life with the goodmans

Easter Eggs

2011-04-25T09:46:00.001-06:00

One of my most favorite times of the year. We colored 4 dozen eggs Saturday to hunt on Sunday........inside the house lol. It rained all day long on Sunday :( so we hid 2 dozen in the house, hope we found them all!!!!

Easter Program

2011-04-25T09:41:00.005-06:00

Happy Easter! The kids did their Easter program at church on the 17th. Abigail had a solo and of course was amazing :) She's such a talented little girl....of course I may be a little biased :)

2011-04-25T09:32:00.001-06:00

Noah was awarded student of the month in March. Needless to say, we were super proud of our boy :) This is a huge accomplishment for him. Many of you know how difficult this school year has been for him!

Happy Birthday Madelynn!!

2011-04-25T09:25:00.001-06:00

Madelynn turned 4 on Feb. 9th. I just can't believe my babies are growing up SO fast!!! We celebrated at McDonald's with lots of friends and family :)

AHH It's spring already!

2011-04-25T09:12:00.003-06:00

Where oh where did all the time go? Winter came and went and we're getting close to the end of the school year! Here are some new pictures :) Hope you enjoy!! Here are some pictures of our blizzard. We had about 18" fall and then a few days later another 6-8" We were out of school for 2 weeks....the kids are feeling that now, we're going an extra 30 minutes a day until May 11.

2010-12-06T15:18:00.001-06:00

2010-12-06T15:07:00.001-06:00

Just a few updated pictures...Thought it was about time :)

the first....but probably not the last

2010-09-05T16:06:00.003-06:00

We've experienced our first broken bone. I knew it would happen, just wasn't quite ready for it!
Noah was at school on Thursday, August 26, and yes it was his 5th birthday! Playing on the playground, fell down and broke his left arm, above the elbow. The teacher called, and we went to the pediatrician they did x-rays and couldn't see a break. We went to the orthopedic surgeon the next morning, and they saw the horribly broken and displaced Distal Humerus (just above the elbow). The doctor immediately made plans for surgery that day. We went to the hospital directly from his office and began the pre-op. By 3:00pm we were on our way home with a very sore little boy.

Today, Noah is running around playing hard with Abigail and hasn't had any pain medication since the tylenol he had last night before bed. We go on Wednesday to have the pins removed and a hard cast put on.

Happy Birthday Abigail!

2010-06-07T09:45:00.004-06:00

It seems like the only time I get to update is when a kid has a birthday! Sorry about that, hopefully this summer we'll have lots of new pictures to post. It's been pretty hot already, and it's just now June. I can only imagine what July/August will be like!

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper!

2010-04-22T07:29:00.001-06:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Madelynn!

2010-04-22T07:18:00.001-06:00

weekend with daddy

2010-04-22T07:10:00.002-06:00

My amazing husband took all 4 kids to his moms for the weekend so that I could go to a Women's Conference. I'm SO lucky!!

really??

2010-04-22T06:56:00.003-06:00

Has it really been 4 months since I posted last?! Wow, time really does get away from me. I keep meaning to do it, but something always comes up when I think about it. Here are some newer pictures for your viewing pleasure :)

they grow so fast!

2010-01-29T13:09:00.003-06:00

They just grow up so fast! I thought I'd share a few newer pictures. Cooper is pulling up on everything and cruising along the furniture now. Madelynn is becoming a little girl instead of the "baby" girl. Noah is doing great in school, still somewhat of a mama's boy (which is fine with me :) and Abigail is just amazing! She's so very smart and so quick to pick up on things. She never ceases to amaze me at the things she does or says.
Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Christmas 09

2009-12-25T17:33:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Jesus, and Merry Christmas to you all! We had a great Christmas, the kids were very excited to see what Santa left, and had fun playing with it all day. Chris got to work today and yesterday which wasn't a lot of fun, but we're ever so thankful that he has a job and gets to work. There's really not any news going on here, we just wanted to share some pictures :)

I had so much...

2009-11-10T09:37:00.002-06:00

I went to the park this morning to go for a walk. I've given up on becoming a runner as of now. I've tried and tried, and just haven't done it. I figured, "oh well, walking is better than nothing". As I walked, I thought of so many things to blog about, but after getting 4 kids ready taking one to school, dropping off the forgotten backpack for the other and now back home I've forgotten most of it.

That's how my life goes it seems, I forget everything. I do remember that I wanted to tell you about our women at our church. They are AMAZING! I'm so proud to be part of such a godly group of women! We've begun a new Bible study of the book of Esther. I read through the book last week, and wow, I'm more than excited to start this. I want to find God in my every day, even when he's not noticable, I know He's here, I just want to find him.

We've also started a weightloss journey together which is totally exciting and motivating. This is our 2nd week doing this together and I'm so happy that we've started it, I really needed some motivation. I know I can do it, I've done it before. But you know, it's all in your head, when you're ready.....YOU'RE READY! And by golley, I'M READY!

I'm excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas which are both approaching a lot faster than I thought. We still haven't nailed down plans for Thanksgiving, but we're really hoping that Not-Not will come up for Christmas again, I'd love to cook Christmas dinner again. I'd also love to start some new traditions with our family. I'm not exactly sure what yet LOL but I do want to start some. I want that closeness with my kids. I want them to have amazing memories of our family being close, tight-knit and doing things together as a family all the time. I want them to know they can count on Chris and me to do what we can to meet their every need, spiritual, mental, physical and even material. Notice is said NEED not WANT.

Well, as I think today, during laundry, errands, cooking, diapers and feedings I'll jot down what I had to say :) TTYS!!

halloween

2009-11-07T07:33:00.002-06:00

check her out!

2009-10-31T07:22:00.001-06:00

This is my friend Sara, she's an amazing Christian and photographer. You're sure to LOVE her work!!
http://saraephotography.blog.com/

Cooper

2009-10-28T15:27:00.002-06:00

Madelynn

2009-10-28T08:47:00.003-06:00

New ones of Noah

2009-10-28T08:36:00.002-06:00

Some new one's of Abigail

2009-10-27T16:28:00.002-06:00

Pumpkin Patch 2009

2009-10-27T14:47:00.003-06:00

so much to talk about...

2009-10-27T09:25:00.003-06:00

so little time.....
Noah was in the hospital last week for 3 nights, it was rough! We still don't know what was wrong, but he had fever from Friday to Friday and on that last day he started vomitting and had diarreah. He was extremely dehydrated, so I took him in on a Saturday night, they immediatly hooked him up to an i.v. and admitted him. We stayed until Tuesday afternoon. Thankfully his Not-Not came to our rescue along with our church family. My mom stayed at our house with the other kids Sunday, a girl from church kept them Monday and Not-Not got here Monday night so she stayed until Thursday. Sabrina was a great help too. This is by far one of the hardest parts of being a parent, sitting in a hospital room with a very sick little boy, or just having sick kids period.

Happy Birthday Noah!

2009-09-18T18:32:00.002-06:00

Wow, time really did speed up! We had Noah's birthday party, but guess what?! I forgot my camera!! Good grief, what kinda mom forgets the camera at her sons 4th birthday party? Well, I used the one on my phone, so they might not be good quality, but hey, it's pictures right?

a little update

2009-08-06T21:57:00.002-06:00

Life is speeding up again, school is about to start! Noah and Abigail will both be in school, Noah in headstart, and Abigail in 1st grade. My how fast time goes! They are growing up so fast. Cooper started rolling over this week, both ways in one night, poor baby, I think he's teething, very cranky and unhappy. Madelynn is almost as tall as her big brother, she's such a sweetheart! Abigail's getting bored with summer and is ready to be back in school, and Noah is ready to start ( I think ).

I've been spending a lot of time with my sister Sabrina. It's been a much needed revival of friendship. We've been walking 2.4 miles every night together. I've lost a few pounds, but we've only been going for a week.

Chris is working hard, he's such a good man, and I'm so thankful that we were able to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary this summer. He's an amazing Dad and husband!

We've aquired a couple of black labs, Dixie and Bo. I'll post pics later :) they are a lot of fun and help the kids stay outside a little more, well, they keep me outside more too for that matter.

We're just living life, and loving God. Take care all, and stay tuned for new pics. Noah's birthday is this month so there will be some new ones soon!!!

Piggie update-

2009-07-23T14:47:00.005-06:00

We soon found out that Tinkerbell was actually male, and so his name changed to Tinkerbob, Raindrop we found out was "with child". That was a little more than I bargained for! I met a friend who also adores guinea pigs, so we traded Raindrop for Lloyd, and renamed Tinkerbob to Harry. Lloyd didn't last long :( he died about a week after we got him. He was our favorite, very friendly, and loved to talk to you. We had our first pet funeral last Friday :(. Very cute though, Abigail prayed for Lloyd at his funeral and asked me about an hour later if I thought that God had taken him yet. I then "attempted" to explain to my 6 year old the difference in your body and your soul. I must not have done a very good job though, because a little later I saw her outside walking slowly to the grave site and checking to see if Lloyd was gone yet.

I had to quickly find Harry a new buddy, but instead found 2 last Friday. Brownie came from a shelter and Eddie, a 4 week old baby, came from a friend. Tuesday, my friend who gave us Lloyd met me with 2 more boys, Gus and Figaro. Gus is HUGE he weighs a whopping 2.7 lbs and our biggest so far. They are all doing well, and the kids love playing with them all almost as much as I do!

I have found that the best guinea pig toys are those things recycled. I found this dishtub at a thrift store for .79 cents and its their favorite by far!
Left to Right: Figaro, Gus, Brownie, Eddie

link to our family pics...

2009-07-20T19:03:00.000-06:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39290548@N03/sets/72157621293295005/?page=2

staycation at the lake...

2009-07-20T17:21:00.001-06:00

2009-06-23T10:47:00.001-06:00

New Member's of the Goodman Family

2009-06-23T10:16:00.002-06:00

We decided to get a couple of guinea pigs, and let me tell you they're the best little girls ever! They are so much fun they talk all the time and the kids LOVE petting/feeding them. Tinkerbell is the black one and Raindrop is the brown/black one.

newer pics

2009-06-03T17:02:00.001-06:00

i might have a dozen

2009-05-21T06:44:00.001-06:00

if making a baby were this easy :)

new pics of cooper

2009-05-09T09:55:00.001-06:00

photo editing

2009-05-07T11:13:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to learn to edit photos. Here's what I've done so far.

2009-04-29T09:47:00.001-06:00

Because she asked so nicely...

2009-04-29T08:43:00.002-06:00

Thank you "Not-Not"

2009-04-25T15:10:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much "Not-Not" for coming to help. Chris' mom came up last Wednesday after Cooper was born to help, she stayed a full week, she just left this past Thursday. I have never had help like that before after having a baby. I have to tell you she broke her back helping us, keeping laundry and dishes done every day. Getting up with the kids, and she even kept Cooper in the living room with her at night so I could sleep. It was amazing! Thank you so much for coming to help!

Easter

2009-04-22T10:44:00.002-06:00

Cooper Dean is here...

2009-04-17T19:13:00.003-06:00

Cooper Dean arrived on April 14 at 2:20pm. He was born at 38 weeks and weighed 8lbs 14oz. We are home and all is well :-) Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!

Tim Hawkins.......Hilarious!

2009-04-13T19:52:00.002-06:00

He's reading a King James Version in case you're wondering :)

tomorrow will be here soon....

2009-04-13T19:42:00.002-06:00

Our scheduled induction is tomorrow. I can't believe it's already time, although the time has gone by what seems so slowly, it's gone quite fast really. I'm so ready to not be pregnant any more, but its really a bittersweet thing. I know that this is the last baby for us, and so that makes me sad :-( but at the same time, I'm so glad that I'll be able to be a woman again, and not an incubator or milk machine ;-) Anywho, hopefully Chris can figure out this blog thing and post some pictures when he gets home tomorrow after Mr. Cooper Dean gets here.

Barbie's 50th Birthday...

2009-04-08T19:30:00.001-06:00

False Alarm

2009-04-04T09:12:00.002-06:00

Well, with every pregnancy you must have a false alarm right? I started having contractions yesterday about 5 minutes apart and they went on for about 3-4 hours. So I frantically packed my hospital bag and dug out some baby boy clothes as well as the car seat. Chris and I called a babysitter who is AMAZING and took off to the hospital. I got there and they hooked me up to the monitors. The contractions were registering at about every 3 minutes, and they were begining to hurt, it felt a lot like pitocin when they first start that. They called the doctor who told the nurses to give me a shot of terbutaline which makes the labor stop. That shot burned! But it did its job for the most part and made the labor quit. So I'm home again, hoping to keep this baby in for another week or 2. At this point I'm only 36 weeks and 3 days, so another week or 2 will help a lot.

Oh and for those who don't know, please be sending thoughts our way, Chris lost his job on Monday, he was laid off with about 30 other people. He's looking but hasn't gotten any real leads yet.

Spring Snow by: Chris

2009-03-28T15:51:00.003-06:00

So we just had spring break, right? Well I look outside and what do I see? Big big flakes falling. What do I hear? The kids begging to play in it. So we bundle up and take off outside to construct what will be a rather nice snow plumber! We were so busy out there building and playing that we didn't realize that our feet have made it to the point of non-thawed, and mom was needing to take the picture before she froze her preggo bottom completely off, we skurried on in. Homemade snow ice cream isn't half bad either. Matter-of-fact, it's all good and better for you then the bought stuff.

just a little update...

2009-03-11T10:46:00.002-06:00

I had asked prayer for our family a few days ago, and thought you all might like to hear the answer. God says to "wait". Ok, so no I didn't hear an audible voice of His, but thats the answer we got nonetheless. Chris went Saturday before he was supposed to leave for OKC and the recruiter said that some stuff has changed and now is not the time to go. Prior service members are not receiving bonus' for the months of March and April. And they said he's got a little more work to do on his PT (sit ups, push ups, and the run). So we're in no hurry, like I said before, we want to be in God's will, whatever that is. So now we're just doing what we need to do. He's continuing to work on his PT requirements and when he's ready with all that, then we'll go from there. Thanks for praying!!!

Don't forget...

2009-03-11T10:44:00.002-06:00

if you pray.....

2009-03-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

Please say a short one for our family. As many of you know, Chris and I have been discussing him re-joining the ARMY. With the economy the way that it is at this point we feel that this may be a career decision that would be a stable one. Nordam, the company he works for currently, has laid off more than 20% of it's workforce since the beginning of this year. We are extremely thankful that he still has a job, although his hours have been cut drastically. Please just pray for us that if this is God's will that all will work the way He wants it to. If it's not His will, then of course, we would rather just stay put where we are. My main concern is that we are in His will and doing what Christ would like for us to do. He leaves Monday the 9th to go to Oklahoma City to take the physical and see if they will allow him to join. This is a huge life change decision for us and we just want to make sure we're doing the right thing since it will affect us for a long time.
Thanks so much for your prayers!!

Happy Birthday Madelynn!

2009-02-09T14:48:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe that Madelynn turned two today! We celebrated our ladybug's birthday on Saturday. We had a great time with family and friends. Madelynn really enjoyed herself, which was fun to watch, once she realized that the gifts were hers, she didn't want to share them. Enjoy the new pics!

my first attempt at the Walgreen's game

2009-02-03T13:23:00.004-06:00

Ok, so there's this thing called the "Walgreen's Game" where you basically work the coupon and registar reward system to get thing free or EXTREMELY cheap. Clarisse is amazing at this, and you can see from that link that she plays and wins most days. So this was my first trip to "play" the game and here's what I got...
my total out of pocket expense was $10.89
Highland milk-2.79 each
Walgreens chapstick-.99
Venus Embrace Razor-8.99
I got $6.00 in registar rewards for buying the razor, the razor was on sale as well, it was 8.99
and regular 10.99. So I got a total of $8.40 in savings. It's not as great as some people do but I think it's alright for my first try.

Went to the doctor today....

2009-01-15T15:49:00.002-06:00

I'm 26 weeks now :-) We did another ultrasound today and are pretty sure that we saw "turtle" parts. AKA: Boy My doctor said that he wasn't showing off like most boys, but that she was sure that it was a boy.
We are so excited. That's what we were hoping for. I love my girls but have found that boys are easier as kids other than the potty training. We're still struggling with that with Noah and he's 3. Anyway, just thought I'd share the news!

such is life....

2009-01-10T11:20:00.003-06:00

It seems like it's a never ending battle. So frustrating. The car broke down before Christmas, Chris usually uses it just for work, the van does get used most of the time since its the only way we can all go someplace together. Well, he had a friend at work that he rode with, but this friend starts a different shift Monday. So we got the car fixed, thankfully it didn't cost as much as we'd expected, but more than we wanted to spend of course. Now the heater in the house isn't working....Christmas day the drains all clogged up and we had to call a plumber. Does it ever end?

My baby is growing up!

2008-12-31T16:01:00.004-06:00

Abigail got her ears pierced Monday! I was so proud of her, she didn't even flinch! Here's my beauty!

Christmas

2008-12-31T15:38:00.002-06:00

The kids had a great Christmas! Santa brought Abigail a Christmas Barbie, Noah got a bike and Madelynn got a new baby. I cooked my first holiday meal, and I must say it was yummy. It was a great year, God blessed us beyond measure this year. I'm so thankful. So here are some pictures of our wonderful Christmas.

The Christmas Pageant

2008-12-30T09:11:00.002-06:00

A very dear friend sent this to me via email. I thought it was so fitting for so many of us moms out there, I just had to share!

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heartand raise it with His word as my guide.
God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God blessed us with another son. The following year,He blessed us with yet another son. The year after that, we were blessed with a daughter. My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old. I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me,"If you pray for rain,make sure you carry an umbrella."
I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted mewith four children andI didn't want to disappoint Him.
I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks. I tried to be understanding... when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs. When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess. In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.
While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother -I didn't even come close...I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God. I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too. Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to giveus his "last wife."
My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old shepherdhad practiced his line,"We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes." My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes. "A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama." Mary grabbed the doll,wrapped it back upand held it tightly as the wise men arrived. My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men,and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur. "The congregation dissolved into laughter,and the pageant got a standing ovation.
"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,"laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes "For the rest of my life, I'll never hear theChristmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."
"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master. Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher . Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. Had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us

My Christmas Card

2008-12-19T20:47:00.003-06:00

We hope that you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

Chris, Rebecca, Abigail, Noah and Madelynn

Well, here it is, Christmas is less than a week away, and I've missed my goal on the cards. So I figured, what better way than here on my blog. So, here's my card to your family. :)

Christmas gifts...

2008-12-18T21:13:00.002-06:00

disclaimer: I am NOT a professional seamstress. In fact I am a very novice sewer.

Anywho....Here's what I'm making for kids in our family for Christmas. I thought they were cute, of course, they're a little wonky...I can't sew a straight line to save my life, but it's fun anyway. And I don't think the kids will care how straight the lines are anyway lol.

my rainbow...

2008-12-15T20:39:00.000-06:00

Your rainbow is strongly shaded brown.

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You appreciate the roughness of nature. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

My new favorite song...

2008-12-15T16:03:00.001-06:00

Student Of The Week

2008-12-09T16:04:00.002-06:00

Abigail was student of the week at Zarrow this past week. They were instructed to fill a piece of construction paper with something about themselves. She said....."I like to go home, and I like to come to school." She's so darn cute lol

The lights at Rhema

2008-12-03T16:43:00.004-06:00

It's our family tradition to go to Rhema Bible College to look at their lights. They're beautiful, and the kids love it every year!

Just some fun...

2008-12-03T16:30:00.003-06:00

Madelynn in my make up making herself even MORE beautiful!
Abigail as flower girl in her uncle's wedding.
Madelynn in Noah's undies ;-)
Noah learning to rope.

This is how we found Madelynn, I guess we didn't feed her soon enough lol!

Halloween

2008-12-03T16:24:00.004-06:00

i think its going to happen...

2008-11-18T17:11:00.002-06:00

Chris and I have been talking about him joining the ARMY for awhile now. He's mentioned it off and on for 8 years the entire time I've known him. Our reasons other than that he just really wants to are.... steady pay, bonuses, housing, health care, retirement etc. Of course I know he'll be deployed, and that I'll be a single mom for a while, I don't expect it to be easy. I know we'll be moving a lot, I know that we'll be alone, I know he'll work long hours. But I also know we'll never need a place to live, never worry about lay off, never not be able to afford health care. So just pray for us that if this is God's will that it happens and if its not....then I don't want it!

2008-10-21T14:50:00.001-06:00

just cause she's a cutie :)

2008-10-20T19:36:00.001-06:00

our jack-o-lanterns

2008-10-20T19:28:00.002-06:00

Tulsa State Fair

2008-10-13T18:19:00.003-06:00

pumpkin patch

2008-10-13T17:51:00.003-06:00

We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday and of course the kids LOVED it. Madelynn, thought it was the greatest! Stay tuned, there will be some of them cleaning them and carving them. I'm also going to add some fair pictures too :) Enjoy!!

Noah's first day...

2008-09-25T16:14:00.003-06:00

a little more of Noah...

2008-09-15T19:03:00.004-06:00

Just a few more birthday pics of Noah. We took him to Build-A-Bear to build himself a buddy. He picked a monkey and named him, of course "Munkey".

Noah's 3rd birthday

2008-09-15T18:17:00.003-06:00

It was a "toad"ally awesome day! We had a lot of friends over and had a great party! Noah's favorite gift has to be the lawn mower though. I just hope this holds over until he's 12 or so! He's mowed the back yard several times and then threw the mower over the fence and climbed over to do the front yard. Luckily I caught him before he got too into it. Thanks to everyone for all the great gifts!

Just some fun

2008-09-15T17:49:00.002-06:00

Just a little fun with the kids...I thought you might enjoy some recent pics.

Exciting News

2008-08-27T13:24:00.003-06:00

For us anyway.....
We're pregnant with blessing #4. We are very excited and can't wait to meet this new little one. He/She should arrive on or around April 29, 2009.
I do belive that this will be our last, as we feel that 4 is the perfect number for our family.

Psalm 127:3-5 (The Message)
Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.

It breaks my heart that most of today's society believes children are burdens rather than blessings.

First day of school...

2008-08-13T16:38:00.003-06:00

Independence Day

2008-07-07T17:23:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update. Nothing special has been happening in the Goodman house. Chris did have a small procedure on his leg. He had vericose veins really bad and it was extremely painful, so he had that taken care of. Madelynn is walking almost running everywhere now. Noah's almost completely potty trained! Abigail, she's just Abigail, nothing happening there right now. I'm just working and trying to keep up with the laundry.
This weekend we spent the evening with our friends from church, we had hamburgers and hot dogs, while we watched the fire works. It was nice, the kids were terrified though. They ran inside and stayed until they were over. Hopefully next year they'll decide to hang out with us and watch.
Hope to hear from you all soon!

From the first day to the last day....

2008-05-29T21:15:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that preschool is over already! Here are some pictures from the graduation and one from the first day.

5 years already

2008-05-29T21:08:00.002-06:00

I can remember like it was yesterday, the day Abigail was born. It's so clear to me, driving myself to the hospital (Chris was working and we'd been sent home the night before) and them calling him to come to the hospital b/c I was going to be induced. I can remember my dad and Annie Mae making the drive that night so that we would have someone with us. I remember holding her the first time and thinking, "Wow, it really is a miracle!" She was beautiful and still is. I'm so thankful that God have her to us and just pray that I do well enough with her that she grows into a God-fearing woman who serves Him every day.

2008-05-07T16:37:00.000-06:00

what's going on...

2008-04-18T20:35:00.002-06:00

We've been busy with life lately. Nothing exciting really. Noah's been working more on potty training. Madelynn is standing alone, still not walking but standing. Abigail's growing into a beautiful little girl, very strong willed though. I've been working out at the gym A LOT. Chris has been working A LOT. We've just been living life. Abigail's dance recital will be in May, we're excited about that. She'll also enroll in may to Zarrow International, which I'm totally excited about! We've met a lot of new friends on a group online, they're some really great people and we have a lot of things in common with them (ie. kids). God blessed Chris and I with tickets to go to "A Weekend to Remember" marriage conference, which in itself was amazing. I must thank my dad and step-mom for keeping our rowdy kids all weekend. It was a much needed vacation and we didn't even realize it. I never realized just how important it is for young couples such as ourselves to have a minute alone. It's a vital part of a marriage. Thank you to them for doing that for us! Other than that, there's nothing to tell. I'll post some new pics soon. We're having some family pics taken tomorrow at a park here in Tulsa, so as soon as I get those, I'll put them on here. Thanks for taking the time to read this, leave me some comments :)

we got the letter....

2008-04-06T13:29:00.004-06:00

Finally, yesterday we got the letter. Let me fill you in. In January Chris and I went for a tour at one of Tulsa's two immersion schools, Zarrow International. There are very few immersion schools in the state, and Tulsa has 2 of them. Eisenhower teaches in French and Spanish. Zarrow teaches in only Spanish. The students there learn everything in Spanish until the 2nd grade when Engilsh is introduced. By the time the child finishes elementary school in the 5th grade they're fluent in the chosen language. So, we went for the tour and filled out the application. This has been the longest 4 months of our life I believe, aside from those last 4 while being pregnant! We got the letter yesterday, and it said, "Congratulations, Abigail Goodman has been accepted into Zarrow International."
I've never been so excited about anything in my life! Ok, well, maybe somethings but this was awesome! We're so excited, we really think that she'll thrive here. She's been doing excellent in her preschool class at the church and we just don't want her to stop where she's at, she's doing kindergarten work and reading some already.
I just wanted to fill everyone in on our exciting news!!!
We hope that you're having a blessed Spring and hope to see you all soon!

Before I was a mom...

2008-02-22T22:17:00.002-06:00

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

One year ago...

2008-02-09T21:53:00.000-06:00

Today we celebrated Madelynn's first birthday party. It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly the time passes. My babies are growing too fast!

The Girl I Used to Be

2008-02-07T18:54:00.000-06:00

The Girl I Used to Be
She came tonight as I sat alone,
The girl I used to be...
And she gazed at me with her earnest eyes
And questioned reproachfully:
Have you forgotten the many plans
And hopes that I had for you?
The great career, the splendid fame,
all the wonderful things to do?
Where is the mansion of stately height
With all of its gardens rare?
The silken robes that I dreamed for you
And the jewels in your hair?
And as she spoke, I was very sad
For I wanted her pleased with me...
This slender girl from the shadowy past
The girl that I used to be.
So gently rising, I took her hand,
And guided her up the stair
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay
Innocent, sweet, and fair.
And I told her that these are my only gems,
And precious they are to me;
That silken robe is my motherhood
Of costly simplicity.
And my mansion of stately height is love,
And the only career I know
Is serving each day in these sheltered walls
For the dear ones who come and go.
And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears at me.
And I saw the woman that I am now
Pleased the girl that I used to be.

--Author Unknown

2008-01-24T18:46:00.001-06:00

more recent pics :)

2008-01-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas

2008-01-22T18:44:00.000-06:00

it was fun!

Noah loved his train set that Santa brought.
Abigail thinks she really is "Hannah Montana".
Madelynn enjoyed everyone elses toys more than her own :-)
Daddy reading the Christmas Story our family tradition.

just some recent pics

2007-12-13T18:14:00.000-06:00

BBRRRR It's cold outside!!

2007-12-13T16:02:00.000-06:00

Sunday night, we had an ice storm. Wow, it was crazy! I had no idea how bad it was going to be, here are some pics of our house, and our trees, we've got or well, had some of the most beautiful trees in the neighborhood, too bad they're demolished now :-( We lost power Monday morning, and just got it back today, Thursday around 1:00. It was cold and dark, I'm glad that's over, and pray that the rest of Tulsa gets power soon!!

Can you see our house back there behind that mess?
This is just one of the many that fell on the house...
This is from inside the golden mess in the first picture.
This isn't our house, but next door.....what a mess!

crawling?!?!

2007-11-01T19:42:00.000-06:00

I just can't believe this!! I recorded this on Oct 16. It was her very first day of crawling, I know she didnt go far here, but she's movin now :)

the pumpkin patch

2007-11-01T19:24:00.000-06:00

Well, we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, it gets more fun every year. The reason it took me so long to post these pics is b/c I waited on Chris to carve the pumpkin with us. Well, since he started the new job, he's never around when we're all here and able to do it. I carved it last night, on Halloween of course lol. No, we're not procrastinators.

Abigail dancing

2007-10-12T20:08:00.000-06:00

Abigail had her first dance program. There will be a recital in May which will be much more than this. This is just to show what she's learned since August. She LOVES dance. Enjoy!

who says white girls can't dance?

2007-09-13T18:19:00.000-06:00

Hello again Stranger!

2007-09-13T17:55:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it's been a few days, ok maybe a few months lol. It seems like I haven't looked up in at least a month. We've been crazy busy, from the start of school for Abigail, to Madelynn almost learning to crawl, to Noah just being a boy and all that they do. Abigail started pre-k this year, there's a school at our church and she's LOVING it! She's doing really well, the teacher called today and said that she would like to try some kindergarten math with her, she said that she and one boy in her class are farther than the other children and she can tell that they're a little board w/ the curriculum right now (letters and numbers). So naturally, I said of course! Noah, he's just Noah, we've been experiementing with a little potty training, he's not too into it, but we're working on it. Madelynn, she's growing WAY too fast. She is almost crawling, she's getting there, probably in a couple of weeks she'll be all over the place. Here are some pics of the kids. I had to cheat, I forgot my camera in Tishomingo when Abigail started school, I took pics w/ my phone, but can't figure out yet how to get them from the phone to the computer, so after I go the camera back Abigail wore the same clothes she wore on the first day and we took more ;-) That's why the date on those are so late lol. Hopefully, I'll keep up a little better from now on :)

school already?

2007-07-20T08:56:00.000-06:00

Abigail just turned 4 and I suppose it's time for pre-k. Wow, how time flies!! We went yesterday and got her shots and have been doing some serious praying and researching as far as which school to send her to or to homeschool. I've been convicted I guess and feel like I should go ahead and send her to a public school. I have to be sure of what I've taught her at home and believe that God will watch over her and me. I want to apply for Eisenhower (an immersion program) for kindergarten and from what I understand it is benificial to send them to pre-k before applying there. So, that's what we're doing. If you pray please do so for us, we need all the help we can get....our baby is going to school!!!!!!! *sobbing*

Happy Independence Day!

2007-07-05T07:34:00.000-06:00

We live a block from a park, and every year everyone in the neighborhood takes all their fireworks down there and shoots them off. That's where we went last night. Of course Noah was terrified so bad that he just shook, so needless to say, we didn't stay long at all. Abigail has finally gotten over being scared, and Madelynn, I don't think she had a clue as to what was happening. I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed some pretty lights :)
ttfn

wow, it's been awhile

2007-06-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

so sorry that it's taken me so long to get back...we've been a little busy, i've been doing a lot of housework lately, not that you can really tell lol.

we went to Broken Bow for Chris' 10 year class reunion...wow it really doesnt seem right for us to be having this right now lol, i certainly don't feel that old. i had a good time meeting all his friends, i was extremely proud of my hubby. friday evening, there was a party at some cabins up by the lake and chris had nothing but dr. pepper and water to drink, everyone offered but he declined. he's amazing :) what a testimony to those he used to know. anywho we took the kiddos to the lake and played for just about a minute, there were so many people there we could hardly find a place to get in the water. here's a quick pic.....hopefully it wont take so long to get back :)

what a doll!!!

2007-06-04T13:40:00.000-06:00

I mean the baby ;) I just had to share this picture, I think he's sooooo cute, but then again I am a bit bias...

Happy birthday to you...

2007-06-02T11:26:00.001-06:00

Abigail turned 4 last week!! I cannot believe i have such a big girl, it's amazing to me how fast time goes. We did a Barbie birthday party, she's such a girlie girl, she loves dress up, barbie and the like...the cake was beautiful. Hope you enjoy the picture. I've also added an updated pic of Noah and Madelynn, they grow way too fast!!

Phew!

2007-05-22T15:02:00.000-06:00

I'm tired....I cooked 14 meals over the last weekend. I got this crazy idea to try to do 2 weeks worth of cooking in one day, so that I wouldn't have to put so much work into it every night. I tried all new recipes too. Last night we had Caccitore Penne, and it was tasty. Tonight we're having Cool Lime Burritos. I'm anxious to see how they turned out it sounded good, so we'll see. I actually enjoyed all the cooking, I never feel like I have time to actually cook a full meal and this way, all the hard work is done and all I have to do is thaw it from the freezer and add maybe pasta or something quick.

We went to the zoo on Sunday, it was Madelynn's first trip. It's too bad she didn't have a clue lol. Noah and Abigail really enjoyed it though, we took my neice Kirstyn and she had a good time too.

Other than that there's no news here...so until next time...