy week ahead!

Sorry for the enormous post, hope you all had a wonderful Easter! (By the way, it snowed here on Easter! I got a picture of it! Does that mean if it snows on Easter Sunday it will snow for 7 Sundays in a row? My Dad says that if it rains on Easter!!!)

Have a great week! Blogging off to try to wind down these hyper kids!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I won't tell you how old she is today but next year she will hit a milestone!!! :) I couldn't make it without my mom and want her to know how much I love and appreciate her! She is a wonderful babysitter to our kids, great cook, great "friend" of mine, and I could go on and on! Our kids love her to pieces and she is spending her birthday babysitting! (Jonathan's parents are coming to her rescue at noon though so she can have some of the day to herself!!!) We are all meeting at Mom and Dad's tonight after I get off work to have cake and presents! Look out Mom and Dad, it is going to get wild again! Here are a few pictures of Mom that I thought you might enjoy! Hope you have a great birthday Mom! Enjoy your nice, quiet supper! (It won't last long! :)We love you very much!
Love,
Jonathan, Karen, Parker, Peyton and Paige
Jeff, April, Kerrigan, Carter and Brycen

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Matching outfits...

I like to get church outfits for my boys that match. Especially since it is difficult to get matching boy and girl outfits for the twins! Parker doesn't really like to match Peyton but didn't seem to notice that they matched this past Sunday morning!
On Sunday evening, Jonathan grabbed a set of clothes and was dressing Peyton for church! Parker was in the other room dressing himself! Jonathan finished dressing Peyton except for his vest and when he stood him up, I cracked up! He had Parker's size 6 clothes on him! He said he thought the pants seemed a bit long! :) Parker had gotten into Peyton's size 3 shirt but there was no way he could wear the 24 month pants!
Jonathan says, "Maybe it isn't such a good idea for them to always match!"

More rescue heroes!

This past Sunday, we had another guest speaker in Jr Church! Tony Shelton and his daughter, LuRhe came and talked with the kids. Tony is Randy Dunn's brother in law. (Randy was the teacher this week as it was my weekend to work.) Tony is a "First Responder" and his daughter gets to do things as well as Jr responder. They brought all kinds of equipment, helmets, medical supplies, CPR mannequins, backboards, etc. for the kids to check out. They gave all the kids color books and stuffed animals when they were finished. The kids really enjoyed it and some of them think they would like to be a paramedic some day! Their Bible hero this week was the Good Samaritan story!

Here are a few pictures taken during Jr Church on Sunday.

Thanks Tony and LuRhe for taking the time to come and talk with the kids about the duties of your job! We appreciate it very much!

A glimpse of single parenthood...(and I don't like it one bit!)

Jonathan flew to Canada yesterday on business and will return to the US some time tomorrow. I have had to work every day this week, due to our mandatory "call time," and my kids have worn their babysitters out!!!
Last night was a challenge getting the twins to sleep as they both just had to be rocked at the same time! Then, at 4am, they both woke up crying for Mommy! Paige has slept through the night for practically her entire life but for some reason, she always picks nights when I am the only parent home to wake up and cry to be held! I ended up with two boys in my bed who both like to sleep sideways and right up against me! (...and here I thought I was going to have the entire bed to myself while Jonathan was out of town!!) :(
My phone rang before 6am today saying they needed me to come into work so I hurriedly got ready and drug 3 sleeping kids with "dragon breath" out of bed and into a chilly vehicle. Off to Grandma's until Mommy could leave work! Grandma had to take Parker to school and drag the twins with her. Papa filled in for Daddy and met Parker at school for lunch and brought him home! (Thanks so much Grandma and Papa for your help today!)
I ran our taxes to our tax man and hurried back home once again in hopes to lay the twins down for a nap. Paige dozed in the car and she refused to nod off again once we got home.
Jonathan had scheduled a 5:30pm hair cut appointment in Franklin, In and was conveniently out of the country tonight! Therefore, I got the pleasure of taking three rambunctious children to the appointment. I was completely stressed out the entire time and was so glad she was running on time for a change!!! I got completely embarrassed when Parker announced to her and the entire salon that his mommy likes to take baths but when she does "she gets hair all over the tub!" I wanted to walk out right then and there!
Like any normal, single parent, we grabbed fast food on the way home and are about ready to call it a day!
Oh how we miss Daddy around here. I am completely bored with no adult conversation and ready to pull my hair out due to being cooped up with 3 wild children!
The good news... it has finally warmed up and Parker is now playing baseball outside instead of throwing a tennis ball at my front door from the family room!
Have a great weekend. I am getting another year older in a few hours... I think I have popped out several more gray hairs this week too!

Nite all!

Happy Birthday Paula!

(Paula and Karen vacationing in Beech Bend, Kentucky)

My cousin, Paula and I are a whole 4 days apart! Our mom's are 1st cousins and grew up as close friends. Paula and I never grew up together but we have some great memories of family get together's and family vacations together! We also have some "not so great" memories like the time she and I were almost kidnapped by a grown man while we were camping in Bowling Green, Kentucky! (Now that is a scary story...) Paula is now pregnant with her 7th boy and lives states away. (I cannot believe we are only 4 days apart and she has that many more children than me! More power to you Paula Ann!!!) We rarely see each other but will never forget those good ole' days of camping together, etc! Hope you have a wonderful Birthday Paula! I was thinking of you today! I thought I would share with you a couple of hilarious pictures of she and I together! We thought we were real beauty queens... :)

(Real babes, huh??? Like my "stone washed skirt?")

Happy #3rd Birthday also to my cousin, Amelia Thompson. Check out my Mom's Blog for a tribute to her!