The Whole World in His Hands

A few years ago I heard about this really neat corn maze down by Columbia. I wanted to go then, but never got the chance. So this year after driving by it on my way home from meetings, I decided that we were going no matter what. So the next day we all loaded up and headed out.

This is what the maze looked like this year. Every year they do something different. I really like this one.



It was an absolute beautiful day for it. It wasn't rainy, it wasn't cold and it wasn't too hot. It was PERFECT!

They had 8 different checkpoints that you had to find and answer the question that they had on your little paper. We looked for checkpoint 7 for 45 minutes! We found checkpoint 4....
4 times!!!!

At the very end after you have answered every single question you check to see how many of your answers were correct and then you drop it in a trashcan to try and win a big grand prize at the end of the year. I got all but one right! Jared thought he would be cool and answer differently than me b/c he thought he was right on a few of them and he wasn't:)

All in all it was fantastic and we can not wait to do it again next year!

Enjoy all the pics!

Imagine that! This boy finding the mud!

Our first checkpoint we found!

This was overlooking the field from on top of a bridge in the middle of the maze.

After 2 hours and 4 minutes, we were finally done!!!

Summer Fun

We have had a fantastic summer. I hate to see it dwindle down.

We have played baseball, went swimming, went camping, had friends over, went to friends' houses, went fishing and ran ALL.SUMMER.LONG!

Here are some photos to recap our summer:

First Snow of 2009

What a great night tonight was!!!

First we had our first Awana Christmas Program. The kids did great. (pictures to come soon)

Then Jared went coon hunting so the boys and I headed home for some mommy/son time.

We watched The Christmas Shoes and I cried like a baby.

Then the boys wanted to know if they could open "just" ONE present. So.... I let them. They opened the one that was for all of them, a dvd player for the van.

Then they were so excited that it was still snowing and that it was all over the ground that they wanted to go out and play in it.

I looked at the clock and it was after 10:00, on a school night.

I thought "what the heck?" we only live once.

So I yelled "get your stuff on, we are going out to play in the snow!"

They couldn't believe it!!!!

So we all ran around and yelled and laughed, we made snow angels and they tackled me and we laughed until we cried.

They kept saying..... "this is so much fun"! even after we came in I heard them say how much fun it was!

AND it was so much fun!! I am so glad that we did it.

I hope it is something they remember forever!

Can't you just see the excitement:)

Our snow angels!!!!
L to R... Bronson, Braylon, Me and Braxton

grrrr

well tonight was one of those nights where i wanted to have a pity party..... so i did, ALL. BY. MYSELF!

jared goes to this annual coon hunt on the wednesday night before thanksgiving every year. does this bother me? nope! braxton loves going with him too. does this bother me? nope! but this year bronson wanted to go. jared didn't care that he went but also knew that he would be exhausted b/c they climb lots and lots of hills. so i asked bronson if he wanted to just stay home with me and we would go to kirksville and i would take him and braylon to the movies. but he didn't want to, he wanted to coon hunt! did this bother me? not really.....

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

then it is time for everyone to leave and jared and i are still trying to talk bronson into not going to the coon hunt and to go with me instead. he was not budging. he wanted to coon hunt. fine.

so i decided that is fine, braylon and i will just go to the movies ourselves. so i go to get him and he throws a big fit and doesn't want to go. he wants to stay with my mom and dad. fine! F.I.N.E.!!!! does this bother me? you better believe it does! so, i leave him there and then i text jared and say.....

"guess no one wants to be with me, not even braylon!" yes, i was feeling sorry for myself!

so 15 minutes later, jared calls and said bronson wanted to go with me! tough!!! i am almost to kirksville. then he calls back.... the boys said they wouldn't go hunting they would stay with grandma until you got back and then you can rent a movie with them. NOPE, NOTTA, NO THANKS!!!! why would i want that? you have to make them feel guilty so they will spend time with me? NOPE, NOTTA, NOT HAPPENING! if they don't want to spend time with me just because, then no thanks!

THEN, braylon calls and wants to go with me. my mom says "i will bring him to you". NOPE!!! he had his chance!

so i went grocery shopping by myself and ate out by myself! it was easier but i still didn't like it.

so, i am going to prove a point and the next time they want to go with me somewhere..... NOT HAPPENING! the next time they want me to do something for them..... NOT HAPPENING!

is that bad of me?

i just want them to realize that i have feelings too and that i do a lot for them and that they don't appreciate any of it and take me for granted!

so, now that i have that off of my chest:).........................................................

have a great thanksgiving!

Meet the new addition

Benson Ray Heeren entered the world at 3:14 a.m., weighing 7 lbs 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. He is perfect!!!

Amanda was awesome and had a great labor and delivery. She pushed for, at the max, 20 minutes. It was thru 5 contractions!!! She had some great coaches, Matt, her mom and her baby sister. I was so proud of her!

Here are Matt and Amanda after she got her epidural and right before little Benson was born.
Check out that little pouty face. They say he gets that from his mom:)

Isn't he just precious?!

Amanda looking beautiful as always! and just think this was RIGHT after she gave birth!

Mommy and Daddy giving Benson lots of love!

One big happy family!

Congrats to Matt and Amanda!

I love you guys!

AMANDA!

amanda is at the hosptial as i type!

her water broke around 6 and she is not having any major contractions. if she doesn't do something on her own then they will start the pit. she has to have it by 6 tomorrow!

so this new little one knew that i was leaving and wanted to arrive before i left:)

i was leaving football practice tonight and only had enough gas to get me 23 miles. i thought "oh i will just get it in the morning." and then i thought "what if amanda goes into labor in the night i won't want to get gas" so, i went and got it! good thing:)

i am getting ready to pack the boys stuff for the next couple of days and then i am headed to kv.

i will be back in the morning to see the boys off to their first day of school and then probably get cleaned up and head back down there.


so please say a prayer tonight for amanda, matt and the baby!

i will update when i can!

ps: here are our guesses for the new babes~
Jared~ girl
Bree~ boy
Braxton~ boy
Bronson~ girl
Braylon~ girl

THIS......

DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's A Girl

Kennedy Elexis Gregory entered the world at 8:02 pm on May 26, 2009

She weighed 6 lbs 11 ounces and was 20 inches long

She has lots of strawberry blonde hair

Congrats to the proud parents, Brad & Holly and the proud grandparents, Randy & Dolores Sayre!


this is the first of 3 baby girls that are going to be born within the next couple of weeks! so stay tuned.... babies galore!

my cousin, Amanda and her husband, Matt are going to be having their baby in August. They are not finding out what it is. I think it is a boy. With all the girls that are being born, they need a boy to chase after! Amanda had her drs appt today and the heartbeat was 145, the babies head is down and moving LOTS! So what do you guys think? boy or girl? lets start a guessing game on here.........

excited for tomorrow

~ tomorrow is braxton's last day of school

~ jared comes home tomorrow

~ the boys have their first league games tomorrow

so i can't wait for tomorrow!!!!

oh and guess what???? i ordered a new computer for home:) isn't that the greatest thing you have heard all day? thought so!

i am gonna leave it at that b/c i am tired and grouchy.

i am crying me a river

thank you to everyone that commented on my last post.

roxanne and andrea hit the nail on the head!!!!

we are busy, we don't spend the quality time with him like we do/have with the other two, we don't drop whatever it is we are mad at him about and on and on and on.....

i read those two comments and i cried and cried some more.

i IM andrea and talked a little more with her.

i needed to hear what they said. it isn't something a parent likes to hear, but needs to hear. it didn't make me mad at all, if anything it made me grateful to have such good friends that point out the problem whether it will hurt the other person or not. it didn't hurt me that they pointed out the obvious, what hurts is that i didn't see it!

so starting today i am going to take andrea's advice and sit down with jared and talk this out with him and hopefully we can start a new plan. instead of us blaming the other we will hopefully start working with each other and come up with a new plan. it is going to take some sacrifices on our end but if that is what it is going to take, then i am all for it.

i got this email this morning too. of all the days that i would get and email like this, today was the day i needed it. i think God was talking to me too.....

*Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
*Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together..
*Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
*Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.
*Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
*Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
*Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
*Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
*Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
*Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars. *Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
*Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
*I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.
*And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.............

He is feeling left out

Matt is feeling left out. He thinks I don't talk about him enough on here. Sunday we had Easter at my Grandma Lorene's and my boys wouldn't leave Matt alone. They think that he is the coolest person alive! Here is a picture of him and Bronson egg hunting! I LOVE THIS PICTURE! you can truly see how much they love each other.

Sunday was also Amanda's birthday! One more year and she will be the big 3-0! Bronson loves her too. I made her a birthday cake and put 29 candles on it. Bronson and Taiya helped her blow them out. Then Bronson turned and gave Amanda a big hug. So I had them pose for me! Happy Birthday Amanda!

1000 Word Thursday

This is a picture of my cousin Amanda's baby. They had their first Ultra Sound yesterday and were amazed by what they got to see. I just LOVE this picture. It has such great detail in it and it just shows how amazing God is. My cousin and I are only 1 year apart and grew up more like sisters than cousins. I am so happy for her and Matt and can't wait for this new little bundle of joy to arrive in August! oh yeah, IT'S A ??????, they didn't want to find out what the sex was! WOO HOO, I love it when people don't find out, it is so much more fun!

The athelete/rock stars

friday was braxton's first basketball game. they got beat reallllly bad. at least they didn't get skunked. i think it was like 31-12 or something like that. braxton did really good. he made i think 5 points.

then we bought rock band for the wii. below is the shaw rock band. i have a super funny video of jared, but it won't upload. which is really frustrating! it is loads of fun. anyone looking to have some fun, needs to come by and rock with us:)

all in all it was a great weekend! we are going to be super busy for the next several weeks. i am going to enjoy it though because someday we will be all alone and complaining b/c we have nothing to do.

so here is to life, CHEERS!

thanks

i don't want to leave anyone out so i am thanking you ALL for all that you did to help my party be a hit! you know who you are...... andrea, amanda, heather, amee, michelle, jenn and whoever else was involved! i am a lucky person! you guys are all great friends and cousins:) i love you all!

SURPRISE!!

and that i was!

if you can't read what that cakes says this is what it says: CURVY, PURDY and TURNIN 30!

saturday night andrea threw me a surprise 30th birthday party. all along i thought it was suppose to be vance's 30th birthday party. so you can imagine my surprise when all of my family showed up! and i even had to help decorate my own party:)

andrea did a great job planning and getting me there. she knew i would know something was up if she didn't have me help her ahead of time. so i got there at 5:00 and helped a little bit. at 6:30 she had me go downstairs and help her move some trim..... well jared was suppose to get everyone from outside to inside. but somehow he didn't. so once i was back upstairs they had bronson tell me he needed to show me something downstairs. so i go down there and he says "daddy wanted me to show you something but i don't know what he wants me to show you". hmmmm, this is when i got really suspicious! so as i went back upstairs there was alllll these people there, FOR ME!! i think counting kids and all, there were 49 people there! wow, all just for me! so thank you to everyone that helped andrea pull this one off! i am a very inquisitive person, so to pull it off was a lot of work:) there was lots of good food, lots of friends and family and presents:)

andrea~ thank you from the bottom of my heart! you don't have any idea how much that meant to me! you did an awesome job and i know that it was really tough since how i asked lots of questions:) so thank you for being the best friend anyone could ask for!