Horton's Happenings

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Awww...what a moment!

Ok, so I was cleaning off my SD card and moving pictures onto a portable hard drive....and I came across this!  One of my all time favorite pictures!!!  I happen to catch this right when she kissed him!  LOVE IT!!!  Daddy and princess

.

Where Has The Time Gone?

My heart was pounding and my eyes filled with tears as I looked at a picture of a beautiful little girl with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.  Yeah, I was looking into the blue eyes of my oldest daughter, but this picture was when she was 3 years old.  I stared at this picture for a few seconds and then tapped my husband on the shoulder and said, "Look honey, where has the time gone?  I wish I could have some of those times back."  Do you know what my husband's response was??  Not what I expected, but yet just what I needed, he said to me, "I don't want those years back but I do want to make the ones we have better."  I stared at the picture a little longer and then laid it down on my computer desk to ponder my husbands thought.  Ya know, he was right!  Because, you see, when I was looking into her beautiful eyes, instead of seeing her beauty I began to remember all of the mistakes I had made as a parent.  I had vivid memories of when my voice was too loud, or overreacting to a circumstance, my selfishness, the times I wasn't there, the times when I worked too hard doing house chores instead of playing dress up and dolls.  I saw all of MY mistakes!  My husband, on the other hand, focused on the present and the future.  Just like God, He doesn't focus on our failures but on our future!  I am so very thankful that He sees past my many failures and offers me a hope for a new day!  So this morning I am humbled and reminded that the beautiful little girl that I was staring at in the picture, who is about to be 10 years old in two weeks, is my gift from God!  He didn't expect me to get it all right!  He knew I wouldn't be a perfect parent and that I was going to scream at times, overreact at times, and frankly just mess up royally!  But yet, He chose me to be her mommy, and I am so thankful He did!  So, today, I will not focus on my past failures but focus on the new memories I can make with her and my other three angels.  Thank you Lord that I am not a perfect parent so that I can see your grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love manifested through my weaknesses!  Thank you for making me a mommy!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Menu for the Week

I am late uploading this and hopefully I will soon learn how to make this look cute.:)  For now, I am basically  uploading this so I can refer to it when I have absolutely no idea what to cook.:)  So, here goes the menu for the week:  Monday: We had...Ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and blackeyed peas.  I wanted to make cornbread but realized I had run out of cornmeal....boo.:(  Tuesday:  Chili, or as Samuel would call it...a cowboy supper.  Wednesday:  Use leftover Chili to make Taco Salad.  Thursday:  Going to surprise my kiddos with a Happy Meal from the Golden Arches because Daddy has to work late.  Friday:  A family favorite...Chicken Carbonara Deluxe.  The Weekend:  I usually don't cook as much on the weekend, except for a big breakfast on Saturday mornings, so weekends are made to eat leftovers or maybe try a new recipe.:)  Please share your menus with me!  I am always looking for new ideas!!  Happy Cooking!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words

Good Monday Morning To Ya!  Well, I have figured out how to upload a photo onto my blog....great accomplishments!  Anyway, just wanted to let you know that these pictures you see to the right of this post were actually taken October 2010.  Ok, I know they are a year old but I still love these photos so much!!  They were taken by an amazing woman by the name of, Brooke Whitis.  Brooke is a mother, photographer, teacher, and fellow blogger (and a mighty good one).  We had these photos taken last year to use for our Christmas cards.  So, you can imagine the kiddos have grown quite a bit in the last year.  I will try to update these photos soon but for now...enjoy the fact that I actually learned how to put these pictures on this blog. LOL!!!  Have a great Monday and blessed week!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Morning of Nasties

Good Morning from the Horton home!  Well, this has been quite the morning for my crew.  It has been a morning of nasties!  I was awakened way too early by my youngest child.  Now, you tell me, why is it that children can sleep until 9:00 or after during the week but on the weekend they want up at the crack of dawn??  I have yet to figure this out!  I proceeded to put her back in bed with me, hoping she would fall back asleep.  NO!  That didn't happen at all!  By this time three of my four were wide awake and hungry.  So, like I always do, I rolled out of bed and began the cooking process.  As I was getting the eggs, butter, jelly, etc. out of the refrigerator I was reminded of the awful odor I had been smelling for days.  After feeding my four little birdies I decided to tackle the NASTIES, and began cleaning out the frig.  GROSS!!!!  It was the worst ever!  I was bound and determined I was going to finish this project and so I didn't give into the temptation of backing out.  During my cleaning of the frig my youngest kiddo spotted the Trix yogurt and began screaming, "yogurt Mommy....yogurt!"  Knowing she would make the biggest mess ever I gave into her pleas because I knew it would keep her occupied so I could finish cleaning.  After about 30 minutes she was a total mess!  What does any mom do at this point.....you guessed it....throw them in the bathtub.  We happily run off to the tub and she began singing and playing with her toys as the water was running.    Ok...one child happy....wait I hear screaming....my second child comes running through the house telling me about how her neighbor friend won't play her game.  Girl drama!!!  Gotta love it!!  As any wonderful mother of wisdom would say, I answered with, "work it out!  I am not dealing with neighborhood girl drama today!" LOL!!  Now, onto the next task...finish the frig...wait I hear baby yelling at me from the bathroom!  I run to the bathroom and the awful poop in the tub had occurred!  I yank her up and transport her to my bathroom and run back to clean the nasty poop out of the second tub.  GROSS!!!  My head is spinning at this point!!  What next!!  And all of this before 11:00 a.m.  So, how is your Saturday morning going??? :):)  Some of you may ask where my hubby was during all of this.  Saturday is his long run day....today is 30 miles.  We won't see him to almost lunch time....but I am sure he will laugh about my morning and all its drama.  Have a happy Saturday everyone!! 

Friday, October 14, 2011

This Is New To Me!

Ok, so the blogging world is new to me!  I am going to give this thing a shot and see how it plays out.  My blog will, more than likely, look pretty pitiful until I can learn how to make it look cute.:)  I have some amazing friends that are wonderful at this, aka....Lora Farrell, that will help me along...hopefully.:)  So, please hang in there and please don't give up on me.  Soon, this baby is going to look awesome!  I will upload fun pictures, thoughts from the day (which you may or may not care about...LOL!), Scripture, devotionals that encourage and inspire me, and I am sure there will be a few post of me just ranting.  Well, here it goes....my attempt to Blog!!