The Jobe Abode

January Fun!

2010-01-03T19:06:00.000-05:00

Give away!

2009-11-23T14:40:00.001-05:00

Check this out! http://arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-2-of-our-blog-party.html

Got A Dollar?

2009-11-15T18:06:00.001-05:00

A very dear friend of mine is embarking on her 5th and 6th adoption journey. Check it out here!

So....

2009-11-10T15:53:00.002-05:00

Is it a bad thing if you are hoping that the piece of broken brown crayon is an unwrapped Tootsie Roll?

Is it a bad thing if you are not excited that the kids are off school for Veterans Day?

Is it a bad thing if your favorite time of day is THEIR bed time?

Is it a bad thing if you are counting down the days, hours and minutes until the kids all go to spend the night with other people???

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-06T15:43:00.001-05:00

Too Funny

2009-10-30T06:35:00.000-05:00

My kids are all watching Diego.

Josiah: How do ALL of the animals know Diego???

How do you answer that one??

Fall Fun 1

2009-10-29T18:04:00.002-05:00

Fall Fun! 2

2009-10-29T18:00:00.001-05:00

Back to Health!

2009-10-22T10:21:00.002-05:00

Yeah, everyone is feeling better! Charis and Ella are home today as a precaution, but the are feeling great! Making a palace out of couch pillows right now. With periodic breaks to watch the Curious George Movie, of course. I might even go crazy and put clothes on them today. Although that could be a battle, because, I know if I had been in pjs for almost a week, it would be hard to take them off and put on clothes. They did get a bath last night and fresh pjs if you were wondering.

Olivia is on a field trip today to the theater. They were supposed to dress nicely. So my daughter, who usually dresses nicely, decided she wanted to wear her favorite shirt. Which would be okay, except she wore it yesterday. And spill dinner down the front of it. I just put my foot down. She tried to lift it a few times, but she is a tiny little thing so..... Anyway she finally left in clean clothes. A silky top shirt of black, pink and red flowers. Over top of a high school musical t-shirt. So Gabrielle and Troy are peeking over the top. At least it was clean, right??

REALLY???

2009-10-19T13:59:00.002-05:00

I feel like my blog has been such a downer lately....unfortunately, this one is too. I've got four sick children. You heard me, FOUR!! Can you feel the panic???

It started with Olivia on Friday. By Sunday she was in Urgent Care. They did a flu test. No results yet. Because, what fun are the results (and being in UC for 5 hours) until after she is feeling better? She is feeling well enough to whine and fight with her siblings today. That has me thinking she is on the upswing.....

Or is would except the other three sicko kiddos are fighting too. Is it wrong to not medicate your kids for their fevers? (I'm just kidding, relax!) But when their fevers go up, they are much easier to deal with. When the fevers are down, the bickering begins. But when they are sick, it's not fighting over toys, no, we fight over the blanket and pillows and couch! (Wait a minute, they fight over the couch all of the time.....never mind.)

So last night, we got the kids to bed and settled in to watch The Amazing Race. Would you believe that it was an hour late???? Stupid football game. Grrrrrrr........

Well, time to go fill orders....snacks, drinks, get so and so out of whosits way....you get the idea. Apparently, by the complaints and the "mommmmmmmy's" from the other room, I am not meeting their every demand nearly quickly enough!

(Good thing God's given me a sense of humor!)

Starting to see some light....

2009-10-17T14:55:00.001-05:00

Things are still really up in the air here, but the guidance we have been praying for is starting to emerge. Pray that we will travel the path the Lord has intended for us.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2009-10-16T10:43:00.002-05:00

We're still a crazy as always around here! Always the hams, never missing an opportunity for a picture!

My Kiddos

2009-10-16T10:39:00.001-05:00

The Amazing Race

2009-10-13T10:44:00.002-05:00

Okay, if you know me at all, you know I love me some Amazing Race. Our household STOPS when it is on. The children are put to bed and threatened within an inch of their lives to stay there! It is the one night that I allow myself an evening snack. But that is not the race that I am talking about.

I'm talking about THIS race:

Acts 20:24

²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

And recently the race has all been up hill. I think I'm halfway up the Rockies about now. I'm just feeling unsure of what our future is going to look like. Does the congregation at Grace want us to stay? We can't live on the salary so I will have to look for work. But where? And how do I maintain a house for 7 people, laundry, dishes, etc, for 7 people? It is a full time job for me now.

I've been so blessed to be available to my children during the school day. That probably won't be the case next year.

I'm not complaining, really, just ruminating. (I love that word!) Wondering what God has next on the map for my race.

There are some things that God has put on our hearts, real passions, and yet, I am not sure that they are open to us right now. In fact, I am sure they are not open to us right now. In HIS time, right?

So, right now I am going on faith, in a way I am not sure I ever have before

Hebrews 11:1

By Faith

¹Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

That is so hard sometimes! Kind of like in the Indiana Jones movie where Indy has to step out onto the pathway across the chasm. Sounds easy, except the pathway is not visible to the human eye.

My Answering Machine

2009-10-09T16:24:00.003-05:00

Although, I guess it is technically my voice mail. Anyway, the light is blinking again or is it still? I've been home for over 4 hours and keep wondering if I should check it....or maybe not, it's a lot of work. And most of the time it is a recording of a recording. But what if it's really important? Oh the dilemmas that I have to wrestle with. My life is so difficult!

I'm Fired!!

2009-10-05T10:17:00.003-05:00

Elliana: Mommy, you are fired!

Me: Really?

Elliana: Yes, call your mommy!

Me: Who will do all of the laundry and cooking?

Elliana: Nanny! (duh) That's why you are calling her!

Yeah, who' s the diva??

Some New Things At.....

2009-10-03T14:02:00.003-05:00

Check them out at 4 Princess Bows

Clothes, Clothes. EVERYWHERE!!

2009-10-02T15:44:00.002-05:00

Oh. my. goodness. I have been in the process of changing over from warm weather clothes to cold weather clothes. For. 5. Children.

Let me start by saying we have been incredibly, incredibly blessed with hand-me-downs. In 10 years and 5 kids, we have bought almost nothing except underwear (hee hee I said underwear! That would cause my children to collapse in giggles.) shoes and socks. It has literally saved us thousands of dollars I am sure. If you wonder if friends would be blessed by hand-me -downs, the answer is YES!! YES!! YES!! And we do pass the blessings on when ever we can.

This is more than pulling a few sweater out of some rubber bins. This involves going through dozens of bags of clothing to determine what will fit who this year. The boy is easy, keep the t-shirts and change to jeans, add a few sweatshirt. For the girls it is a major process.

Ella is soooo picky about clothes. She hates socks and hates to have anything around her waist. She would wear her summer dresses and sandals year around if I let her. Which I don't.....But I have given in on the socks issue. IF her feet get cold enough, I guess she'll wear them. AND don't tell my mother-in-law (whom I love dearly!) that you cannot catch a cold by not wearing socks. Unfortunately, the dress supply is not as abundant this winter as it was in the summer. Three days in a row, she has worn *gasp* pants. Up until now, she was known as 'the girl in the dresses' by several of her preschool classmates.

Charis, well, it's jeans all the way, baby. And that can be an issue when your waist is still a size 12 months and your legs are 4T tall! Thankfully, Olivia wore 4 Slims when she was 3 (Charis is 5 1/2) that are adjustable at the waist. I just cinch them as tightly as possible. (And they are still roomy!!)

Olivia.....I can't even begin to describe her fashion sense. She always looks adorable in what would look ridiculous on anyone else. The biggest problem for her is she needs a 4T in the waist and 7 in length....

Gracie? This year she'll wear whatever is in her drawer. But she's in 5th grade. I doubt I'll have that luxury for long. She was so excited today because she wore a new (to her) shirt to school. "MOM! Guess what happened when I got to school today? Some sixth grade girls came running up to me to tell me how much they loved my shirt!!!!" She was so excited!

So, I've gone through what was in the attic. A clothing monster threw up all over it. Now I am down to getting all of the summer clothes washed, and sorted out and put in the right bags, bins and boxes. The trick is getting it done before the kids rewear their favorites making them need washing again. How can someone who has a family of 7 hate laundry so much? Maybe that is WHY I hate laundry so much!

Do You Ever Wish God Would Show You His Planner?

2009-10-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

Wow, I do. Life is changing and we don't know exactly how, but we know it is changing BIG TIME. We are spending lots of time praying for God to show us exactly where he wants us and what he wants us to do. We trust him, but we want to know what direction he wants us to take. Please pray for us!

Conference

2009-09-30T08:40:00.003-05:00

And the correct guesser was (drum roll please....) My mom! (She commented on Facebook in case you were wondering.)

My conference this morning was for Josiah. Mrs. Phelps, his teacher, is a doll! And she really cares about her students. I am so glad that Josiah has her as a teacher. I requested the conference because I, if you'll excuse me while a brag, because Josiah is just to darn smart. The little guy taught himself to read while he was in preschool. (Of course it was because he wanted to be able to play on the computer without needing help. But that is besides the point.)

Now, I didn't want to come off as one of those parents. Remember I used to be a teacher. Those parents are the ones that think their child is the smartest child since Einstein. (Yeah, right, Einstein didn't speak until he was three or four, Josiah was reading by then . Just kidding!!) I just wanted to make sure that he was being challenged so he wasn't becoming a disruption or distraction for the rest of the kids. Have I mentioned how much he loves to talk? I had visions of him finishing work and then talking to his neighbors.

But, thankfully, Mrs. Phelps has it all under control! Yay for good teachers!!!

First Parent Teacher Conference of the Year

2009-09-29T17:57:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow 9:00. Any guesses as to which child it is for??

check out this blog!

2009-09-28T10:13:00.001-05:00

LOVE IT!!!!!!

Disappointment

2009-09-24T00:11:00.001-05:00

I don't usually post here about political things or television. But I am greatly bothered by a new show on F0x. It is a show that I really really wanted to like. You have to know that I am pretty much a geek and LOVE music. I love singing. Any guesses? (And I am really excited about the new Fame* movie coming out this week.)

I really really wanted to like Glee*. REALLY! I'm married to a music teacher! And I look just like the actress who plays the wife of the show choir director on the program. (Okay, not really.) The first episode I liked a lot. I thought the Celibacy Club thing was little tasteless, but that's okay. Something I could overlook.

I've been so saddened by the turn the show has taken the last two weeks. I don't need to watch teenagers singing about sex, engaged in sex, etc. Okay, yes, I know that lots of teenagers have sex. That doesn't mean I need to watch it. I am even more saddened that we, as a society, have condoned this behavior by turning it into entertainment. I am angry that the target audience of the this show is obviously, as evidenced by it's 9:00 time slot, teenagers. I am angry that the teenager girls in the "Celibacy Club" use sex to control the behavior of the teenage boys. I am angry that praying to Jesus (in the first episode) to remain celibate is seen as a joke. I am angry that what could be a wholesome family show is what it is.

I am saddened that some Christians I know think that this is wonderfully written and funny. I personally think that a teenage boy 'servicing' adult women that he works for is not original or funny. I am saddened that the network thinks that we (the general public) are not smart enough to enjoy a funny, well written show that isn't smothered in gratuitous sex.

Maybe I have offended you, or made you think. All I know is that this is not what I would allow my children to watch at any age if they are living in my home. Because I don't want them to find it funny or to think that this behavior is okay. And it is not what I want on my television if Jesus should come back tonight.

7 Years Ago...

2009-09-23T06:50:00.001-05:00

A Princess joined our family!

Not Again!

2009-09-22T08:14:00.002-05:00

Remember Barf Fest a few weeks ago? Well, other than Ella having a cold a last week, we've been pretty healthy.

But then, last night Charis started running a fever. Yes, Charis. The one who never gets sick! I should have seen it coming when she came home from school, turned down a snack and took a nap in the middle of the living room floor. NOT the safest place to lie down in our circus. The kids kept running through, narrowly missing her head while I cringed and cried out warnings.

She skipped dinner, but by about 7:00 the Tylenol/Advil cocktail she was on kicked in and she was feeling well enough to start to pick on the other kids. (I wonder if it is considered child abuse to NOT medicate your child for a fever?)

So, once again, my grand plans for today are rearranged. But that is okay.

AND on the good side, I found my keys!! Of course they were in a place I had looked at least two other times. I think the kids were moving them around just to drive me crazy and I finally just lucked out and came across them before they moved them again. I am sure that several of you were up all night wondering about my keys, so I thought I would put your mind at rest so you can sleep tonight!