More Of Branson

so continuing with our branson trip.....

on saturday we hit the town. we did some shopping in the rain (thank you to the kind man who took wren and i in under his umbrella...okay my sister may have pointed him in our direction...), then warmed up by a fire at the fish house where we ate lunch and the kids fed ducks.





from there we went to the sights and sounds theatre and watched noah's ark. it was incredible....i was just as impressed as the kids. and we all got a good laugh over shaeya leaning over to my brother and asking, "who's Jehovah??"



that night the kids were pretty tired, so we put them straight to bed



and then my brothers tried to teach me to play rook....i'd like to say that i totally get it now after 3 hours of playing 1 game, but.....

sunday we had church and then hit dogwood canyon. we took a tram ride through the canyon and saw waterfalls and caves,





and a church made of cedar wood (okay, this wasn't the actual church building- i thought it was a cute place for a picture, but after i took it i realized these were probably the bathrooms- oops.)



then we fed some rainbow trout, and got really up close and personal with some elk, buffalo, and texas long horn cows (or horny cows as tess and tekoa call them.)







we were pretty chilled after the canyon so we went back to the lodge and sat in the hot tubs for awhile. it was rainy and cold, but the hot tubs were wonderful.

that night my dad cooked the fish from the one (and only :) fishing trip, and then i let the guys play their rook. my sister and i joined my dad in the theater room and watched a movie. hidden secrets or something- bad acting, really good message- why is it you can't ever get both?

monday morning we packed up and headed for home.
but, dave and i made a last minute stop at the meramac caverns with our kids. it was really fun. the kids had never seen anything like it and it was great to see it all through their eyes. they could hardly grasp the fact that we were 360 feet underground, and tyden loved the story of jesse james hiding his loot there after robbing a train.
















pretty incredible, huh? and pictures just never do it justice.

and we had to stop for this picture on our way back from the caverns-



and now it's back to reality....
tomorrow i take the lighthouse kids down to the courthouse for our music performance- i'm a bit nervous, but i'm sure the kids'll do great.
then thursday we have a showing so somehow i've got to get this house back in order....

Herman Family Vacation

my family won't be shocked when i say that i don't usually get all excited over herman family vacations.

to me, family vacation means family time. time for all of us overworked and overscheduled people to spend together just relaxing and enjoying one another's company. time for the kids to get to hang out with their dads and make memories together.

to my family, vacation means fishing. 24/7. and when they are not fishing they are talking about fishing. or watching fishing shows on tv.
don't get me wrong, i do enjoy a day of fishing every now and then. like, when it's sunny and 70, and i'm in a boat with a fountain soda and some good company.
but now that we have so many kids- and babies- it's just not very fun anymore. especially at the crack of dawn or late at night when it's dark and cold.

so what happens now is that only the guys fish. and us women stay back with the kids and do all the cooking and cleaning.
.....just not my idea of vacation.

so when my brothers said branson, 2 houses on a lake, i was not jumping up and down...
but i have to say i've been very pleasantly surprised.
the houses are joined and they are beautiful. the lodge has swimming pools, a big playground, miniature golf, and a sand volleyball court- with amazing views- and i am having a fabulous time.
and the guys- i don't know what has gotten into them....maybe all my "suggestions" have finally gotten through- have only taken one fishing trip so far.

here are some pictures from our first 2 days- there's a lot of them, i know, but it's actually a trip i would like to remember....

3 Things I'm Thankful For Today

#1. that Jesus rose again. the girls and i had a good reminder of that this morning when shaeya unearthed an easter basket that had been hidden on easter and then apparently forgotten about.

#2. my swiffer wet jet. when your son grabs his lunch out of the fridge right before it's time to leave for school and brings an entire container of salsa out with it you become very thankful for things like swiffers, rolls of paper towel, spare sets of tennis shoes, and patience. i was also thankful that i was wearing shorts and flip flops because i was also splattered up to my knees in salsa. tyden, me, the fridge, the floor, the cabinets......

#3. sunny and 69. i feel like i can handle anything- 4am and 7am feedings, salsa, puke, snot, battles over clothes, fighting over toys, arguing over newly discovered easter candy, and shrieking (all before 9 am)- when i know we can get outside today and sit in the sunshine.

thank you, Jesus, for salvation, for my children, and for sunny days.......

I'm Sorry, Wren....

i just want to say that i don't think mothers should be held responsible for our parenting skills (or lack thereof) between the hours of 12am - 5am.
sometimes we just aren't thinking -or seeing- very clearly. sometimes we are trying to parent while still being half asleep.

take last night, for example.
i must have slept through quite a bit of wren's crying, because i woke up to dave asking me if i wanted him to go get the baby for me.
i must have agreed to that because i remember feeding her. and then i remember waking up and seeing that she had finished eating and was back to sleep. i remember getting out of bed and picking her up to take her back to her crib.........and then i remember slamming into the wall. hard.
while carrying my precious sleeping baby.

i'm sorry, wren. i love you and i would never in my right mind slam you into a wall.
some day- when you have a baby of your own- you will understand, and we will laugh together about last night.
but until then, maybe daddy should be the one to go get you when you cry and carry you back to your bed......

How Do You Keep A Baby From Shrieking?

the kids are a mess today. and i'm tired.

we've been on overload with everything that's been going on with the house. but, fortunately the worst is over. we pulled off pouring a patio, having a garage sale, and an open house all in one weekend- and we could've never done it without all the HELP. thank you so very much to everyone who came and helped.

now we're just left with odds and ends and cranky kids.

so, how do you keep a 10 month old from shrieking???
any one have any ideas? i cannot handle the ear splitting shrieks she lets out when she's tired, hungry, or bored. nothing seems to work.
well, okay, the problem is that she gets what she wants when she screams. and she gets attention. but she's a baby- i have to give her what she wants/needs. i don't know. what i do know is that she's not a joy take in public anymore. restaurants, stores, church.....can i just stay home?





....way too cute to cause problems, right??

and speaking of staying home......with the warm weather comes the desire to throw the schedule out the window.
no more school, homework, music classes, fund raisers, etc. i just want to be outside hanging out with my kids. except when they're cranky or fighting or shrieking or arguing with me.....then i just want to be outside all alone. :)

like i said- i'm tired. and i have a list a mile long of things i need to accomplish today.
and it's 11:00am, i've been busy all morning with 3 cranky girls, and i haven't crossed a single thing off that list yet.

i'm ready to forget it all and head outside- i just might.....

What Happens While Moms Are Blogging......

Free Stuff....

my easter weekend began with a million phone calls on my cell phone asking me for some of my "free stuff." i was thoroughly confused and trying to explain to people that i didn't have free stuff i had a house for sale when i realized that it was april fools day.
it took about 2 minutes to figure out that it had to be my youngest brother who had put an advertisement on craig's list for free baby equipment at my phone number. ha ha. i had to admit it was pretty funny- and i had a good laugh- after i realized i didn't actually have to answer all one million phone calls.
he better watch it next year.....

then later that day i lost my cell phone- it was lost for almost 24 hours before i found it. i had 21 missed calls. i'd like to think they were from friends because i have so many, but i'm sure they were just people wanting my free stuff. :)

and then i got sick. i felt pretty miserable all day friday and saturday, but i willed myself better so i could go out on saturday night with 2 of my brothers and their wives.
by sunday i actually was feeling better- we had church and then dinner with my dad's family and an easter egg hunt. it was a good day.
all day long whenever i thought about easter and what Jesus did for me i got chills. i've never felt so thankful for what He did as i do now. there's so much i don't know about His plan, but what i do know brings me to my knees in gratitude. i long for heaven. i long to finally be with Him and free from my humanness. i can't wait to be holy- and the fact that He sacrificed so much so that i can be holy is so very humbling.

of course we try to teach our kids what easter is really about but it's hard for them to see anything past the egg hunts and easter baskets.
i asked tekoa what Jesus did on easter and she said, "he died on the cross."
i asked her, "and then what happened??"
she said, "um.....the easter bunny pushed him."
yep, we're doing a good job explaining it all.