Bailey and her fort in the back yard, she made it by laying in the tall grass, and flattening it to look like bedrooms for everyone... 

Gracie being soooo silly! 

This is Gracie reading to Shay, isn't that so cute? 

Updates and Blessings,...

Wow! It's been a week since I last wrote! So time for some catch up...some things have happened this week that are worth reporting... On Wednesday I was offered a 1/2 time teaching job at the Christian school. It is teaching 5th grade from 7:45-11:30 each day. After praying about it, Scott and I decided it was a good offer, and I accepted it. I will get benefits, and the kids will be with me. Ryan will be in pre-k, and his hours are the same as mine. Bailey will be there all day of course, and Grace will be with Scott for the morning. I had been dreaming about teaching the past few weeks, and it was almost like God was preparing me for this. I originally interviewed for a position as a sub, and I was confused about why I even went to that interview, knowing that if they needed me everyday it wouldn't work, but God was just setting everything up. So, now I only will work half-day, and I still get all the nice things, like benefits, and the kids with me at only 1/2 the tuition. There is also housing for the staff on their 48 acres. We are checking into this. It's interesting that the last time I began teaching, I dreamed about it as well. That was five years ago. Isn't it amazing how God will speak to your heart...

Right now, as I am writing this, I am surronded by the best blessings ever! All my children are playing on my bed with me, in their jammies, and they are laughing and talking and making funny noises! How sweet! I am so blessed. It is an exciting weekend here in Grants Pass. It's Boatnik weekend. They have a carnival, parade, boat races, car races, and just so much fun! We are going to get ready and go enjoy all that! Blessings on you guys, this memorial day weekend. May blessings of smile, laughter,and relaxation fill this weekend for you!

This is a pic of the girls putting together puzzles. I peeked in to check on them, and this is what I found... 

This is one cute, very handsome 4 year old little Switzler boy! 

Bailey and Grandma made this lampshade, aren't they so talented?? 

A deer laying down on the way to Scott's work... 

Some unusual downtime for mom..

This weekend was one of a rare sort for me. We let Grandma and Papa take the kids to Portland for Saturday and Sunday. We had all of the afternoon to spend yesterday just the two of us after everyone got on the road. I was so worried about letting them go, because I have never been away from them, but I realized they are in God's hands just like the rest of us! Scott had to work today, and that was a bummer! I would have loved to have spent all of today with just him! I am thankful for our fun time yesterday though.

We went to Medford, which is about 45 min, south of our house. We went to Sears to get Scott tools for his job, and we went to lunch. We had fun just hanging out just the two of us! We came home and put together Scott's toolbox, which I know to the ladies doesn't sound like so much fun, but I really enjoyed being his helpmate! We watched a movie, ate dinner (in front of the TV) which we never ever do normally. And fell asleep in each other's arms. It was a wonderful evening. We woke up at 5:00 to get Scott ready for work, and I was so excited about going back to bed when he left, because I knew no one would wake me up! I knew I could sleep as late as I wanted, and it felt so good to get in those covers with Shay right at my side on the bed! Well, around 6:30, the phone rang and I bursted out of bed, I think I woke up somewhere in the middle of running down the hall to grab the phone! I grab it up to hear my husband's sweet voice on the other end of the line. He said, "Baby, I need you to do me a favor..." I think I literally responded with, forgive me, "crap..." He laughed, and said, "What?!" I just knew he was gonna need me to get dressed and bring something to him at his work which is 45 min drive one way, and guess what? I was right! He forgot the keys to his toolbox at work, and this was not in my plan this morning!!! He laughed when I told him I would get ready and be there in an hour, and replied sweetly, "Okay, honey, I love you!" I got in the car and immediately I realized how rude I had been to my poor husband! I was just in selfish mode! See, my plan was to sleep late, wake up and stay in my jamies and watch movies, and possibly get ready for church for the late service. I can't even remember a time when I got to do this, it was probably over 9 years ago! Well, anyway, I got in the car and drove the most gorgeous drive I have ever driven, and as I was staring at these beautiful mountains in front of me, and watched the sun coming through the tops of them, all I could think of was the majesty of God, and how awesome his world was! I was so glad Scott called me and woke me up, because I would have missed out on that beautiful morning, and an awesome time of praise and worship in the car! I also got to see my beloved husband, who smiled and kissed me when he saw me as I smiled back and apologized for my attitude on the phone :)

I got to talk to my children, who sound so grown up, on the phone! This was also a first! And I am glad I let them go, because they really had fun, and they got to play with all their cousins, and some aunts and uncles too! I missed them horribly, and I am ready to have them back, but I enjoyed my day. I did go to church, and I heard an awesome message. It's so weird though, to be alone. I am so use to being pulled everywhere, and honestly, I think I prefer my life to be that way! A little down time isn't so bad every once in awhile, but man am I glad that I have all the blessings that I have in those little bunchkins, and their father too! I think I like my roller coaster little life!

Well, they should be arriving anytime now, and I should go start dinner. I just want to say one last thing...I am so glad that God has been so loving and gracious to me in giving me all that he has....I know I don't deserve it, but I am glad to be given the opportunity to be a mother and a wife, is there anything more wonderful?

Cute kids at the park 

Funny morning wake-ups... and a funny, sleepy, couple...

A thought I was having...Ryan always sings this song to me..."God is so good, He's so good to me. ... Hallelujah!" This brightens my day. This morning he came in my room, and got on my bed, and was laughing about his dad's hat on the wall. It's an army hat, called a booney hat, kind of like a fishing hat, and Ryan loves to say the words, "booney hat." We were laughing, and I was looking at him, and he stopped laughing, and said, "You're going to fix me pancakes?" This cracks me up because every morning he says this to me, because the boy is addicted to pancakes! I smiled realizing that I couldn't tell him, "No." I reached towards him with my face, and he put his hand out in front to stop me as he started talking again, I just love to give him kisses in the morning, and I think he is getting overwhelmed with all those kisses. I couldn't believe for the first time in 4 years he didn't want kisses!!! He put his hand up to block my kiss! I grabbed him anyway and kissed him big on the cheek, and he laughed so hard. He will always be my little boy!

Bailey and Grace are slow risers and want to sit with mama when they get up. Grace always comes running in to me. You hear the little pitter patter of her feet before you see her face. She always smiles really big when she sees me in the morning. This makes a mommy's heart so happy! Bailey always comes to me with her eyes half open, and her hair everywhere! She always wants to curl up right next to me like a cat. She is still my girl, even at 8.5! She always arrives with a golden retriever at her heels. Shay just adores Bailey, and promptly climbs up on her bed at bedtime and lays her head on the pillow at the end of Bailey's bed where she remains until morning. Shay even wakes up groggy which cracks me up! That dog is such a Switzler!

Scott and I are kind of funny. We can't go to bed without each other. You would think after all the times he was deployed, I would get used to an empty bed, but that is precisely why I think we refuse to go to bed without one another. Last night I had to work, and Scott came in to see me and take me home. He likes to do this for me. Come and get me...it's nice to have a few minutes alone to drive home just the two of us and catch up on the day. He comes in as I leave right now...and grandma watches the little ones when he comes to get me at the end of my shift. Well, he was very tired last night, and he had to wait over an hour for me to finish. He sat and smiled and chatted, but I could tell he was tired. I kept telling him I was sorry for taking so long, and he blessed me and said, "If I wasn't awake here, I would be waiting up for you at home, so I might as well be here with you." He smiled at me, and I thought, "Aren't you so sweet?" As soon as we got home and I crawled in bed next to him, mid sentence, he started to fall asleep. And the snoring came incredibly soon thereafter! But how sweet a thing to have someone who cares so much about you that they always want you at their side! Even while they sleep! I feel very blessed.

Sisters...oh, how this one melts my heart! 

This is Ryan dancing, making everyone laugh! 

My very silly, ice-cream eating kids! 

The girls enjoying chocolate cake!  

Ryan loves his bike! He is incredibly good at stunts! Freaks me out! :) 

My handsome man, fixing his mamma's bike for her! Always fixing something...:) 

The two blondes! They are so cute! 

Scott and the kids and I have so been enjoying the summer evenings! I know it's not officially summer yet, but it feels like it here! We have been going bike riding as a family a lot, and I have really enjoyed being together in the fresh air, and riding with my husband! We usually leave after dinner, and ride for an hour or so. I just thank God that we have each other, and we are healthy enough to do this! I know that God loves seeing us enjoy his creation!

I started my new job this week, and it is going well. I am trainning right now, and I feel a bit overwhelmed by all there is to learn! God always equips the called right?! I pray I can minister to others while I am there! I felt so out of my element, because I haven't worked in4 1/2 years, and leaving the kids was hard, but they did fine, of course! They had grandma and daddy, and they all played outside, and I think it was a lot of fun for all of them! Please pray the God would quicken my mind to all that I need to learn.

We were on our way to Bible Study the other day, and Ryan prayed for about 15 minutes on the way there for everything! He prayed for everyone in the family, our friends by name, the grass, mountains, trees, fish, deer, etc, etc, and at the end he looked at me in the rear view mirror and said, "Did you like that prayer mommy?" I couldn't help but smile and tell him that it was the best prayer I ever heard, and he smiled with pride!

Gracie loves stand at the top of the stairs in our sunken living room and sing "Shake it up baby now, Shake it up baby, twist and shout!" She shakes her hips and is so cute you can't even imagine! She is constantly bringing me books to read to her, and I have to remember that other things, like cleaning and laundry, can wait, because one day she won't aske me to read to her anymore, and I relent and we plop on the ground and read several books at a time!

We measured the kids this morning, and did you know that if you measure a child at the age of 2.5 years old, and double that height, that is how tall they will be when fully grown? It's true! We have checked back at other people's baby books, including our own, and it is indeed true! So....with that said, Ryan will be 5' 2" and Grace will be 5' 10"!!! Bailey will be 5' 4"! Weird, huh? I don't even know where Grace got that? But she is indeed, almost as tall as Ryan now, at 2.5, as he is at 4! Poor Ryan, God has big plans for him though! He has such a call on his life!

Bailey and I went to the end of our pasture last night to feed this beautiful horse at the end of our property! She is so sweet! We decided to bring her carrots because she has been sad for two days. She is sad because her horsey friends moved down the street, and she has been calling for them all the time! I even hear her in the middle of the night! Bless her heart.... So we thought she needed some TLC. We brought her these huge lucious carrots, and she was so happy! Shay doesn't know what to do with this enormous animal, so she barks at her, and this horse blows at her, and I think, that maybe they will eventually learn to be friends, but for now, neither is sure of the other. :)

I praise God for my husband, Scott, who is still working six days a week, and never complains! He likes that his hands hurt at the end of the day, because it makes him feel like he worked hard, and I think this is so noble! If my hands hurt at the end of the day, I would just complain about it all night! Not him, he works hard to provide for his family, and I am very blessed that he does that for me and our children, thanks honey, for all you do! I love you and respect you for all your hard work, and your loving heart towards me! You ROCK!

We are hoping that you are blessed this weekend, and taking the time to slow down and enjoy the simple things....because they are so important! It's those simple things that hold us together as a family....

Blessings on you!

This is grandma and papa with all of their grandchildren yesterday, they look like they are in heaven don't they?...they are! 

Our wonderful time at brunch! This was lots of fun! 

Mother's Day fun and a 26th Birthday too!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful, well-deserved mother's day! We celebrated it with some wonderful friends, Grandma, Papa, and Scott's sisters! Congratulations to Scott's Sis, Anna, who announced yesterday that she will be expecting again in December! Congratulations and God's blessings on you guys!
We just had a geuninely God-filled day! We had a wonderful time of waffles and strawberries, and fellowship with our good friends that we met through Carrie and Dave. It is like having five sets of grandparents around! What fun! The kids absolutely love them! As I was sitting there, looking around at all of these people, I thought, this is what I want to be like when I get older....going on for Christ and enjoying all that life has to offer as a child of God. Enjoying friends and laughter and wisdom... there was something missing half the day for mother's day/my birthday though...my husband! He had to work, and I was so sad about that! I felt like a piece was missing all day, and I couldn't wait to throw my arms around him when he walked in the door! We had cake and ice-cream and presents after dinner, and had such a good time laughing and enjoying the evening. Isn't God good? He just knows that we love to have a good time on our birthday! The kids blessed me so much and made me cards! Bailey planned a day last week and took the kids in their room and made the cards for me, just her, Ryan and Grace! She even held on to them until yesterday! Can you get any sweeter or more precious? I am a blessed woman!
I have to be honest and say that as much as I enjoy my beloved children, I missed having the opportunity to have yesterday "Off." See, Scott spoils me each year, and on mother's day and on my birthday I don't have to do anything! He takes care of it all! So, bless their hearts, everytime the kids needed something, I would say to them, "Where is your father?" Haha! I am not just blessed, but I think you could say a little spoiled too! oops ;)
Ryan got his first black-eye last night. Poor thing. He was chasing his sister around, tripped and landed right on the coffee table. He doesn't ever cry in pain, so when he cries, we run!! Fast! When I got to him, he was really hurting and his little eye was swollen. He stopped crying pretty quickly, but the damage was done, and this morning he awoke with an official black-eye. It was bound to happen, I know, but I wish I could put them in a padded room with nerf pads! You know?
Grace just woke up from nap, looked out the window, and said, "Ohhhhh, all the mommy and daddy geese are having babies! It's their birthday...how sweet..." Sooooo cute! She closes her eyes when she talks, and it is the most adorable thing ever! She also cracked me up at lunch! She was sitting at the counter, and started pretending she was on the phone, and she was saying, "Um, yeah, I have a question about Jack Jack...does he normally walk on the ceiling?" I laughed so hard! For those of you who haven't seen, this is a part in the movie, "The Incredible's." She is so funny! Such a personality!
Bailey is the funniest child to watch laugh! She half looks at you while she is slapping her knee, and hysterically laughing, and she looks like she is in pain, and her mouth is open wide, and she can't hardly breathe! It is so funny, that I lose it just watching her crack up when most of the time, I don't even know what started it! I am laughing now, just thinking about it! I hope you are walking in the light of God's blessings today, and I pray each of you has an opportunity to laugh a big belly laugh today, because it just feels so good, doesn't it?

I took this at our church today. Grace is running her fingers through the baptismal. I thought it was so sweet. This baptismal is outside, and surrounded by flowers. Grace looked precious just in her own world enjoying God's creations.  

A picture of the kids before Bible study this morning. They looked exceptionally cute to me, and I wanted to share their cuteness with you guys! 

An answered prayer...and a double meat roast beef sandwich!

Here we are on the night before my Birthday/Mother's Day weekend. My birthday is on Mother's day this year, and how cool is that! Tomorrow, Scott has off, and we get to celebrate! Yea! Something very cool happened today, and I wanted to share with everyone!
I have been praying for several weeks about a job, and today, God answered my prayer. I had been offered a job at a doctor's office working for my mother-in-law as a receptionist. I would make good money, but it broke my heart to think of being away from my little ones all day, and with Scott working Swing shift, I knew we would never see each other. I prayed and sought the Lord. (After stressing for two days of course:) This morning right before my workout, I started reading an In Touch Magazine. I opened up to a story about knowing God's will, and it blessed me. It basically said, if I don't have peace, wait... and when I think yes, and the Lord says yes, and my spirit is at peace, than I can proceed.
So I started my workout with Gilad. (He meets me in my living room via channel 368 at 6 am every morning.) Well, during my workout they went to commercial, which I always hate! So I am marching in place and keeping my heart rate up watching commercials, waiting for Gilad to come back, when this commercial comes on with an old woman at a restaurant. The waitress took her order, and then gave the order to the cook. They both notice the woman is sad, and decide she needs some friends, so they decided to sit and have a cup of coffee with her, and her whole face brightened, and she became happy! It was in this moment of commercial time, that I knew what God wanted me to do.
You see I had been thinking of waitressing at night at a nice restaurant just until my kids got bigger, or God told me he had something else. It came to me last night when Scott and I were laying in bed, I was telling him that I was sad that I wasn't more in my career. I always thought that I would be something, since I grew up in a successful home, and graduated valedictorian, I figured I would be something. Other than a mom, and a wife, I didn't really know what else I should be. He blessed me so much! He held me when I asked him, "What if all I ever do is be a waitress?" He gave me the perfect answer that gave me peace, "So what if you are?" And I got it! As long as I was where Jesus wanted me to be, what else mattered? I could be home with my children, and bless them during the day, possibly others at night, and work when Scott worked, and Grandma and Papa would have the children, whom they adore, and it could really be a way to work it out!
I went to church for Bible study this morning, and spent some time with a good friend, and then prayed on my way home. I had Papa watch the kids so I could go fill out an application. I went to the restaurant, sat down to fill out the application and test. While I was there I noticed the women were exceptionally sweet and thoughtful with the customers. I was listening to good old music, and watching the veterans next to me talk comfortably with one another, and the waitresses even called them by their name. Once I finished filling everything out, I looked up and saw the manager, who asked me if I was done, and I smiled and said, "yes, " and he told me to hand it to the woman he was sitting with. I noticed they were giving me this look, like, "How old is she?" I just asked them if they were wondering how old I was? (I don't really even know why I asked them that.) They nodded, and I said, "26." They smiled and said, "That changes everything!" They had been sitting there trying to figure out if I was even 18! How funny! In the course of our conversation, we discovered that we were all Christians! And they hired me after about 30 minutes! Come to find out, while I was filling out the application, another server called in and quit, and guess what shift they needed me to work? You guessed it! Swing! Which means I will be home with my kiddos and husband during the day and work at night! To some of you this may seem crazy, but to me, a mother of three, I am very excited about it!
On my drive home, I passed a bumber sticker that said, "First things First." So I immediately turned down my radio, and began to praise God aloud for meeting my needs right on time. He is such a good God. Isn't He? He knew what I needed, and when those managers shook my hand, and said, "Welcome, you are gonna like working here!" My heart soared!

One last, very sweet thing... Last week I learned that it is so important for our husbands to have their wives get up with them in the morning. Well, right now, Scott is working days for training. He gets up at 5 am, and I didn't want to get up that early! Well, I began doing it out of love and respect for him. I started making his lunch, and found that I really actually liked doing it for him! It felt so good! Well, on Wednesday, he came in and complimented me on how nice I looked, and said,"Lately I look at you, and think, mmm, that's my wife." Blessed my socks off! I thought, wow! thanks! Come to find out, the day before, he opened his lunch box to a very nice roast beef sandwich, with, I guess twice the amount of meat as usual. (I didn't even know I did anything different with his sandwich!) Well, I guess he felt so loved by that double meat sandwich, that his heart was extra happy! He took me on a long bike ride that night, just the two of us, and hugged me a lot, and we played like little kids! It was so amazing what a double meat-roast-beef sandwich can do for one's marriage:) I am sure there is more to it than that, but the point of this is, to all the women... our men enjoy our company early in the morning, and they like a lunch packed with our loving hands, a note, and, oh! don't forget, the extra meat!;)
Sorry to have written so much, but I really wanted to share these things with you and give God the glory for the things he has done today in our home! I encourage you to start your own blog, too! It's free, and very easy, and it's such a wonderful way to keep up with each other! I really enjoy sharing with you guys! Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of each entry, too. There is a place that says, comments, you can click on that, and follow the directions. It's always nice to hear back form people. I didn't even know you could do that until this week! My friend, Katie, showed me! (Thanks, Katie, and I love your comments, you always make my heart happy!) Bountiful blessings on all of you!