LIAR

chad & 12 students have been practicing all month to do this drama outreach in our youth service last night. the purpose of this dramatic production was to expose the devil of the LIAR that he really is.
we had:
- 22 first time visitors.
- 5 first time salvation's
- 24 re-commitment (use to be Christian, not living for God, saved again)
- 35 Christians struggling with sin – forgiveness
- 20 Christians re-assured that God’s plan is greater than the devils
- 31 also marked that LIAR challenged them to reach out to their unsaved friends
IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!! and we are doing it again in the second service sunday morning. we are super excited about this & pray that many more will get saved & rededicate their lives.
i took over 100 pictures that night - here are just a few.

silence...

there is usually NOT a lot of silence in the mccaslin household, unless its nap time. TWICE yesterday i walked from different parts of the house into the living room & its completely quiet. my first thoughts: what are they into! my mother instances was right!
brock i caught playing nicely by himself in the playroom. sweet & cute until i saw his orange mouth & the m&m's on the floor. now i know why the door was closed!


together they found some good stuff to play with in my bathroom drawer.

the run away child...

yesterday morning started out PERFECT. chad & i got up early, got dressed, had a devotional together, started breakfast & then the boys woke up. we ate as a family & then chad headed off to save the world. (that is what he tells the boys he's doing all day! ha)
its 8:15
its 8:30
its now 8:40 & kaden is still not dressed
finally at 8:55 we are walking out the door.

i didn't have time to take him to the actually school because he messed around this morning. we had 5 minutes before school started, so i drove him to the end of the street where we have gone most mornings since school started in september. when i say the end of our street - its really close - less than 3 minutes walk, i can see it from the end of our driveway. he got out of the car, walks a little way & then starts crying. he wanted me to walk the rest of the way with him but i couldn't because brock & my niece was in the car. we talked & he calmed down for a few seconds. he knew this was his only option - go to school.

he started to walk towards his school & i drove off. i usually don't do this. i normally stay and watch him walk all the way to the school doors, but today i wanted him to know i was serious & that he had to go to school.

i'm in my car driving the short distance home, i look in my rear view mirror & there is kaden running. he is running home! i was furious! i had a strong talk with him & told him that he is suppose to be at school not home. so he will not be coming inside until 11:30, when i would pick him up. so he sat on the front porch all morning.

i know many of you are thinking how could i. that is so mean. what a horrible mother i am for doing such a thing. you don't need to write me a mean comment - i already feel bad enough. but i needed to do something, letting him come in would not have taught him a lesson. but you can leave a comment on what you do with a VERY strong willed child. time-outs don't work. spanking him doesn't either. its just been in the last month & a half that he has gotten worse at home. at church - there is never any problem with him. at school - he's perfect. he told me that he just wants to be bad at home. I NEED HELP! and your PRAYERS too please! i just need & want things to change.

pumpkins, pumpkins & more pumpkins...

at a local pumpkin patch...




carving/painting pumpkins with some of the teenagers at our house...

love/hate relationship

i am talking about our wednesday night service.

last night i came home tired & cranky. not sure why. yes i do. one girl totally ignored me after i told her to do something three times. that really ticked me off. half of the students were not into worship. they were not talking, but they were not worshipping either. just a bunch of students standing in a room with loud music is what it looked like to me. chad did a good job with his sermon, he always does. i just hope they really were listening & will live out being real & stop being phony.

but the questions that i went to bed with in my head & still there this morning are: was i just having a bad night? was everybody else? what can i do so i don't have any more "hate" on wednesday nights? how can i help these students go deeper? a lot of questions & not many answers YET... i need to go pray!

too cute for words...

i needed/wanted some new pictures of the boys so i took them downtown to snap a few shots. their reward for being such good models - going to the park!

ten on tuesday

things i need to get done this week:

1 - keep my niece today
2 - laundry, as usually
3 - grocery store / make list first
4 - make carmel apples & pumpkin bread / i'm in the mood to bake!
5 - patch holes in 4 of kaden's pants / he can't seem to stay off the ground - sliding places must be more fun!
6 - some teenagers are coming over to carve pumpkins thursday / make sure i have food & drinks in the house for them
7 - make myself get up early to exercise
8 - set up an appointment for family pictures / its been a year already since the last ones we took
9 - continue to read, "sacred parenting" / my parents bought this for me & i'm almost finished - very good book!
10 - help chad get ready for an ignite production next wednesday next: LIAR / decided on & buy giveaways

new plan... new mom...

Mondy - laundry (clothes)

Tuesday - laundry (towels)

Wednesday - not usually home

Thursday - bathrooms

Friday - laundry (clothes)

Saturday laundry (bed sheets)

Sunday - take a nap!

i like my house perfect - all the time! (i get this from my mom) just in the past few weeks my eyes have been opened & i noticed that i clean more than i play with my boys. this really bothred me and i needed to change & that is why i made a list of chores for myself. so far so good. i am sticking to it & getting to build lego's, put together puzzles, play board games, play dough, make forts, play school & pizza shop. its awesome to be a stay-at-home mom again & not just a cleaning lady.

rare...

i have had two good afternoons this week where my boys have played peacefully & nicely together for an hour or longer. woohoo!!! i don't get very many of these days, sad to admit. i am always talking with them trying to teach both of them to share, to be considerate of each other, take turns, that family (esp bothers) are so important. i pray that all my words are sinking in & one day they will grow up & have a great brother bond. i know that there will be fights & disagreements between them, but i want to teach them that family, esp the bond between brothers is so important. i know this only from experience with my 3 brothers that i LOVE so very much!
the pictures below are them making a fort with EVERY toy, bike, chair, & anything else they could move themselves that was in the backyard.



today they played in the mud. they LOVE to play in the mud. they would do it everyday if i would let them, but usually i say no because they are a MESS to clean up with afterwards!



we ended with a bubble bath full of LOTS of laughs!

boys, boots & booty's...

rain came our way yesterday, but with no thunder or lightening so we (kaden & brock) took advantage & played in it. i am actually shocked that kaden was in the street in just his underwear because he's usually VERY modest. i guess the rain brought out the wide side in him!!! and brock & the knee pads, not sure what he was thinking. it makes cute pictures, though!

feeling a little LOVED...

pulling into our driveway after an family night together we were shocked to see that we had been chalked, chad's car painted on & the front door too. we knew right away that it was some teenagers up to some clean fun. (much better than bird seed/fork message that took a good 6 months to get rid of - chad was a little mad about that.)



kaden was SO EXCITED that the 3 girls had included his name on chad's car!

need your help

i am in search of some new concealer , foundation, something to cover up under my eyes. what i am wearing now i don't like because in 4 hours its off & i have to re-apply.
i hate doing this! or maybe the circles are getting darker & bigger as i become older?!?! (ha ha ha) i want something natural looking but will last all day. so please help me if you know of something good & stay worthy.

sock skating

it didn't take long for the boys to figure out that when they wore socks on our new floor they could slide. kaden wants to do it before leaving for school in the mornings, as soon as he gets home & just one more time before going to bed. brock actually runs & doesn't slide but the whole time he's laughing. its really cute to see & even cuter to hear! it makes us laugh & smile BIG just by watching. its their new favorite thing to do!

laughing matters

in my october parenting magazine it had a statics's about laughter:

400

the number of times kids laugh each day

15

the daily chuckle count for adults

pretty sad. i know i get caught up in me, my house chores & what has to get done that i don't laugh much any more. i'm too serious & my focus is on getting house things done. sad, i know. with realizing this information some change has to take place. i have known & heard that life is meant to be fun, to be full of good things but i haven't actually lived it. i am changing, coming up with ways to make life more enjoyable but first i think slowing down & laughing more is a good start!

back to work

vacation is over for chad so he had to head back to the office early this morning. it was really nice having him home ALL day, EVERY day for the past two weeks. it has made me start thinking about retirement for us & how much fun that is going to be! (i know that is many, many years away but i can dream!)

i am LOVING my hardwood floors that my handy man installed for me! i already know that i will be sweeping a whole lot more but worth it to get rid of the nasty carpet. we exchanged furniture with my parents (good trade for us - not so much for them!) and it has greatly improved the look of the living room. we love it. thanks mom & dad - we love you!