TGIF

I have so much and so little to say tonight. If I ramble on about my day, you'll be bored to tears. Throughout my day, I have been constantly reminded of something our preacher said a week or so ago...basically he said that when you are in the center of God's will, things always work out. God works them out. Somehow, in the midst of my hectic, stressful day, I caught myself singing a song from VBS. It was so simple, so meaningful. The lyrics:

You are my hope

You are my strength

You are my friend

My everything

Your hand made me

You gave me breath

How could I fear

What lies ahead

I will follow You Jesus

Because I believe

In God's plan for my

I will follow You Jesus

Cause I know for sure

You hold my future

and I love You so

I will follow

It has taken me so long to finally figure out where the center of God's will is. I still struggle with it daily!! I can see God working and feel Him working!! It's hard to learn to "let go and let God" but sometimes, giving something up to Him is the only way to work it out. I have first hand experience with that!! Each time I trust God to take care of some detail or problem in my life, I learn to lean on Him and trust Him a little more. I'm not perfect, I make horrible mistakes and He loves me and takes care of me anyway. That's so exciting!!

BTW... Schylar will be baptized Sunday, August 6th!!

What a day!!

I was gonna quote Nickleback for my title today, but decided that I wasn't quite up to "feeling way too @#*% good" but I'm pretty close. Or at least I think so and that's enough opinion for my little reality-free world. I have the house to myself for a while and I got a package today. A package I have been lusting for. While I don't get as excited as Jenn, I did do a little happy dance.

A few nights ago I somehow came up with the delusion that my computer would run better if I would transfer all of my music files to disc and delete them. I put all of my Nickleback on cd, deleted them, and now half of my music library is gone. GONE!!! Now I'm gonna have to illegally download all that crap again! And, guess what.....my computer runs the same as before only now I can't rock out while I'm surfin' the 'net.

Ah, well, homework and housework beckon and I must go find chocolate the for strength to keep avoiding them!!

Mmm...He Was SO Hot!

This week is off and running. I can't believe it's Tuesday...no, it's now early Wednesday morning.4:40 am to be exact. oops. I shoulda went to bed. Oh well, the sun will be up in an hour or so and I am enjoying my peaceful time. alone time. I have used this time so wisely. I spent about an hour and a half going through my cd collection to see which ones work. I own a lot of scratched cds!!

I had a really good evening at school (i must be feverish). The nasty little presentation did not send me into full blown panic, although I could feel myself glowing red, and I almost sounded like I had read the book. It's a good book, I've really learned a lot from it. It is "Reading With Meaning" by Debbie Miller. Then, of course, class was followed by a quick stop at Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha (mmm...drool). Can it get much better than drinking warm chocolatey coffee outside on a breezy evening with good company? ok yeah it can, but it requires a beach and a drink with an umbrella and watching the munchkins bury dad in the warm, white sand.

thIngS I sAW TodAy tHat I CoUld HavE LiVeD WitHoUt

1. There was a bigtruck with a tractor-ish thing blocking half of ChestnutExpy. The tractor-lookingthingy had slid halfway off the side of the truck as it went around the corner. The driver was just standing there in the grass, looking at the thingy like he wanted to kick it, talking on his cell. From his face, the conversation was going something like....

"Ummm......Well...... Yeah but..... well um....no..but.....um....letme explain..."

who woulda guessed that those chains and ropes were actually useful!

2. Fruit of the Loom white undies ...$7

Adidas sandals $20

watching dh walk up our sidewalk (yeah, sidewalk, as in outside our house in the middle . of . town) wearing the abovementioned articles and carrying dd's hot pink purse.....priceless.

3. The naked guy standing up in front of his window and stretching. You have to drive on the right street in MG to get this....

There was so much I was going to blog about...but I think I'll just leave you with these endearing images...

Wild Weekend

We had an awesome weekend! We went to a family reunion Sunday in Branson. I was a little skeptical about the fun factor. I could just see my three-year-old having a monster meltdown because of all the strangers trying to look at him. He is obsessed with people looking at him. He doesn't like to be looked at. However, we got very, very lucky. He was an angel. All my munchkins were angels! They were well behaved and polite and had a lot of fun. Scott's cousin's husband is (was, i'm not sure) an Apache pilot and he said that he would love to take the kids to the base and show them the helicopters. Shane and Seth were over the moon for that idea. They want to go to Georgia. They want to leave now. We've convinced them to wait just a little while.

After the reunion, we went back to the hotel... we made the sign. that's what they said when I checked in-- there was a Welcome Dobson Family message on their sign out by the road. the kids thought they were celebrities....and then they went straight to the pool. Sydney spent hours jumping into the deep end. Seth spent most of the time playing on the step. Shane just wanted to be held. And Schylar, wow, I was floored. Schylar swam up to me and said "Look Mom, I can go under. Now I'm not afraid to be baptized, and I want to talk to Brother Gene about getting saved and baptized." I was stunned. She hates water in her face, even when she bathes, but I could tell that she's been struggling with something for the last little bit. She's acted different since VBS. She's definitely had something on her mind. She is such a blessing, they all are!

Monday was a trip to Silver Dollar City. We had fun, but it was H-O-T hot!! Sydney rode her first "real" rollercoaster (Thunderation). She was scared but by the end she wasn't hiding her face anymore and was smiling a little. Twenty minutes later she wanted to ride it again!! I was so proud of my little troupers. It was unbearably hot, but they didn't complain, at least, not excessively so. There were lots of rude people who kept running over our little ones, but we tried not to let that bother us. It's sad how few people use good manners in such big crowds. SDC is a dog eat dog kinda place. Everyone was rushing to be first in line, first on the train, first to the restroom. Some lady pushed past us in the restroom as we were headed for the handicapped stall. I had the stroller and two boys, it's easier to manuever in the "big" stall. This lady practically ran to beat us into it. Another lady ran into both of my boys in her rented electric cart. They didn't notice nor care, but it bothered me that no one was using any manners. It made me become more aware of the manners I sometimes (okay, often) forget to use.

i'ts 2 am, what am i thinking

it is 2 am and here i am still up. i thought by now i'd pass out from exhaustion. we had such a great day today. my father-in-law and his wife are here from south carolina and they brought two of our nieces with them. victoria is almost thirteen and breanna just turned eleven. they are so sweet. we adore them. since we hadn't seen our south carolina nieces and nephews for a while, we had kinda forgotten how old they were getting. our oldest nephew is gonna be 20 this year. i would have put an exclamation point after that, and i would have capitalized in all the right places, but i spilled a glass of water on my keyboard yesterday and i have just figured out that the only things affected were the shift keys. they don't work. anyway...we aren't old enough to have a 20 year old nephew with a girlfriend. freakyscarycool all at the same time. this particular nephew also feels drawn toward the ministry and is really struggling with finding direction in his life.

back to my sweet nieces. we took all the munchkins plus tori and breanna to the city pool today. then, because it was our daughter, sydney's, sixth birthday she chose mcdonalds for dinner. we looked like half of the cheaper by the dozen family. after that we were off to a church league softball game and then back out to grandma d's to make homemade ice cream and drop the girls off. we were all worn out but we had a blast. sunday we are going to a family reunion in branson. what that really means is that the family is meeting at the ramada but you will find us and ours in the pool, hot tub, or sauna at the comfort suites down the road. monday we are off to the big city of the silver dollar. i love it. wildfire here i come.

Ode to Homeschool Moms

Ack!!! Jenn just pointed out that I probably offended all the homeschool moms because I said I was going to be a *real* teacher. I didn't mean to offend!!! I have been a substitute for 2 years while working on my degree in education (I graduate May 07), so in my feeble mind, I will finally have my own classroom and not be constantly trying to figure out how to manage other teachers' classes. You see, real - not a sub. I have the utmost respect for moms (and dads!) who homeschool. I wanted to homeschool ours (we have four), but then I realized I have no patience when it comes to teaching my own children---other peoples kids, sure, but my own... I'm also incredibly lazy if I'm at home. So, my hat's off to you ladies who homeschool. I am fascinated by you. What an incredible love and mind-blowing dedication!! I desire to be like you. I work in public education where at least half of the parents don't care if their child learns anything or not. The caring is left up to the teachers and administrators. School is just the babysitter to get the kids outta their hair. I love how Jenn calls the bus the "big yellow freedom bird". There has to be someone to educate those kids! I consider anyone who teaches (at home, at parochial, at public) to be equal to, or maybe just a tad greater than me.

Non-Mechanics at Work

I had to find something to do to keep me from watching Scott and his stepdad install the working starter in my van. Ugh. I walked out a few minutes ago and they were trying to get the ramps under it. While they were trying to get the second ramp under it, the ramp on the other side started to tilt. Really tilt. Up on one edge tiltage. I had horrific visions of my van turned up on its side in the ditch. Double Ugh! So I scurried in here to keep myself busy. It's just better if I don't watch. Sometime soon I'm gonna figure out how to put pics on here. A picture of this would be priceless. I just checked on them and I think they just used fishing line to secure something... I'd better go supervise!!

Second post!! I am way too cool, a bloggin' fool.

Today was so eventful. My car wouldn't start. again. My dh and stepdad tried to fix it Saturday and it really did work all of Sunday and the first two times I tried it today. I called my mechanic. Now, my dh is out laying on the wet, wet ground (we got more than 5 inches of rain today) at 1:45 a.m.(!!) trying to remove my old starter. Success!! He just walked in (very, very dirty) with a part in his hand. Then he said "If this isn't the starter, blame it on O'Reilly's in Springfield." Wow, my confidence in his mechanical ability, which is already minimal, just sputtered. I hope whatever damage he caused can be fixed.

We went to Mansfield to get the keys to Scott's classroom. His very first classroom!! I am so proud of him!! He's going to teach sixth grade math. The wonderful maintenance guys painted the room and it looks so much better than it did when I last ventured in there in May. We also met his superintendent and the wonderful maintenance guys.

After our grand adventure to the land of Laura Ingalls Wilder, we came back to town and picked up our munchkins at Grandma Judy's house. The big three had spent the night last night and the little one insisted on being taken out upon waking this morning. Both of Grandma's rain gauges showed 5 1/2 inches of rain before 3 this afternoon. We drove home on the country roads to check out the low water bridges, reminding our children of the dangers of crossing water over the road. We are such fun parents.

Today was the baby's birthday. My baby is 3!! *sob* I can't believe it. He's a big boy now. He even picked real food for his birthday dinner. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese. Followed, of course, by chocolate cake because we didn't have cake at his party yesterday. We had a bbq for him and his sis (6 on Friday) and instead of cake, we decorated Krispy Kreme donuts -mmmm...tastes like love. He was not impressed and asked for cake today. Well, he got it, Thomas the Tank Engine and all.

BTW...Way to go First Baptist softball teams. We won both games Friday night!! Must be all the good cheering of the First Baptist crowd. Good luck this Friday!!

My First Post!!

Wow! My very first post...on a blog that will probably be read by ....er, well, ..no one. Well, at least I have impressed myself by doing it!! Ah, I am so easily entertained.