Finished with school and still alive!!!

We finished our first year of homeschooling today, only by the grace of God!!! We did it! Despite everything-all the negative comments homeschoolers face (some of which are deserving because no form of education is perfect), the doubts of so many (including myself at times), the many days I called A and said I can't do this another minute, 3 other children who needed my attention (and lots of it), the temptation to do other things, piles of laundry, piles of dirty dishes, satan telling me I was failing, and for the second part of the year me being sick and many days not being able to teach WE MADE IT! As with every part of my life, God has seen me through every minute and blessed with incredible friends to support me and help me through this new journey. I now have a 6th grader! WOW! We are still taking this on a year by year basis and seeking what God would have us to do. I have enjoyed getting to know Elleigh better. I know that sounds strange because she is my daughter but when you spend as much time together as we do, you learn a lot. I am thankful for all that God has taught ME this year!

Today Elleigh was taking her final unit tests and I walked by her room and this is what I saw. Too funny! I tried to get a good shot but it was a little hard, from left to right, top to bottom, they read, "Don't Disturb", "Attention do not come in. I am in crucial finals", "It's the last day of school", "Leave students alone", "Crucial time", and "DO NOT DISTURB" Think she didn't want to be disturbed??? She told me that I had to say that she does have better handwriting than this!

David COOK!!!

It was a happy night in the Hall house!!! David Cook pulled it out!!! We have liked American Idol for several years now but we were the most into it this year. Even Aaron was into it (and he usually is not) but he liked David Cook a lot (the rocker!) He was my pick from the very beginning. Elleigh and I were screaming when they said David Cook and then I of course cried. I was already crying and then when his mom joined him on the stage it was all over. IT WAS GREAT!!! This video was my favorite performance of his. I am not sure it was his best but I love this song so when he sang it that was just the icing on the cake! We can't wait for his first album!!!

TMI??? Probably, but here it is...

The events from yesterday (all within about an hour) are too good not to share! First, I walk into the bathroom to see about Sallie and Lizzie is trying to wipe her bottom-Sallie's bottom that is! Thankfully Sallie had only tee teed so there was nothing there but it was funny after I made sure there was nothing there. Sallie of course was letting her do it and laughing at her! I am thinking Lizzie can potty train if she can wipe her 6 year old sister!!! Thankfully it was not a mess as I first envisioned when seeing what was happening. However, our next event was a mess! I went in to get Millie up from her nap and yes, she had done it-the dreaded taking their diaper off while it is dirty! I remember that Elleigh never did that (not surprising) and when Sallie did it the first time I thought I was going to throw up! This is now the second time Millie has done it and this time was not as messy but messy enough. So, I am trying to clean her enough to get her in the bathtub and I tell Ell to start some bath water and bring me a wipe. I wait and I wait and I say "Elleigh, I need a wipe" and she replies, "I'm coming but someone has pooped in the bathroom floor." WHAT??? You have to be kidding! I just shake my head and move on. Poor Elleigh should have no surprises when she is a mama! We were POOPED by the time the day was over!

LOVIN' this weather!

The weather has been great the past couple of days and it has been so nice to be outside. We better enjoy before the Texas heat kicks in (like by mid week). I was thinking today about how I was pregnant the last 2 summers so this summer will be much cooler! They are both worth every bit of the sweat!!!

We got the sprinkler out and Lizzie decided she needed to watch from the deck because as her daddy said, "sugar will melt!" We both know better! But, if you know Lizzie you know that is probably what she is thinking!

Sallie right in the middle of the action-that's Sallie!

We are so excited about our summer. Spending days outside having fun and ending the day with something on the grill! Of course Elleigh says that we will not be cooking anything as long as her Nanna is here! That's our real summer excitement-Nanna and Grandy will be here for July and August! A will have a busy summer-2 words-Turbo Hebrew! For our Seminary friends you just said oh no and then began to pray! For the rest of you, pray!

Today is also our nephew Zeth's Birthday (or Brother as we all call him). I had to think about his real name when I was typing this. HA! So, happy birthday to you too but we will call you today. We can't call Grandy right now so hopefully he will check the blog at some point! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Recipes

Some of you had asked for the recipes for the apple dumplings and shrimp alfredo. The apple dumplings is a Pioneer Woman recipe (I love her recipes). Here it is. Aaron said it was very easy to make.

Apple Dumplings
2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

On the shrimp alfredo-he doesn't have a recipe. He just adds till he gets it like he wants it. Those of you who know Aaron well know that means sometimes too much of whatever, but he has gotten much better about not overdoing the seasoning! I do know it has lots of heavy cream and butter and cheese (sinful!). He uses frozen shrimp and he has used several different brands in the past. I am not sure how good they would be to eat without the sauce (for seafood lovers like us) but they are good in the alfredo. According to Alton Brown on Food Network frozen shrimp are better to use if you are not somewhere that you can get really fresh ones (and they are much cheaper). We have made lots of attempts at "fresh" shrimp here and are never impressed. Next time he makes it I will tell him to write down the ingredients and amounts so I can pass along the recipe.

A WONDERFUL Mother's Day!

My girls are enough reason for me to celebrate being a mother everyday but yesterday was really special. Aaron is so wonderful to help me and make me feel special all the time but all of that and barely lifting a finger for a day is great! I only changed a couple of diapers all day because I insisted because he was busy doing other things. He gave the 3 little girls their baths, ironed all our clothes, and dressed them all by himself. I only had to get myself ready for church (except for doing hair because he actually is very particular about their appearance and he insists I do a much better job with hair). We had a great day at church and ran by Chipotle to pick up lunch and brought it back home with us. I took a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap and then Aaron and the girls cooked dinner. It was delicious. They even got out the fine china!

Aaron's wonderful shrimp alfredo-competely from scratch! It is not pictured but he also got my favorite bread-Potato Herb from Albertson's bakery. It tastes just like the bread at Macaroni Grill and his alfredo is the best I have ever eaten! And for dessert-homeade apple dumplings with ice cream! He really got lots of points for this. I had found the recipe a while back and was planning to try it when I was cooking for someone else because he does not eat apples but he made it himself and even ate some of it (and liked it)!

I am so thankful for not only 4 wonderful daughters but a husband who does all of this for me. Yesterday I couldn't help but think of mothers who don't have husbands to let them know how much they appreciate them as mothers of their children. Thank you! You are the best!

After dinner Elleigh and I ran to tell our friends the May's goodbye one last time while A got the girls in bed. The May's were our old neighbors and they graduated on Friday and are moving today. We are always saying goodbye to someone (especially around this time of year.) The May's and The Gonzales' (our neighbors on the other side who moved almost 2 years ago to FL) were the first people we met the day we moved here. That day is forever in my mind and they are a part of that. I remember thinking they are really sweet but I still don't want to be here. Elizabeth would come over and say you got to get these boxes unpacked and I didn't say it but I thought I don't want to unpack these boxes because I don't want to be here! Last night as I drove away from their house and our old little house was sitting there all of that came flooding back to me and I smiled. Does anything look any different than it did 3 1/2 years ago, not really but the memories are wonderful! The houses are still tiny but the memories are huge! The May's had 4 kids and she stayed home and homeschooled and the Gonzales' had 4 with #5 on the way and she stayed home and homeschooled and I was thinking that is great but not me. We all know the rest of that story!!! Just last week I ran across a card that a former pastor's wife had given to us when we moved here and it read "make lots of friends, you will treasure those friendships for the rest of your life". I had no idea how true that statement was until recently. We really are a Seminary family and we all live this experience together. We are always so excited to watch someone move on to their next phase of ministry yet it is sad to say goodbye so often. When we knew God had called us to full time ministry and were preparing for Seminary so many people said to us well can't you go somewhere closer to home or what about an extension campus, etc. In the back of my mind I thought those things as well but we knew that God had called us here and what we had to do. I am so thankful for this entire experience. We needed the entire experience to take us to a different place in life, a new level with God. We needed the support of others who were struggling through this just like us. I needed to be humbled. I needed to be forced to open up to people I had not known forever. I needed to respect my husband more. I needed to be changed. I still need to be changed. I will always need to be changed but God has been so good to allow me to be changed in so many ways through this experience. I just did a post within a post!

So, my day ended after we got back home and A and I watched P.S. I love you. As it was ending, A said OK, your day is almost over, is there anything else I can do for you. Yes, I am spoiled!!!

Celebrate Elleigh!

Elleigh has a way of making sure that her b-day turns into MANY celebrations and as you are about to see, this year was no different!

Her day started at 6:30 am with a Starbucks date with Daddy! Now that's the way to start anyday!!!Then back home and all presents opened before 8 am
We had MOPS on her b-day and they had a party and it is tradition that at some point during Elleigh celebrating her b-day I make her chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing with chocolate chips mixed in (and this year we colored the icing) so I made those for her to take to MOPS
After MOPS we had lunch with our friends The Six's and as you can see they are enjoying Molten Chocolate cake from Chili's
Then off to the Science Museum for some more fun with The Six's
Sallie and Lizzie enjoyed Elleigh's celebration as well
Then on Fri night more celebrating. Our friend Kristen made the cake and it was really cute and yummy!The table... Yes 2 chairs are black and the rest brown. I will just say that projects around our house take a little while to complete (we have lots of "help" on projects!) Eventually they will all be black once they all get painted
Faith and Taylor came over to help us celebrate and to spend the night

They played lots of Guitar Heros. Not sure what this look is all about! Is she really 11??? Saturday morning breakfast at Mimi's. Elleigh's exact request-breakfast at Mimi's with Taylor and Faith, without my little sisters! She does love them but she needs her own time sometimes and her friends are crazy about her sisters! The girls went to Sweet & Sassy for a little pamperingGetting pedicures
and facials
All done and flip flop ready!!! I am famous for long posts but this might just be the longest ever! I am very thankful for 11 years of Elleigh! One thing that really stuck out in my mind after celebrating with different friends over the past several days is how fortunate Elleigh is (and us) to be surrounded by wonderful Christian friends. With both sets of friends I heard Elleigh and the girls talking lots about different ethical issues concerning girls their age and what is appropriate and inappropriate, etc and those girls have some strong convictions and they are not afraid to stand up for what they believe. I pray they continue to do that through these difficult years and that they are all always surrounded by a good support system. We are truly blessed by wonderful friends!!!

9 months ALREADY!

I know time is always the same but I am convinced the more children you have the faster it seems to go by. This really has been the fastest 9 months of my life. I can remember the shock of finding out we were expecting Millie and me saying over and over, "what are we going to do?" I still say that sometimes but Millie has brought such joy to our lives and I just can't imagine life without her. She is such a sweet baby girl! We went for her 9 month check-up yesterday and it was quick and easy. I am sure they were all ready to get us out of there. I had all the girls and I got asked like 3 times if they were all mine. It's not like I have 10 or something. We do get lots of attention-everyone says look at all those girls! Millie got a good report. She weighed 17 lbs 10 ounces which is around 50th percentile. She got one shot and has bloodwork done and we were on our way.

9 Months ago (minutes after delivery)And now

It's your day Elleigh!

Hope you have a wonderful day! You are a great daughter and big sister! WE LOVE YOU!!!