a fish tale

I loved this picture. My Chelsea has done a lot of hunting and fishing this year. It has been really interesting to see her in that arena(aka...the woods and the boat). But, I do think she looks pretty good:) So does her fish!

Choices

I love living in a small town. I really love raising my children in a small town. There are always negatives, but for me, there are more positives. I sat at the baseball field last night and watched little boys play ball. Most all of whom I know the moms and dads, even those not on our team. I can sit down at any ballgame, even ones I do not have kids playing in and enjoy watching the growth and improvement of these young boys. This is a wonderful place to raise a family!

I sat with Seth waiting for Michael, Ryan and Daniel's game when the middle school Principal sat down beside me to talk about Carlton. He cares about Carlton. Carlton has the "fight' bug again. Choosing yet another bad situation to place himself in the middle of. CHOOSING being the main word. I listened and talked. I so appreciate the fact that he would sit with me and share. He said I was on his call list, yet in a small town we share several ball fields with my boys and his playing. This is why I love it here.

This morning I woke Carlton and talked about the situation. I am constantly flabbergasted by his responses.

me: "Did you threaten to beat up Xavier and his brother?"
Carlton; "No I didn't threaten him."
me: "So you didn't say that?"
Carlton: "I didn't threaten him, I told him I was going to do it."

What on earth is going through that boys mind?? Simple.....Fighting. I talked to Carlton a long time. I explained the consequences and then told him I was going to talk to the principal and Vice-Principal this morning.

Again, I am so thankful for my small town. I called the school and the Vice-Principal said come on now. At ten minutes til 8 I was in the office. Our meeting was delayed slightly by a fight. As I sat down and talked about Carlton and this situation the VP said Xavier was not a problem (the fight I waited on? He was a participant. He is gone the remainder of this year). Although that does not stop Carlton or his mouth. The VP said he would talk to Carlton today. I was appreciative. Carlton needs to know I mean what I say. He needs to understand that his dad and I are not the exception to the rule (we did not think up the guidelines, the life skills we teach). There are rules in life.

I am very sadden at Carlton's continued bad chooses. I even understand that he (obviously) does not get it!! But, I know, he will be held accountable for his actions. He does have to live in this world. He does have to live by the laws of this land.

Granny's doctor

I have been so upset about a situation. My Granny's doctor has been her doctor for nearly 15 years. Granny has loved this Doctor and had great faith in the doctors abilities. When Granny entered Savannah Health Care (her nursing home) her Doctor was the resident doctor. Granny has been there for many years and her doctor has followed her care and been good to Granny. But, apparently her Doctor has had a falling out with the nursing home(the service contract for the doctor ran out and there was issues in negotiating a new contract) and is no longer seeing any of her patients who live there. She has said she would be happy to continue to care for them if they move to any of the other nursing facilities in our county. My dad went to the doctors office and asked if he brought Granny to the office would the doctor see Granny? Would the doctor provide care if Granny had to be in the hospital? Or would the Doctor simply continue to write Granny's prescriptions? No, No and No.

It just seems so wrong to me. At this point in Granny's life she should not have to worry about weather her Doctor is going to be there or not. She should not have to worry over her future care. It is sad to me. This doctor is suppose to be a Christian. But, a contract(money) has decided the Doctor's desire to care. I must say that you do not have to have a contract with this nursing home to have patients there, many other doctors visit and care for their patients who are there. They simply do not get paid twice.

There are no words.

Forgetting Seth

People often ask if I ever forget any of my children? Rarely. But as I was blogging all my little ones pictures I realized I missed Seth! Did not get a shot of him. I was surprised, but after looking over the pictures above you may realize why I "thought" I had taken a picture of Seth. He is such a silly guy...and when I am picture taking that is not always a good thing:) These are some of his "poses" in our group pictures. After looking through these I decided Seth was not really left out...lol!

Pictures

I took pictures Sunday morning before church. It has bee a while since I posted some. Although some is all I have have. I managed to get my twelve little ones and Trish's out, but no biggies.


Zackery age 12.7

Tasha age 11.7

Calrton age 13.7

Rosie age 12

Mercedez age 12.8

Mary Lita age 10

Isabella age 10

Michael age 10

Victoria age 8

Ryan age 9

Daniel age 9

Senior Play

The 12 little ones and I (along with my Senior Sarah) went to the Senior play Sunday afternoon. It was so cute. Several of our friends from church were in it and it made the play so exciting for my kiddos:)

Davis family visit.

My friend Trish and her three children, Ryan, Alex and Chip came to spend the night with us yesterday. It was a very nice visit! I took this picture this morning before church:)

Seth's first game

Saturday was game day for Seth. He has waited so so so long (a trillion years to a 6 year old) for his first game. His little team won 21-20. Seth's position is first base and he did a great job:)

Honor students

Our local Rotary Club honors the senior honor students every year with a dinner. We went on Thursday night. My dad, Clara Ruth, Scott's mom and his aunt Gayle were all able to attend with us. What a nice evening! Sarah is 15th in her class and as we looked at the list of students we realized that 6 of the 19 top students all were graduates of our little school, Walker Elementary. We moved to a bigger school when Jacob and John graduated from 5th grade, mostly because Walker did not have enough classrooms per grade to keep my children separated.

As I sat there with Sarah I thought (and will continue to until she has graduated) about time. Sarah is one of my most enjoyable children. Or perhaps I should say, more correctly, she is one of my most entertaining children. The morning following this evening she called me before school.

Sarah: Mom, where are you?
me: I am at McDonald's getting biscuits for Gayle, Dad and I.
Sarah: ugh! It is too late for Patrick to come and get me, I told Jacob to go on to school, I was afraid he would be late. Now I don't have a ride to school. I though you might be almost home to take me.
me: You can ask Grannie or Gayle to take you.
Sarah: No, I guess I"ll just try to find my keys! (I forgot she had a car..lol..so why all the drama?)

call ends.....

rings again...
Sarah: (without saying hello) Mom, someone stole my rear view mirror!
me: I doubt anyone would steal that Sarah, perhaps it just fell off and is in the floor?
Sarah: It isn't in the floor! I looked! Someone stole it, I am driving without a rear view mirror! It's serious!
me: Sarah, I am sure dad can find you another mirror, it will okay.
Sarah: I don't want a new one! I want to know who stole my mirror!
me: I have no idea Sarah.
Sarah: I have to go!

call ends.....

All that drama. All the excitement. All the fussing. Of course I don't know what happened to the mirror. I imagine it is somewhere under a seat. But, long ago I learned that usually when Sarah is ranting she really does not want to move along, she gets hung up on a issue and beats it to death. I truly will miss that when she goes to college. Although I am still a phone call away:) And usually no help at all...lol....but I can listen. I have found that Sarah is a very logical thinker, once she gets past the surprise, and usually comes up with an answer to her problems that is very appropriate! I can laugh at the crazy because I love good thinkers, and Sarah is certainly a good one!

Sacajawea

Tasha was Sacajawea in her 5th grade play. She certianly fit the description:)

Tasha

Chelsea interviewed Tasha last night for a case study. The responses where so very funny. Children do not mull over answers, at least not Tasha. Straight forward and simple.

What do you like most about yourself? I can play sports.
What do you like least? That I'm short.
What is your favorite subject in school? reading
What do you like about your mom? She's organized (lol) and she knows how to drive a big van. If she couldn't drive a big van we would have to all ride in a little van.
What do you like about your dad? He is great at working, he knows lots of stuff.
What scares you? Being alone (not likely to happen in my house!).
How are you like your mother? We are both short, both have black hair.
How are you like your father? We are both strong!
What can you do that is unique? I can run fast and I can walk on my hands.
Describe yourself to someone. I am short, black hair, brown skin, run fast, smart and nice to people.
What do you like to do most? Handstands
What do you like to do least? homework
You wish you could? Be tall.
Favorite memory? I went out on a canoe at MSYC for the very first time last summer.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A professional football player, (when Chelsea smiled at her she added) or a dental hygienist.
Who is your friend? I have four best friends: Laura Beth, Smamantha,Alanta and Kaitlin.
I am happiest when? I score a touchdown.

Can you tell my daughter has been heavily influenced by big brothers? Lol:) With 13 brothers I suppose some of it is gonna rub off. Tasha is a daredevil. More gumption and grit than most of my boys. She is certainly going to be interesting to watch in the next few years!!

My Sarah....18 years ago

Doesn't every mom look back and say "where did the time go?". I know my life as a mother seems to be flying by. I very much love watching my children grow up. I love seeing who they become. Although pictures like this make me miss those sweet days of babyhood! And I know I wonder where the time went!

iCarly funny

We do not watch very much TV, but this afternoon the TV was on and the kids were watching a Nick show iCarly. I was not watching it, but was checking my email and a scene caught my attention. The mom of the boy saw his tattoo (a fake one, but realistic looking). The mom immediately told him to come with her. He asked where and she said to the Doctor to have that "blemish" removed. He said, "No way, removing tattoos is extremely painful!" To which the mom replied, "So is being the mother of a delinquent teen!" LOL, I loved it.

My Sarah...

What a neat girl:)

Faces

These are some of my "people" pictures from today. With our family we have a bunch of baseball spectators:)

Ball pictures

I love baseball. I seem to love about every sport that my kids play..lol. Baseball is truly one of my favorites though. It comes with summer and sunshine.... Two big loves of mine. I took literally hundreds of pictures today playing with my new camera. These are among some of my favorites.

Opening day

Today is opening day at the ball field. I took this picture of Scott and my ball players, Ryan, Daniel, Michael and Seth. The three older boys played this morning and won 15-1. They had a wonderful game, a teammate even hitting a grand slam home run. They will play again in an hour. It has turned out to be a wonderful opening day, if a little bit cool:)