Straight out of Africa...

Well, my mother-in-law has flown the coop...to Africa. Kind of a long way to go to "get away", but let's just say she has gone with a purpose. That purpose would be to visit Hope Children's Home, in Uganda....innnnn....AFRICA. I still CANNOT believe that she is actually there! This is honestly the last place I would have ever expected her to go, but I just have to say that I am really proud of her for going. We were all a little skeptical when she said she was going to go, because she has struggled with certain fears and anxiety in the past, and has always been a little afraid of stepping out of her comfort zone. But, she was determined to overcome those fears with God's help, and by golly, she did! What an amazing testimony to what God can REALLY do when we just step back and let him take the reigns. She really cast all of her fears on him, and he cared for her. Not to say that getting there was a little rough, but hey, she is THERE and from the smile on her face, she seems to be enjoying herself! I am so excited for her and what God is going to do in her through this experience.
Our other dear friend Julie went along as well, and from the looks of this picture and what Rita said on her blog, she seems to have the same effect on kiddos over in Africa that she does here. Seems they flocked to her and have been her constant companions! She is one of our school secretaries and also the infamous "recess" lady...so she is quite at home playing with little ones.

I have the daunting task of "being Julie" while Julie is gone at the school, and let me tell ya, I just don't measure up! They all miss her ALOT!
So, I guess this post is to remind all of you that God can do ANYTHING if you just give him control of your life. I am glad he forgives me when I doubt that he can do that!

Do I REALLY have to reflect about 2009?!?!?

So I have been thinking that maybe I should reflect about 2009 a little...but UGH. I don't wanna. Aside from watching the kids grow and accomplish so much, 2009 can pretty much go on record as being one of the WORST I have ever had.

We have had more than our share of heartache, trials, tribulations, drama, woes...etc, etc, you get the picture.

BUT, throught is all, God has sustained us and provided for us, which, in reality, is all we REALLY need. RIGHT? His Grace and love is more than enough. I know that some days I have struggled to feel that, but when I put my "reflection" hat on, I can see evidence of it woven throughout. It warms my soul. Literally.
I have a lot to be thankful for...a roof over my head, food in my (needs exercise) belly, amazing HEALTHY children, a great hubby.
Here's to hoping that 2010 will be a BIG year of improvement...in my parenting, my faith, my marriage, myselft... and the list goes on and on.

CHEERS and best of luck to you in your goals for 2010!

Happy Horton Holidays!

Well, we survived the holidays. Whew. We had our hands full hosting both sides of the family this year! Lots of dishes and FOOD!

We started Christmas Eve with the Payne side. Lots of goodies were to be had by all!

New Cowboys and Indians to play with...

MORE Erector Set pieces....

And a REALLY cool projector!
Kendyl got a really cool Sit-n-spin! I remember Jared playing with his by the hour when he was little!
After everyone left...the new Christmas PJ's came out, along with new Christmas books! Always the serious one....

And Mr. Neon Reindeer himself....SO cute!
I had fun making these this year...lots of work, but I love cozy flannel jams...nothing better!
We had to make sure and throw out the reindeer food before bed...
Christmas Day brought presents EARLY (the ONLY day all year that Justin willingly gets out of bed EARLY) and then Horton family for lunch, THEN Grammy's house that evening. LONG day! But, lots of fun.
Some highlights were new Lego's, a new Nintendo DS, OSU blankets for all, books, camping gear and new toy dirt bikes.


I am SO going to miss the excitement of them being young enough to get so excited over new gifts! It's my favorite part.

We hope your holidays were very bright and merry, and that you got to celebrate the real reason for the season...Happy Birthday Jesus!

It is finished...FINALLY!

Well, I have only been meaning to get this post done for um...let's see....about 8 days. Sheesh. Can I get just a FEW more hours in the day...PLEASE?!?!? Things have been crazy busy since December 1st hit, and I am starting to freak out.

Anyhoo, just wanted to share this little project that I made with everyone. I saw this idea last year, but never got around to making it. So, I decided that this year, I was going to accomplish it! I was assuming that it would be super fast, and actually had plans to make a few more to give as gifts...BUT...it took ALOT longer than I thought!

It isn't hard by any means, but all the little pieces of the project are a little time consuming!

It turned out to be one VERY long Advent calendar! Yes, 25 little pockets took awhile! I printed off the template and cut them all out, then stiched them into little pockets and sewed a button on each one. The part that took the longest was stiching all those little numbers on! Wow!

I am really happy with the way it turned out though, and I found a really neat Advent activity to do with the kids..we are a few days behind, but it is fun. There is a little treasure that goes in each pocket, and a scripture reference that goes with it. A fun way to count down the days until Christmas, while remembering the reason for the season.

So, back to freaking out and running around like a wild woman trying to get it all done. Why? I really need to start sooner...BUT...I say that EVERY year. Tis' the season I guess.

Happy wrapping!

Oh NO I didn't.....

Yesterday was a BAD day. I started out the day totally exhausted from not sleeping well, the afternoon was spent dealing with an emotionally draining situation, and then I killed our cat. YES. You read it right. I KILLED our cat.



I picked up the boys, business as usual, and drove home. It was a fairly nice drive home for once. No fighting, some nice conversation. All in all, a good car ride. Until we pulled in the garage.



Let me back up a bit and tell you that, as my Dad so lovingly puts it, we have slightly demented cats. They essentially have no fear of vehicles. None. So we always are pretty cautious while driving down the driveway and pulling in the garage. I let the garage door go up and slowly let the car drift into the garage. And then.....up and over SOMETHING. Horrible noise. Kids immediately CRYING. Oh cuss. I think I just ran over the cat!! What the heck? I collected my thoughts ( all 2 of them) and got out to go survey the damage. I couldn't find Lulu at first and finally found her outside underneath a trailer. Of course, she was hissing and would not come out. When she finally tried to run away, it was obvious that SOMETHING was very wrong. Her tail end was dragging on the ground. Jared is slightly freaking out. Justin has bolted to his room to cry his eyes out, and Travis and the dog are slightly bewildered as to why we are pacing and fretting. What a sight. We finally got her into the garage, only to see that she is leaking things...( I will leave it at that) and her mouth is open 'cause she is gasping for air. Oh. My. Word. I grabbed the phone and called Jeremiah, to try and figure out what to do. Of course, my sweet farmboy says "No problem, I will be home soon to take care of it".....UM......NEVERMIND. Taking care of it involved a bullet, and I knew that the kids could not handle that!



I ended up calling the vet to tell them that we were on our way. Now came the fun part. Loading up three sobbing children and a dying cat, and driving to Carlton...just a few miles away, but it felt ALOT farther than that! Sheesh. Between the cat moaning and the kids telling me that I was evil for killing the cat, it was a LONG ride.



Jeremiah met me there, and I left the boys in the car. We took her in and the whole process was over and we were handed a DEAD cat in less than 10 minutes. Wow. In the spirit of saving money, we decided to bury her ourselves.....JOY. I made Jeremiah take her in the truck, and the boys chose to not go with him to do the deed. He even said when he got home that it was awful to bury her.....glad to know he does have somewhat of an emotional side!!! :)



BUT, even after all the drama....God chose to give us a "silver lining" to it all. You will see the pun I have intended in a minute. He placed an angel of an older lady in the lobby at the vet. She was there picking up four kittens that she had just had fixed, and it just turned out that she had one little male that she was needing to find a home for. IMAGINE that?!?!? Jeremiah, suprisingly, was in favor of it and I was laughing to myself thinking this is crazy! I am leaving with a dead cat and a new kitten!! She just kept asking me to look at this kitten and giving me this sweet "come on" kind of smile....I am such a SUCKER!! I took him out the car to show him to the boys and ask them if they were interested. They all agreed that they would love to have him....so now we have a NEW KITTEN. Oh. Brother.



All in all, it has been a very welcome distraction from the drama of losing our beloved Lulu. They were all over it last night and the little two were fighting over him this morning. Little sucker bit me today, but I think he will be a fun addition to our ever expanding ZOO. I still can't believe I killed the cat, but I am glad today is a new day, and thankfully, it has been MUCH better than yesterday!!



So, let me introduce you to our "silver lining".....WILLIS....



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He is currently residing in our control room downstairs, until he recovers from, as Justin put it...."getting his JUNK taken off" So eloquently put, son. Thank you.

My thoughts are stopping here for a moment...

Yah. Pretty much LOVE this. Enjoy!

How could I forget?

I totally forgot to do a Kendyl is 1 post!!! Can't believe it has been a year already since my dear little sister totally skated pain free (pretty much, anyway) through her labor and delivery of this munchkin. I will say to my dying day that NO ONE should be sitting up in bed SMILING while in labor. NO ONE. You just really haven't lived until the demons of labor have taken over your body and you growl at people like you are SATAN, or you hear the splash of amniotic fluid all over the floor and continue to leak like you have NO bladder for at least two hours. Good times right there. Good times.

Oh well. I guess some people just miss out on ALL the fun. But, the end result is always the same....an adorable baby to hug and cuddle and kiss on.

We enjoyed watching her open her presents and cruise around in her Cozy Coupe, which by the way, has EYES. Kinda creepy.

Happy Belated Blog Birthday Miss Kendyl! We love you!