Mother's day weekend

Dad (Stan) had to go to Montana to pick up a ropes course and for mother's day we decided to send mom along, that way she could have a somewhat quiet 4 day weekend to rest and enjoy not having to be "mom" for all of us 11 kiddos. So they left Friday morning about 8 to return Monday night. I am going to share a few of the things I have learned while they have been gone and a bit about what God is doing in my heart. So here goes!

My amazing Papa & Mama



Alrighty so Thursday night I was listening to a program on the radio driving around doing some errands, and it was talking about being a mom and all that comes with it. I am not a mom but I have been placed in a family with a lot of little people and I should take this opportunity to learn and practice as much as possible while I can, and also help my parents. It is easy to think about "my, me and mine". The Lord was kinda working on me in this area and was showing me some selfishness I had in my heart regarding this area of my life. As many of you know I am going to Haiti for 50 days on June 16th, so my focus has been on that quite a bit. Along with school, the normal daily routines and the things with friends and people outside of my family. And I have not realized how distracted I have been. So while listening to the program I really felt the Lord saying "Katie, you have whole weekend to focus on your siblings and your life at the moment."

Right then I decided that I was going to try to work on giving my siblings my full attention. To be honest it has been a fantastic weekend with them. I told my parents I was going work on training the kids and working with them on obedience and respecting. So we started the weekend off with saying we where going to try our hardest to watch as little TV as possible and to give them the constant attention and time they need. This is not to say that the distractions did not come, they did! I had to try my hardest to turn my attention to the kids. Distractions slip in through the smallest things from social net working to the lists of projects that I have piling up to do. So I tried to devote my time this weekend to the kids! 

Like I already said it was a fantastic weekend! We had all kinds of fun adventures and also lots of great learning experiences for all of us. It also showed me how much my mom does. It is a lot of work. Thanks mom for all you do! It truly amazes me.

I tried to take photos of the weekend and I will post little captions and stories below them. I hope you had a fantastic weekend also!

The 1st swim of the year! May 11th, it was pretty cold but it was a ton of fun and totally worth it. All the kids had a blast and it was really warm outside so that helped at bit with the recovery ;)

Fatty Patty & Rachelle

For a mother's day afternoon activity we made Oreo Chocolate cookies. It was a blast and a fun new recipe! Highly suggest you try it if you haven't.

Amber was having some issues with her horse, so we went for an evening ride to work with her.  It was fun and we got to have some good conversations which is always a bonus! 

Soooo this will be a bit of a story....

After Amber and I got home from riding the horses, Amber went to get Soffie off her chain outside but she somehow managed to get lose. We have not had her a really long time and we didn't know if she would try to get our rabbits or not. So to be on the safe side we started to bring them into the garage but their hutch weighed "a ton and a half"! So instead we carried them into another cage we had, mean while the house kinda got woken up. AND 2 bunnies escaped. Luckily we got them all into the garage safely. Then all of a sudden we heard Aimee say something about a frog. Them Amber and I started our toad hunt, and after a bit of screaming and work we caught it. At this point Ty and Aimee where up, and very excited to get in on the fun. We got the toad in a cage and we headed back to get the little's to bed.  
When I woke up Sunday morning I could hear the kiddos up talking about a huge moth in the house. Which we now believe to be a Hyalophora cecropia. We caught it and put it in a jar. Aimee claimed it for her own and she named it Sissy. Matthias claimed the toad (even though it is secretly still mine) and we named it Billy Cricket. 

After making breakfast, delivering a mothers day gift and some chores we started some "Moth and Toad" research to see what they eat and where they like to live. So the picture below shows us coloring some pictures of our SPECIAL new members to the family :)

Matthias giving me a big kiss!

We are really all just kids at heart! At least I am & I know I always will be.

I walked outside to find these little shoes of Fatty Patty's on the patio. 
It is truly the small things in life that matter.  

Out hunting for food for Sissy and Billy. 

Matthias came inside looking like this. All I could think was you have my heart and grabbed my camera. He is my bestie!

When we where doing laundry together today I put all the warm laundry in a basket and there where a lot of Matthias's clothes in it. He walked up and a pair of his little underwear where on top, he touched them and said "My undies are sooo HOT!" Made me laugh soooo hard! LOL  

A few seconds latter I find him trying to clean him self in the bathroom. There was now mud all over the sink, counter and floor but once again I had to take a photo. 
These are the moments you will never get back.

Chubby dirty little toes on the counter.

Fatty Patty has a hard life :) She is such a sweetie! She just learned how to throw her hands in the air and say YAY! So darling. She also started saying shoes and bottle. :)

Making some dessert with the little's. The cutest conversations EVER happen when working together.  

My 2 favorite youngsters:) Then to find Matthias with chocolate covered fingers trying to catch another moth to add to the collection. Made me smile and wonder what my life would be like without them.

Dinner

Nighty Night! Time for some Zzzzz time.

Today (Monday) consisted of  getting the house back in order and keeping the little hands busy and out of trouble. And A TON of laundry {I think 8 loads}. The little ones went down for an early nap due to that they are exhausted from a really busy, full weekend. And we are taking them out to Ice cream with a friend when they wake up for doing such a great job while mommy and daddy where gone. 

Now this weekend was not easy. There where those moments when I thought WOW there is a ton to do! I found out that there are not enough hours in a day for everything :) But God is in the industry of stretching and working on His kids. I had a few good phone calls from friends, fun conversations with my sister's, and many adorable moments with little faces and cute little actions that made every moment worth all the work.

I thank God for this weekend that opened my eyes to the hearts that we are blessed to have a chance to mold. And we pray that they will someday follow Him and spread His love to others. I LOVE all my siblings and I am blessed to have been placed by God into this family. Thank you Jesus. We are blessed beyond what we could ever ask for, and in ways we cannot see.
Remember friends to look for the small things to impact those small hearts around you. It is very rewarding.

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week! 

Photos of Billy and Sissy to come :) 

Also please pray for me and Haiti. I am starting to get a bit nervous but at the same time excited for it to get here. Trying to live in the moments and not for the moments. 


He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10