I Have A Dream

Sam was working on a project for a class and asked me to proof it (that's my job, Scott gets the math homework!) for her when she was done. I don't know why she asks me to do that for her. I always cry. What she writes comes straight from her heart and always gets me. Anyway, this assignment came on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement they have been studying. She was asked to write a "I Have A Dream" speech about anything. Here's hers:

“I Have a Dream”

I have a dream that all children will be loved and have a home and a family to call their own. No longer will they live in cold, cruel orphanages. No longer will they be forced to search for moldy and rotten food among the dumps and the streets in order to survive. No longer will they shiver as they sleep on cardboard with newspaper as a shelter.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that these precious, future holders of our world will be able to find warmth and love whenever they need it. These children have amazing potential and, unless they are cared for, will never reach it because of the terrible conditions they are forced to endure, squandering any potential trying to show through.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that people all around they world will join hands to lift up these children from the sinking sands of despair. Peace would follow as brother looked up to see brother, all reaching for a common goal: to save a child.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that pride would be swallowed, walls of hate broken down, fires of anger extinguished as wars came to a close and “Peace on Earth” became a true statement.

I have a dream.

Keep dreaming Sam! And I will too!

When you dream, dream big; as big as the ocean blue

Cause when you dream it might come true; When you dream, dream big.

Ryan Shupe and The Rubber Band

What???

My oldest was typing a report for school and needed some advice on the layout. I was in the kitchen, working on dinner and she was around the corner in the office. I called a couple of ideas to her and then also said, "Put a carriage return after the title!" It was quiet for a few seconds and then I heard, "Um Mom, what's a carriage return?"

Did I say that????? Wow. I had to stop what I was doing and go explain typewriters and the sounds and features of those wonderful machines. I haven't typed on one for years so I'm not sure why that came out of my mouth but it did give me the opportunity to tell her about something that I used to love: the clickety-clack of the keys and the ding at the end of the row.......

Ahhhh, those were the days.

Isaiah!

Could this boy be any cuter??????? He is such a doll! The sweetest little bug ever! I took him to have his pictures done today and he really wanted nothing to do with it. He did however think the young girl taking the pictures was nice and kept crawling over to her to give her a high five. She was smitten by his sweet personality and really did a great job getting what pictures we could. It wasn't about getting him to smile. He doesn't do that on command. It was letting him do what he does and getting as much as we could on film. He would sit there, looking around the studio and see something that was interesting and say,"Whoa", or "Woooow"! It was so funny. I laughed my head off most of the time and the other part of the time I was working up a sweat chasing him around to keep him in his spot.

We are going back in on the 15th for our family pictures and the 3 little girls pictures....whew, and then we will be done with pictures for another year!!!!!

Fall Family Festival!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talisha with a cute ghostie on her cheek.

Savannah!!!! She was so excited to have her face painted. She's usually not really into that kind of thing. Oh and yes, she is missing her pants. She was on strike that day. The pair she wanted wasn't clean and so she settled for the diaper look. Love that independent girl!!!

Thomas!!

Rolling out the sugar cookies.

Sam and Tanner working together.

The girls doing the "cinnamon roll walk"!

Savannah fishing!!

Sabrina fishing! Look at that excited face!

Everyone had a turn to fish....even the almost 17 year old!!

Decorating the sugar cookies.

Isaiah waiting for his cookie!

There she is! Hello Miss Jasmine Belle!!

Can you believe how big she's getting????

Yum!

Enjoying her cookie!

Yep, that means I (well, I should say Scott) found my camera. WHEW! I was really starting to get nervous. As you can see from our pictures, we had a lot of fun this year. The only thing missing was.......Levi! He is the ball boy for the Varsity football team at the high school and they were playing their last game of the season on Halloween. Poor kid.

We had tons of fun going around to our different stations and from big to small, they all had a good time. You would think that they would really want to go trick or treating but they don't even ask. The only thing they wanted to know was, "When can we start our festival???"

Ok, now I can move on to November......sigh of relief.

Stay Tuned......

Somewhere my camera is hiding with all of the great pics from our Fall Family Festival!!!! I know it's here somewhere. I have been looking for it for a couple of days. I'm sure one of the "3 and under crowd" found a great spot to hide it. So if all of a sudden you see pics from Halloween on here and it's way past, that's why.

Sigh, why are they so good at hiding things?????

Love That Smell!

This morning as Levi was getting ready for school, he was standing in front of his closet picking out his clothes. I walked past and he yells, "Don't ya love the smell of boys!" "Yep, clean ones!!" was my reply. He chuckled and then said, "I guess you only like the smell of Dad". Yep!

Boys do have such a distinct smell to them. There is nothing like a boy coming in from playing football in the mud and rain that drives me to the next room. Sweaty on a summer day will do the same thing. Why is it when my girls come in from the same activities, that they don't smell the same??? Wet, muddy football uniforms will cause me to hold my breath the entire time I'm getting them into the washer. And don't even get me started on their socks!!!!!

There is the sweet smell of boys that I do love. It's not as often that I get to enjoy it but I'll take what I can get. Just out of the shower with clean clothes and clean skin.....it's the best.

Pretty in Pink!

Just had to post this cute picture of Jasmine! When I saw this dress at the store, I had to have it! She looks like such a little doll. She is 3 months old and weighs 10 1/2 lbs.!!!! She is doing really well. She is starting to hold her head more steady and smiles more than any baby I have seen! I think she kind of likes us......or thinks we're all just really funny looking!