Day 9 and 10 combined...Life just happens

Trying to sum up the past two days after having my own version of a temper tantrum.  Well I am not perfect only God is.

Pack-up day without Jennifer led to some interesting situations. First someone has to watch the baby because he wants to be under papa's feet.  Cute and adorable he is but it was not quite safe for him so that slowed things down.  My kids know that I pack a certain way, the Marines trained me to do this.  So this means I use them as runners till they start to understand how and where things need to go.  The whole process with a little mumbling and murmuring took till the early afternoon when I told everyone we could go to the park, but Judah had other plans so Aaron had to stay behind too and prove to papa he could be patient and wait.

Later we went out to fuel up and get a morning snack that took longer than usual.  We got back in the dark but were still able to stage the van for easy hookup in the morning. 

Moving day started without a hitch and we were rolling by 9:30.  It would have been earlier but Judah again had other plans.  We made great time and even stopped at a local welding shop to get are stairs repaired.  It was well worth every penny. 

At our arrival the campground was a flurry of new arrivals and those who had been here a couple of days putting there names into the sewer lottery.  Yes it does sound funny, but it gets pretty serious among the senior citizens.  We were blessed with a site today with full hookups. Out of over 40 people and 16 sites we got one.   While I was off handling this poor Justyn was dealing with feeding the kiddos lunch and drinks. 

Pulling into our site was another story all together.  It is a corner site with aree in a bad spot for our awning.  This immediately caused Justyn and I to get upset with each other.  To make matters worse we blocked traffic and then all the RV experts arrive to share their opinion on how to park the trailer.
In the end we did it without help and even learned how to put the awning out part way and reinforce it.
Tonight was rather special for Justyn he went to the Jam session and played in front of everyone there.  He said he was so nervous.  They even clapped and everything.
All in all it was a pretty good day.

Day 8 of ? Loneliness is starting to set in.

Today was a pretty good day over all.  The 14 year old is starting to get frustrated at how long menial tasks take and I just laugh a maniacal laugh.  He totally doesn't get it yet but he is starting to learn.  He is becoming wiser in his debate for creation and it is shedding light on the secular influence in his life.  I pray this continues as he matures into a man of God.
We made it to the park today actually walking there because I am stubborn and want exercise.  The weather had the last laugh though it started to rain about 15 minutes after we got there.
We did plan on making dutch oven pizza but the 14 year old decided to play reason and we had tombstone pizzas and watched the Lone Ranger.  Kind of a silly irony.  Might have been worse if it was spaghetti (lol).
All in all a good day we just miss mommy.

Day 7 of ? Negative training, Tests, and Happy Trails

We are negatively training our cat.  How do you say?  Every time that rascal escapes we reward him with canned food.  So how is that helping.... yeah not at all.  Ugh.

Today was a test of sorts.  It has been a week now that Jen went to California.  That being said a lot of people have come along side us to help us get through this trial.  I have to give all the glory to GOD.  He continues to lead the way in which we should go.  Please continue to pray for us and our ministry as we carry on.

Tomorrow we part paths only temporary with our new and dear friends the Weavers.  We have only know you guys a short time but look forward till we can meet up again.

Day 6 of ? Curfew and Temper Tantrums Oh My

Well today was not a complete bust.  We did make it to the store and even had a little extra to help a friend in need. 
The evening consisted of a Muppet Show marathon.  It is amazing how I don't recall any of the guests but boy do I remember the lyrics.
Judah has decided he does not like daddy tonight and is throwing a complete temper tantrum.  Not fun for anyone.  This tone I know it's not from an allergic reaction.  Poor little guy is just missing mommy.
On another note the oldest actually came in early before his curfew.   He really tries but sometimes he loses track of time.  Hazzah for Justyn.

Day 5 of ? Potluck... Bring it on!!!!

So doing this from my phone is challenging...

My kids today must have thought I lost my mind preparing for the days festivities and like any good kids would do they rose to the occasion to observe their dad try and pull it off.
There was a traveling couple who performs skits to not just entertain but educate as well.  They have been fulltimers on the road for 25 years.  The performance was awesome and even made the teens laugh and smile too.  They are known as the Act!vated Story Theatre.  http://activatedstorytheatre.com
After the performance all the families were going to get together for a potluck.  Seemed simple enough right.  Take care of six kids... get them to a performance then... to a potluck.  So this needed a plan and for those who understand Marine lingo this means BAMCIS!  (This where you all go what???? Like a minion)  Yeah that's right to accomplish this daunting task was going to take the Marines!  Did this help you say?  Actually no it made it worse and this is where I go wrong with my kids all the time.  First I explained what we were doing and they seemed to understand but they slowly lost it.  With all the meaningless task that just had to be done before we left made the goal almost impossible to reach.
So one task that was beyond there scope was to finish making the bed... here is where it gets funny last night they were tasked with it since we just laundered the sheets and blankets.   Simple enough unless the two tasked with it fall asleep doing it so this carried over to today.  It took them over 12 hours to complete this and keeping them on task was almost impossible but these two little ones are like oil and water.  So you say it took 12 hours to make a bed you say.  No actually the worked played and slept together for twelve hours without one physical altercation.  That was amazing in and of itself.
So as they worked on that I prepared the meal to take to the potluck and the oldest two boys helped entertain the youngest two.  They were unaware of this and you have to be tricky when tasking the oldest boy.  It has to be his idea for him to participate.  So we prepared a pasta bake (of course we're Sicilian) and a salad and put it in the crock pot and out the door we went and actually arrived on time to not only the performance but the potluck as well.
In other news Bandito escaped again today and Micah's heart sank as he wasn't fast enough and it was dark out.  We lost track of him in the thick palm bushes but thankfully he was led by his stomach as I played the canned cat food song by popping the lid he came running home.
One other awesome and noteworthy event that occurred today was the 4 year-old playing on his brother's guitar and trying to sing Doolie.  Its a bluegrass song that he has become fond of ever since we met the Weavers, they are a great influence on these kids and help me convince Jennifer that bluegrass is just awesome.

Day 4 of ? Kung Fu dinner and theatre.

Today started out great all the fevers went out and we actually went out to the store.

This afternoon we even got to wash the bedding for the kiddos to get rid of the stale sick smell in the camper.

During this time Bandito escaped twice once when we were here.  The second tome I came back to the camper door open and him wandering around the campsite.
Dinner was a treat of Chinese food and Kung Fu Panda.  Yet this is where everything went wrong.  While preparing dinner two of the boys were 40 minutes late.  To top it off Aaron fell on his head off the ladder and in all the commotion of getting ice Justyn broke the handle to the freezer.  Which is replaceable.
What do we take away from these events... God is still in control.

choose your words

Greetings from California

so I flew in Sunday. Last Friday my mom was rushed to the ER here. Her updates are going to be on my other blog page ... As I work through this ...

today I want to share with you a fantastic God story.

late this afternoon I went to the drug store to pick up a few items for my mom before I headed back up to her house.

there was a homeless man and his mom & dog ... I stopped and gave him a couple dollars. A few weeks back I saw an amazing video about a homeless blind man that really affected me.

here is the link: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QmxD3HZ2V0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0QmxD3HZ2V0#

so I thought that was it.

I got in the car and began to pull away. And then... Pulled back in. By now for sure someone would have thought I was crazy.
my mom is giving up smoking... And I had every intention of destroying the cigarettes I had found in the house .... But God laid it on my heart to give them the cigarettes (a whole carton). They were thrilled. They said they would sell them and have food for maybe a whole week or 2!

I also stopped and shared the Gospel using the Gospel bracelets and visited with them for a few minutes. They were surprised that I would do that especially when they asked me why I did and told them my mom was in the hospital.

the gentleman actually said he sometimes questions if God hears them and that he saw my kindness as an answer to prayer.

it's actually kind of crazy how God is using Frank & I separately this week. How HE is using me even though its the last think I expect.