School, school and more school

Lately, that is what I feel occupies every part of my life. Mike started school this January at PUC, which is in Angwin, California, a 2 hour commute one way. Brandon, Mikey and Annika are still homeschooling, with Joshua getting ready to officially start next year. And me, well I am set to "graduate" with my AA this June since I will have only 1 class left.

This new time in our life has brought about a lot of new things. First, Mike being gone anywhere from 5 to 12+ hours a day has been a new adjustment. But with him being gone I am sad to say I do get a lot more done, especially kids schooling, as there are no "daddy" distractions :)

We have also figured out that Bran can graduate this coming December, which means that I might have a college kid. That in itself is funny as Mike and I will both be still in college. We are so excited to see where God leads this amazing young man that we have been so blessed with!

For the official news: Mike has been accepted into the nursing program at PUC!!! He started going there this quarter so he could finish up some generals he needed like a couple religion class and physiology. God has been amazing as his religion teachers allow Mike to go back and forth with them and ask them real questions and better yet get real answers! He was originally not able to get into one class that he needed for the nursing program, but again God turned that around too and is actually how he found out he got into the nursing program early :) Isn't our God amazing! I am continually in awe of what he does for us and long before we think or ask.

Thank you again to all who prayed and continue to pray for and with us. God is truly hearing you, please don't doubt that for a second!!! We don't always know when He is going to answer or how He is going to answer, but never doubt that He answers!

Now, off to get my final going, do a spelling test, get started on some geometry and go through some ABC's and then tonight I might learn more about physiology ;)

Amazed

Amazed about sums it up. On Monday our "baby" turned 17. I know I am just as shocked! For his 17th birthday he invited some friends to go paint balling with him and then invited them over for pizza and a movie. It was a perfect birthday party for him :) Then on his birthday we do what we do every year and that is eat their favorite food. This year Bran chose broccoli soup in a bread bowl and pot stickers.
I still cannot believe that he is 17! I am truly shocked! And yet I think I am one of the most blessed moms out there! He is incredible! This year he is being homeschooled and has been such a wonderful help to me and his dad. Plus, we get to spend extra time with him before he heads off to college in a couple years.
One of the things I love the most about him is how much he can pick on his little brothers and sister and yet love on them like no one else! It is so sweet to see Mason curled up asleep on his lap, Joshua wanting to show "Kuya" how he wrote a J, Annika wanting to play with him, or Mikey wanting to just be near him and do what he does.
Just wait to see how shocked we all are when he is 18...!

Almost the end of garden

I am absolutely amazed at the amount of food we were able to grow this year in our garden. We had so much zucchini that if you invited us over to your house you were bound to get some :) We also had a ton of tomatoes that we have made everything from spaghetti sauce to chili with. We have also had 2 amazing basil plants that are still growing strong. If you want tips on basil I found a great article that gave great information to help ours grow. We were also very blessed to have almost 10 cantaloupe and 1 honeydew melon. I did learn though that if you do not fertilize the melons they will be very small. I had a couple that I called Joshua and Mason size :)
I am already thinking onto next years garden. What I did not like this year, what I want more of next year, how I will water better, fertilize differently, what new things I want to plant. I even want to give the kids a bit of land to grow on.
I am a little sad to see that my tomatoes are slowing down and that there are only 2 more cantaloupe out there. My zucchini is almost done, but I am not as sad about that, lol. So if you are in the area and want an excuse to stop by now you have it (but you do not really need an excuse just knock).

Yup, we are still here...

As always, we have been busy. Mikey, Annika and Joshua just finished a week at Pathways camp. If you have not sent your kids there, boy are you missing out. It comes around 1x a year, but it is the week I set out to do everything :) The kids go to camp at 10am and I pick them up at 3:15 for Joshua and 3:30 for Mikey and Annika. They sing songs, do crafts, have Bible time, meet friends and then they have a big carnival at the end! Mikey and Annika look forward to it all year (and so do I, lol). Joshua had a couple mommy separation times, but after 5 minutes he was fine. He had amazing teachers as did all the kiddos. Now all I have to do is get Mace potty trained by next summer and then he can go to :)
Bran is gearing up for homeschooling. We are trying to figure out programs, schedules, extra curricular stuff and just life :)
I just found out that my last class for my degree will be June 13th, Joshua's birthday :) Which will actually have me getting a degree before Mike, lol.
Hope all is well with you and yours :)

Gardening

Yes, I think I can finally say I am a gardener. Last year we started with an 8x4 boxed bed, where we grew tomatoes and herbs, this year we went bigger. 16x16 to be exact, plus our box :) I am so excited as most of our tomato plants (7 out of the 9) are not only flowering but growing tomatoes. The other night I was able to pick 3 zucchini's and today I just trimmed our sweet basil and Italian basil down. We had so much basil that I took some over to my friend Annette's who offered to dehydrate the rest of what we had. With all the basil we filled 8 out of 9 of her trays, lol. So now we will have dried basil (Thank you sooo much Annette for blessing us). I also have about 15 yellow crook neck squash that will be picked in the next few days and some of the cherry tomatoes will be ready to go by then too.
It is amazing to see how God works everything together, even in a garden. I mean things as simple as the plants need good soil and the worms need good stuff to eat off of and they all work together to grow both.
Lastly, I am addicted to a magazine all about gardening it is simply called "Grow." It has so much information, tips and tricks. I have tried a couple of them and they have all exceeded my expectations. If you see it in Lowes or Home Depot (I can't remember which one it is at) pick it up and take a look, it is a great find.

Can you believe it? He is 4!

Yes my baby is 4, well not quiet my baby, but you know what I mean. I remember like it was yesterday when I found out I was pregnant with him. The fear was beyond overwhelming and God just kept telling me "be courageous, if you really believe this is from Me, then be courageous!" I do not like it when God tells me something I know that is obvious, but my fear is such a mountain it is sometimes hard to see Him. After Noah died having another baby was unfathomable. It is truly through His mercy and grace that we have Joshua.

Joshua asked me the other day "Mama, why am I Joshua?" I told him "you are Joshua, because God told us to be strong and courageous just like he did Joshua in the Bible. When we found out we were having you we wanted to honor God for pulling us through our owies." Yes I know honor and owies in the same sentence, lol.

So here goes my trying to be creative, lol.

J is for Joshua - because God is making him a strong and courageous little man

O is for Ornery - because he likes to push the limits

S is for smiles - because his grin will melt your heart

H is for his heart - that reaches out to everyone

U is for unimaginable - because we never in a million years thought that God would bless us with more kiddos after Noah, boy are we ever glad he did

A is for amazing - because everyday we are amazed at this little guy and how God is using him even though he is only 4.

God is slowly working ;)

I have been praying for awhile that God would help me figure out how to run a house. I know I am a mom of 5 kiddos you would think I would know and yet... I guess it comes from that old adage "you don't know what you don't know." Last night I went with my friend Rachel to a meeting at my friend Amys house. It was a budgeting meeting and in all honest I went begrudgingly. If I had not told Rachel I would drive us then I probably would not have gone. The bottom line was that I did not want to hear it again, I was sick of hearing the problem and the solution, but people forgetting that sometimes (many times) finances are a heart issue. That is where Beth comes in, she is the woman who spoke last night. I had the walls around my heart built up because I knew I would get blasted and yet as she spoke tears filled my eyes as I realized that God was using her to speak to my heart! She kept reinforcing what God has been laying on my heart "In ALL labor there is PROFIT." Now all of you know I am not a morning person and yet I keep waking up at 6:30 which is when I toss and turn and try and do everything I can to stay in bed. It was funny though this morning after I got in bed I realized I have a lot of profiting to do today. So I got my crockpot out and planned out our dinner (sides and everything). Total off note: Another friend of mine was at this meeting and she made a great point that shot me awake (about dinner), know what you are doing for dinner by 9am other wise you will not get it on the table, it will not be as healthy as you wanted it to be and/or you have a higher chance of getting fast food. So ribs are cooking (they smell yummy already and it has only been an hour, the kids are dressed, I am dressed, breakfast is about to be taken care of, then school for them and then go pick up Bran. I know my day will be profitable!
I want to leave you with a story that Beth told that brought me to more tears last night. She explained how she did not have money to buy clothes for herself (her and her husband have 8 kiddos-and you thought I was blessed ;) . As she stood before her closet she prayed "God I have nothing to wear, will you please get me some clothes." Her husband had told her they did not have the money and yet she was tempted to just go buy clothes. A friend of hers called and said hey can you meet me on Saturday. Beth agreed and there was her friend with a huge box (almost as tall as her and about as wide as a washing machine). She opened it up and would you believe it, it was full of summer clothes! As she hung up her clothes she thanked God and then prayed again "God it is awfully cold, could you please get me something warm to go with these clothes you have given me." The next weekend at church someone had given her a bunch of cashmere sweaters that would go perfectly with her new summer clothes to keep her warm through the winter. She concluded with this "If I had done what I wanted too, which was to go take care of it myself, I would have first been disobedient to my husband and second I would missed the opportunity of God doing his work for me, God dressed me and I could have easily missed it."