My Helping Hands

Rocker Edging

Shaggy Mowing

DK Mowing Too

Our next door neighbor had a heart attack 2 weeks ago so I got the boys to help
take care of their lawn until he is feeling better. Our neighbor who had the heart
attack takes care of our other neighbor who is 89 years old so we ended up mowing
and edging 3 lawns. It was a great outdoor experience and the boys are doing a great
job learning yard work.

I just had to throw this one in as a bonus. I guess hard work makes you bad to the bone!

Rocker Rocks On @ 10!!!!

Happy Birthday my prescious Birthday surprise!!! 10 years ago I had an amazing birthday gift by having Rocker on my birthday. I had no clue it was my birthday that day I went into labor. All I remember is after I finished pushing and the doctors put Rocker in my arms my Knight wispered "Happy Birthday Mommy". In my exhausion I smiled thinking it was his official birthday until my Knight leaned over and said "Today is Jan. 27th honey...it's your birthday!"

All the nurses and doctors were flabbergasted that I had no idea it was my birthday. Oh, how tired I was that day. Rocker made me work really hard on my birthday.

You are an amazing blessing to me and our family. We would be lost without you. I love you so much and am blessed to share my birthday with such a gift as you. You just didn't want me to ever celebrate alone. Growing up I had my twin brother, Uncle Brad, to celebrate with and now I get to celebrate with you. How blessed I am!!!

I Guess Rocker Was Paying Attention To The Sermon

I found this on a piece of paper he brought home today. Taken from an in classroom school assignment Rocker was given yesterday. The assignment was to write an answer to "What would you do with $100"

Rocker wrote:

I would give $10 to church because you should give a tenth for offering. I would give the rest to the poor and let the poor do what ever they wanted except drugs. NO DRUGS!!!!!!!!! I would then give $10 to my mom and dad so we could buy groceries.

The teacher wrote Very Nice!!

Hopefully she does not think we can't afford groceries.:) I love that boys heart. He is a giver. He would give you the shirt off his back if he saw you needed it. But more important he sure did pay attention to the sermon in service even with a guest speaker.

It made me smile. I wonder what the teacher really thought. She is not a believer. That's Ok though we are already know as "That Family". :)

My Karate Kids

The boys take part in The Carpenters Hands Karate Class at our
church. They meet once a week for class. This past Monday was
their belt test. Rocker & Shaggy tested for their yellow belt.
It is a great experience and it is all Christ centered beginning
and ending in prayer. You can see the boys praying there
before the test started.

DK is also in the class but we did not have him test for his
belt yet. I don't think he has the patience yet.

Receiving the belts!

I am so proud of my boys even DK who puts his whole heart into this. Yes, these aren't ballet pictures but with all boys I get to show off Karate shots. They are teaching me the moves also. I know how to do an inside crescent kick and front knuckle punches!!! Look out world Drama Mama is learning Karate!!! Hi-ya!

Happy Birthday Rocker!!

Rocker turn's 9 tomorrow Jan. 27th but we celebrated his birthday
early on Sat. He was born 9 years ago on my own birthday.

We usually try to pick out some kind of theme for the
birthday so this time it was Mario/Nintendo. We don't
go by what's in the party stores we kind of create
our own party supplies.

It was fun and he enjoyed his day.

Of course brothers had to strut their stuff too!

I am so happy to share my day with such a wonderful son. It is just such a joy and a blessing to have him in our lives. He is one amazing kid!!!!

Bus Stop Confessions

The greatest part about being a mom is seeing your children move in the Spirit. Sometimes that means they have words for you as their parent. In our house we have taught our boys to hear the voice of God and also given them the ability to speak in love and truth to us. They do it respectably and honorably.

Yesterday heading to the bus stop the boys and I were talking about the School of Ministry class I am taking at our Church. They wanted to know what I was learning and what the Lord was speaking to me. As I was sharing Rocker just kinda stopped in the alley we take to the bus stop. He said to me "Mom, you know dad loves you." His eye were sincere and loving. I told him yes. He continued "When you and dad fight you say things like he doesn't love you but he really does and I think he is really trying to show you. He doesn't always get it right but dad loves you and us." Shaggy was standing there staring at me and so was DK. Their hearts were filled with absolute love. No disrespect but just truth. Shaggy agreed and added with "He does love you mom he just sometimes doesn't always show it. I know he loves me too."

I felt like a cartoon character that just had an anvil dropped on my head. They were speaking directly from the heart of the Father. The Lord had been talking to me about this very thing in my quiet time. I asked for forgiveness in the way I have talked to my Knight in front of them and how I have treated their father when I was angry. I confessed to them I had been wrong and I wanted to change. I asked them to pray for me. Within moments we were back on track to the bus stop and now talking about the new playground they were going to build at our local park.

The significance of those words and the prophetic timing was amazing. Late that afternoon Plain and Simple called out of the blue to offer baby sitting so my Knight and I could go out on a date. When I told him at work what Plain & Simple offered guess what my Knight wanted to do? Go watch Fireproof. I had not told him about what the boys shared with me. I watched that evening and the Lord ministered to me powerfully. I talked with Rocker and Shaggy as we were all driving home and told them how right on they were with hearing from the Lord and how prophetic their words were. I thanked them for being obedient to the Holy Spirit but also speaking in such love and honor.

My children have a voice in our house and it has brought more healing in our lives then any word we have ever gotten from another person. Let's train our children to hear and speak the voice of God.

Are You As Spiritually In Tune As A Third Grader?

Rocker posed a question to my Knight and I that just blew us away with it's depth and thoughtfulness. He asked "Does God love satan?" Taken back by this we asked why do you ask? He answered with "God says to love your enemies and those who hurt you. Satan is hurting God and His people so does He still love him even though he is doing bad things like our enemies?"

Wow!!! We had a few thoughts but nothing that closed the book on that question. It brought up such a great conversation about God's word and His promises and commands

I love kids and the way they stretch and grow you as parents. It was an amazing question with depth and honesty that you can't even find in most christian adults. So what do you think or have you even ever thought about that?

The Cast is OFF!!!

Yippee!!! Freedom!!!! and Rockers excited too. :)

Mr. Roboto

I had a little fun with my cell phone, 2 of the boys & a greeting card( one of those music greeting cards) ! :)
Did it take you back to the 80's?

Finished Projects!

The boys wanted me to show off their finished projects before we head out on vacation. We completed them today so here they are...
Shaggy's Camo, tank applique pillow. He even
stuffed and sewed it himself.

Rockers Christmas door sign. He did a great job with
learning basic embroidery and using the
sewing machine. Awesome Job Boys!!! You
make your mama proud!!!!

Nothing Says Summer Like A Trip To the ER!

What started out as an innocent trip to violin lessons ended in a dash to the ER. I had to take Shaggy over to the middle school for his summer music program this morning. He goes 3 times a week for 45 minutes. There's not much to do out by the middle school and 45 minutes isn't enough time to run out for anything so Drama King, Rocker and I usually just hang out. The boys play on my cell phone or we go to a near by park.

Today I wanted to finish a good book I have been reading and not do much because we then had to head over to church for VBS right after practice. My cell phone died within 5 minutes of the wait and the boys got rambunctious. They asked to get out and run around so I suggested a walk. We headed down a walking path that circled a neighboring elementary school when the boys discovered a playground. Without warning the burst off down the path and were climbing the equipment. I sat down on the playground and watched as they happily expelled energy. DK decided to climb up a climbing wall so I meandered over to cover for him. 2 years ago Shaggy fell off of one at school and broke his leg.

As I carefully watched DK I heard Rocker yell to me "Watch this mommy," thump! Blood curdling screaming came from my little boy. Unlike other mom's who probably would have rushed to his side I gingerly walk over doubting the whole dramatic scene. I ask him what hurts and he really wasn't telling me, he just said all over. You have to understand this kid screams when I cut his toe nails. I finally began to think something might be wrong and headed back to the van with the two of them. After assessing the situation I just thought maybe he sprained his wrist. He could still move everything but there was significant swelling. I gathered the rest of my posy and headed to the church. I knew with VBS they had two nurses on hand. I was going to ask them what they thought. I finally settled Rocker down and the screaming stopped. We prayed in the van and he was able to find Jesus kneeling next to him hugging him.

When we got to the church the nurse thought I should take him to the ER. So we headed out and to the ER. We prayed for Supernatural favor and quickness. They took us right in and got Rocker x-rayed. By 10am we found out in fact he broke both his bones in his left arm below the wrist. The doctors asked when this happened and I had to explain it was about 8:30 this morning. She asked me half serious/half joking "who takes their kids to a playground at 8:30 in the morning?" I just answered "that would be me."

So there you have it. Summer kicks off with a bang and a thud. Poor guy I feel bad I wasn't a little more sympathetic at first. At one point in the van the drama was so over the top I started laughing to myself and now I feel so bad. I guess after raising 3 very active boys I am becoming a little too immune to this ER thing. So please keep us in prayer. We are not fairing to well this summer with Lyme's Disease and now broken bones.

My Rocker

Rocker is my life loving, passionate, adventurer. 3 years ago he and I flew to China on a missions trip. Even at 5 he had more energy and excitement then most adults. He never complained, never broke down just kept trucking along. He absolutely knew the importance and urgency of our mission for the Lord. He was such a blessing and joy to have. Always positive and rolled with everything they threw at us, even taking a 15 hour train ride into mainland China. To this day he tells my husband and I he is going back. He wants to write books and travel the world telling others about God.
Rocker to this day is my passionate, compassionate one. Totally an Evangelist. Always seeking to tell others about Christ. Seeking the things of the Spirit. His heart is tender and pure. My positive one when all things seem to fall apart. He is also my adventurer. Rock climbing, mountain biking. All things fast and furious. He can also be very fiery, too much like his mama.

I love him dearly. Not just my middle child but a vital part of our family. I am truly blessed as a mom and could not ask for a better son. You Rock my love!

Someone Stole our Car!!

Last night after a very long week my three boys and our young guest were all in line at the bathroom getting ready for bed. After I stood there for sometime I realized I had to go too so I told everyone to keep getting ready, I was just going to run downstairs to our basement bathroom. It is the bathroom no one else uses except my husband who endearingly calls it his sanctuary of silence. It is stocked with his fishing and National Geographic magazines.

Being so exhausted I actually picked up a NG magazine and became quickly engrossed in an article. Then to my horror Rocker burst in on me. He opened the bathroom door in a frantic state and then realized I was sitting on the pot. He screamed and I yelled and told him to get out. Quickly after Rocker turned a few shades of red he shut the door. The strange thing was he was still hysterical about something and tried yelling through the door. Finally I finished (and yes I washed my hands) and tried to calm him down. This was our conversation that followed, I think we all were a little tired...

Rocker: Mommy someone stole our car!!!!(very dramatically)

Me: What are you talking about? (also very dramatically)

Rocker: Our car is stolen!! It was outside a minute ago and now it's gone!!!(As he drags me upstairs to see what's wrong)

Me (Realizing what was actually going on and how completely this was blown way out of proportion) I asked: Rocker do you realize daddy is also gone?

Not getting my meaning Rocker answered: What they stole daddy too?!?!

Rubbing my head in complete dismay: Rocker daddy went to take the movies back to Blockbuster. No one stole the car or daddy. It is OK!!

With in two minutes of the whole drama taking place Rocker finally got it and went back to getting ready for bed. My question is why didn't he just assume daddy went to the store or something? Why did we automatically jump to the conclusion that the car was stolen and so was daddy? I mean it's not like we live in some horrible neighborhood or anything. Oh, brother it's been a long week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Reality Check About the Times We Live In

Last night my Knight headed over to our school for a Parent/Teacher conference for Rocker. It went really well. He his excelling in his school work and his behavior is great. My Knight told me his teacher had nothing but good things to say until the end of the conference.

He shared with me what happened next. His teacher very seriously explained that Rocker has been talking to children about Jesus and explaining to them his beliefs about Creation. They are studying dinosaurs and evolutionary theories in science. Yes this is only 2nd grade. He then raises his hand to give the creation account and let the teacher know he doesn't agree. She told my husband Rocker is no longer allowed to share with his classmates about Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit and to not discuss Creation in class.

Both our hearts sunk as we heard this. My husband handled this very well and explained to her he would share with Rocker the importance of respecting the teacher but we will not tell him to never share the gospel with others. We would encourage him to share during lunch, recess or on the bus but to be sensitive to the teachers wishes in class. He also said we would talk to him about responding in class to evolution but that we would not discourage him about Creation. These are our core beliefs and values and we will not teach Rocker to stay silent because it gets the children in his class questioning evolution. No one was upset his teacher just finished with expressing that their are many faiths in the class and she is afraid that the children will return home with his information and get the school in trouble. So who is that all about?

Well times have changed. This young woman is very nice and I would not hesitate her teaching any of my children it is just so sad that she has come under the influence of fear. We talked briefly to Rocker this morning and will talk more in depth tonight. The thing we stressed the most is to lean on the Holy Spirit for the right times to talk. The Lord will show him when to open and reveal truth and when not too. We would like to share with Rocker some more on this later today. My children are now facing the small ripples of persecution within the public school setting. It has become a giant reality check for my husband and I.