our trick or treating group.  yep still growing.

i'd like to say we had a great night......

but between the kids fighting over the wagon, the tired legs, the cold hands, the tripping and falling, and the older kids running ahead......i don't know......even the happy looks on their faces when they got their candy just somehow never really made it worth it......

my last pics of my time with Kevin.  he is in day care now. 

i miss him.

but i don't miss this!

seriously don't recommend trying to run errands like this- 

and i'm not talking about the odd looks you get from people.

i will always look back on our time together as yet another sign of God's amazing love.  for me and for Kevin. :)

shaeya worked so hard on making her own bow and arrow for her holloween costume.  she even formed the arrowhead out of clay and waited for it to dry and then tied it on.  i truly love her independence and her imagination.  

and i love love love finding her notes. they crack me up. 

and you can learn a lot by paging through her journal.....

apparently the neighbor kids mentioned in the above note and below are moving just in time.

too funny.  

and just to clarify- i didn't say she could be his girlfriend when she's 16.  that was her thought....

which needs to be corrected. :)

i haven't broken the news yet that the family is moving.....

and now i have some super exciting news to share.  guess which two are FINALLY playing together???

(for short amounts of time anyway) 

he is growing and changing.  still constantly into trouble, but starting to play and converse- and it's making a big difference around here. 

and does he not seem huge for a two year old???

he is wearing size 4T.  so crazy.

he spends a lot of time in this corner :)

and when there's nothing better to do.......why not strip yourself.....

i love this picture :)

who needs a nail salon, right? 

please don't look too closely at my toes for the next 5 years, okay?

so i have the flu.  the full blown flu.  this is day 6 of pure misery.....i'm starting to feel like i'm never gonna beat it.

and i can handle the fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, and sore throat. the WORST of it- and maybe this is TMI- is that i'm waking up all night long completely drenched in sweat.  and my pillow is soaked, my clothes, sheets and blankets.  so i get up and peel my clothes off and stumble my way into my closet to grab more clothes.  multiple times a night.  

which means A LOT of laundry.  all of our bedding has to be washed every morning.  

and when you add that to the normal, every day laundry of 7 people......let's just say it's very discouraging for a very sick mama.

ok and one more thing-

my kids are going crazy from being stuck at home with me. and i'm running out of ideas of ways to keep them entertained.  everyone is climbing on me and whining to me and needing me- and i just want to crawl in bed and sleep til i'm better.  

and i won't even get started on the condition of my house.  sigh. 

i'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who has stepped it up and has been helping with everything.

the kids and the laundry, homework and packing lunches, wiping bottoms and cleaning up accidents and wet beds, and making homemade soup for me.  

he has decided once again that he does not like my job. 

and i feel so bad for him having such long days at work and then long evenings here at home. 

he didn't get to sit down til 9pm last night- while i laid on the couch with a fever of 104. 

okay changing subjects now- 

i've been wanting to say my piece about the election.  

first of all- i am the most non-political person ever. 

i don't even know who the vice president is. seriously.  i don't watch the news or read the newspaper.  basically i don't know anything about anything.  except changing diapers.

but i do read the Bible and I know that things are going to get crazy as we get closer to the end.  so i wasn't surprised that our country voted Obama back in- even though i did my duty and dragged 3 kids along with me to vote for the other guy.   

but our God is in control.  He is still on the throne.  He holds the whole world and each life in His very capable hands.  He promises that He will win in the end and that's all i need to know.

and i firmly believe that our job as Christians in an uncertain world is to show the world His love.  in the way that we love each other and the way that we love the unlovable.  and the only way to do that is with His help.  WHICH MEANS WE NEED KNOW HIS WORD.  inside and out. 

and it HAS to start at HOME.  

our country is full of broken homes and empty lives and loveless relationships.  

and we have to hold on to FAMILIES at all costs.  we have to love our husbands and children with the self-sacrificing love of our Father.  we have to remember that our husbands are our teammates.  they are not the enemy! they are the ones fighting beside us against the enemy!  

and added to that- we need to help the fatherless and provide homes and families for those who don't have them.  

we need to reach out past our comfort zones and open our homes to show people how beautiful marriage and family is for those who love through Jesus.  and that there is no better way.  

the death of the family will be the downfall of our nation.  LETS NOT LET IT DIE. 

let's turn off the TV and raise up warriors for Jesus who will grow up to be leaders in their own families.  

our children need to become men and women who can stand firm in hard times.  who can do without if it comes to that.  who don't believe that they are the center of the universe.  who live for a higher calling.  who can live with integrity and self-denial in a very evil and self-focused world.

we don't need to worry about the president and the future, we need to put action to our words.  

and to HIS WORD.

and that's all i have to say :) 

i love you all. 

please pray that no one else in this house gets this awful flu!!!!