Well, It's official!!

Summer has arrived!! Hi ya'll, boyyyy have I missed you!!
Today (as most of you know) is Earth day.We went to see the movie Earth with some of our friends... (this is a pic of the little girls that went). It was really good and I just love how they filmed it.
It's so beautiful here today and 95 degrees right now. A few months ago I wasn't excited about summer, but after these last 3 windy cold months, I am READY!!
I have said this before, but I am so vexed about what to do with this blog. People have been getting on to me about not posting, but I just think of so many things I want to tell ya'll!!!
Well, lets see, I have recently lost some weight. It's been a toughie but I have had the most awesome support system of girlfriends and hubby, and I am well on my way. I am doing this wonderful eating thing, and if any of you want it, please email me and I'll be thrilled to share it with you. The weight has been seriously dropping. I had lost quite a bit of weight a few years ago on atkins, but the eating was so darn strict I couldn't stay with it... This isn't like that ;)
The girlies are at church right now so my casa is quiet. Ahhhhhhh.I love getting on here and not having a bazillion interruptions.
Things are going really good. We still have the typical life stuff, and parent of teen stuff, but I couldn't be happier. Our summer is already booking up. We have church camps, then 2 of the girls are going to Iowa to visit their cousins and Nana, and then in Aug. we are going on a vacation with some of our bestest friends. I can't wait, and hopefully I'll be 40 pounds thinner!!
We are about to start getting the pool ready. The girls have started to mention it often, so week after next I'll do may annual trek to the pool store and begin my daily ritual. I don't mind it, they spend alotttt of time in it during the summer.
I am also going to Florida next week with my girlfriends. I can't wait. I'm gonna sit my self on the white sandy beach and lay around laughing, loving and visiting the entire time!! I'm going to spend time with one of my bestest friends in the whole world! For some strange reason the girls are very excited for me to go. I think I might need to install motion censored security cameras in my house whilst I'm away??!!
Oh and I am twittering now. If you wanna add me shoot me an email and I'll be happy to link up!!
Okay, I have about covered it for now, and I want to pop around and see what you have been doing... I Heart you and can't wait to hear from you!!

LYLAS/B ♥ LA

wii are a lil late in the game!!

The older three girls stayed over at their friends last night, so lil P, hubbs and I went to dinner... Ahhh.

Then after, we wanted a coffee naturally and hubbs asked...

"Hey, how bout we buy a wii." Well, how could I say no?? So he and lil P stayed up well past midnight kicking each others butt at the various games. Why did we wait so long?? The girls and I created our wii~selves this morning. Ughhh!.

I've been working out with a personal trainer and the girls still made my wii girl chubby~ Sooo not fair!!!

The older three girls wern't home an hour and 2 have already been sent to their rooms!!

Well just as most of you, we got snow. It started early this morning and is still comming. We have a total white out!! We've got satelite TV and it's out today due to snow, which gives me the perfect excuse to be on here, for hours!!! ( I should have said" to do my bible study", but who am I kidding??)

Welp, I just sent # 3 to her room... This day just gets better and better!! I seriously just heard thunder right now, THUNDER & SNOW??? I have never heard of that in my whole life!!

Well,thanks to Keli's (Dream Imagine Live) update on facebook, I am heading out for wing's today~ Yum and eakkkk!!!

Okay, well I'm off to check some of you out, then get dressed to head off into the white, cold yonder to get me some wing's.... Man is it quiet here, Mama likie!! ;)

LYLAS/B ♥ LA

Is cause kansas blows and texas sucks?

I don't believe that for one minute, but we have had seriously hurricane force winds and some people here have a theory, and that's it... I grew up in Tx. have a lot of family there and miss it . Might even someday end up back there if the good Lords willing..
I miss you guys so much tho, I can't hardly take not hearing from you!!
God is so good to me. I haven't slept in 6 days, and finally slept last night. A group of ladies from my church are doing the bible study Esther ( I know, I do have a point in this lil story;) and last night one of my close friends called me and told me " You HAVE to do day one right now, it's about God keeping people awake when He is trying to deal with them about something!!" Well, I naturally had to go right away and get it. Sure enough, He had me snotty nose and sobbing in the first 5 minutes!!! I want to encourage any of you that aren't sleeping to please get this BM study and look at week six, day 1. This part of the study is where Esther told her hubby King Xerxes that she wanted to throw a party and asked if Haman would come as well.. Well, this was the night following that party and the King couldn't sleep. God revealed or rather used this time to unfold a turning point in the Kingdom. I don't want to give it away, but God was up to something HUGE. I have been wrestling with so many things lately. One is a life changing thing that has got me in it's grips & needless to say, I had a time with God last night... It was a good, draining time. I am hard headed and sometimes He has to just let me wrestle. He is so patient with me. Is there anything He is letting you wrestle with?Is it your babies, family, finances , your marriage? Well, He already knows the outcome you just have to release it so that He can work it out on your behalf.( Or so He told me last night. And I am seriously trying...)
How are you, whats going on in your world?? I Miss ya like crazy... I'm off to see what you been up to!!
LYLAS/B ♥ LA

A trip Home....

Hello everyone...I suppose alot of you are eather about to have spring break, or its week after next. Well , I can't wait to see pic's and hear all about it ;)  Being that we homeschool, we can do ours whenever we see fit. We will prob. take it the last week in March and take a trip to my dad's in Paragould Arkansas. I was born in Arkansas. Moved from there when I was 5ish. My grandparensts ( moms parents) moved to NM from Ar.and we followed. My dad's whole family lives in Ar. and has my whole life. He and I hadn't really known one another until just over 2 years ago. God totally reunited us. My dad is now saved and a totally different man than I knew growing up, now we see him often. He has grown very close to my dh and girls. He has a twin sister and they celebrated their b-day last weekend, so off we went to hang out for the Birthday Bash. Any of you have Southern roots?? I am here to tell you that if you do & get together "Southern Style" then your gonna grub, aint no two ways about it!!!.... I ate till I couldnt eat anything else. Let me just take you through the the meal we had for lunch Sunday...
This here is a good ole pot of Beans and Southern Cornbread...

 OH MAMA!!

Alongside this delish dish "Fried Taters n Onions" gatta have em!!

With some "Franks And Kraut"

And lastly but certainly not least, "Banana Puddin"!!

All this followed a huge batch of Biscuits n Gravy for breakfast!!

Have I told you that I have been seeing a personal trainer??? Well, it was totally worth it and I can't wait to go back for more!!  My kids are still detoxing....

What kinds of food do you eat when you go home? I just can't wait to hear about it... I have so missed you all, and I am going to go and see what has been happening in your world!! ;)

LYLAS/B!! LA

Bink Blink Blink....

Thats what my cursor is doing as Im sitting here trying to figure out what to blog about...

Do you ever have those times when you have so much going on all at once and yet you can't even think of anything to say... No?? Me neither... Lol.

Hi Ya'll , wow how I've missed your beautiful faces!!!

Lets see, where to begin...

Well, K & the boy broke up. We let him in our home and lives (against Chris's better judgement). He was right, I was very wrong. The boy was sneaking over when I went to NM to see my fam & also on Tuesday nights locking himself in K's room with her when hubbs & I were at a class at church. K got busted, & asked him to come over & take his lumps with her, he said nope & left her out to dry-alone. She cries every night, has trouble eating & sleeping, has no life, no cell, has lost all her priveledges & is on complete lockdown... He has already asked another girl to Prom, & has pic's of himself with a girl already up on his facebook.

I'm very happy it's over. I can see now that he has no character & certainly didn't care about her. This was her first love. She really loved him. My heart breaks for her, & yet I am so thankful that God was faithful & removed him. She and I are fractured. She blames me, & I am very angry. But I am also prayerful & know that God is the God of restoration & forgivness. I cling to that. Also to the fact that He say's that they have the truth in them, have been brought up knowing , so they will return to it...

I have made an appt. w/ a christian councelor next week for her. S (other former wayward daughter, ok still wayward, but Im speaking it as tho it were... ;) & I saw him today. Awesome man of God and hugely annointed. I truly believe God is guiding my steps right now because I am at the very end of myself with all of this -with both of my babies. I'm sure I'll have more to say as the next few week's unfold round here...

So much has happened, and so much deep dark pain~ I am really working towards forgivness in some other areas too, inspite of their underserving-ness ( its a word, uh-hu it is...) . I am making friends now. For about the last 7 months I wasnt the least bit intertested in moving foreward because I went through such a painful season.... Maybe not interested isnt the right phrase. I was just stuck, didn't know how... But God is placing some really wonderful girlz in my life & I am finally at a place where I can open myself up to them. Boy, relationship stuff is work huh?? I know God had work to do in me about why it was that I let myself get sucked in to such disfunction. Looking back I see it so clearly now. How exciting to realize over and over that I don't have to fight this on my own. Any of it. He is here fighting, all I have to do is know who I am in Him & stay prayerful. Ahhhh. Do that with me, okay??... Ready, Now say " Ahhhhh" & realllllly let it out.

Feel better?? I know I do. Okay, its your turn. Whats been going on in your world. I am seriously anxious to hear from you. It can be anything you wanna share. Just know, if you need encouraging or an ear (eyes) I am your girl!!

I just love getting to know y♥u better!!!

LYLAS/B ♥ LA

A Tragedy...

We lost a 14 year old boy Sunday night here in Owasso. He was with a friend & crossing the freeway that runs through town. They were crossing to go home after meeting friends at a local pizza joint & didn't want to go all the way around. 3 cars hit this boy going 65 mph and he was dead on the scene. The tragedy isn't just that he is gone, it's the uncertainty of where he will spend eternity... His mother just dropped dead in the parking lot of a local grocery store a few years ago & this was this couples only child together. The boy occasionally came to our church & after his mothers passing, some of the leaders in our youth took Jesse in. He stayed with a couple for a few moths & they got to love on him and share Gods love & purpose for his life, but he never was able to forgive God for "taking " his mom....The friend of Jesse's has barely been able to breathe since watching this happen to his friend, I cannot even imagine.. I am unable to express the sorrow that I feel for this family & for this young boy as I write this, it's one of those times when things just don't make any sense. As a Christ follower you know that the only way to get through it is to know that God is here, in the midst of all of this pain & to turn to Him, but as a child who really doesn't know God & His love n grace you are just left with all of this pain & wondering, why... And as we as believers all know, satan could very easily use this in Josh's life for a very long long time... Please join us in praying for this family, his best friend Josh & also please pray for wisdom for the couple that got very close to Jesse as they minister to this man who has lost his baby boy...

We love and miss you Jesse....

Please, tell your babies what they mean to you, & if you haven't already, make sure they have asked Jesus into their precious he♥rts. It's never to late, until it is....

Thank you all, ♥ LA

H♥ppy Frid♥y!!! ( the 13th)

We had our co-op party today and what a fun time!! Lil P ran around all hopped up on sugar and sprinkles for 2 hours...

Aint it precious!!!

We had close to 50 kids, 5 diff. age groups, totally un-organized but arn't those the best kind?? I am really growing to love this special broup of kiddo's and I remind myself daily, before I know it, lil P wont even want to decorate cookies & play tag using Moi for the base... Yep, These really are the days...
Last night my ex. MIL came into town. We met at incredible Pizza( heard of it? Its a huge pizze eatery, arcade, go karts, putt putt & prizes!!
Fun for the whole family!!) She's in town for a few day's so the older 3 will be staying and hangin with her in Tulsa... Which means we will have P for V-day!!
Soooo, what to do, whatttt to do??
Okay, now its your turn, Please let me know in your comments what your planz are for Valentines day!!
I hope you all hav a wonderful weekend!!
LYLAS/B ♥ LA

Wow, 162 posts & Missed You!!

Hi Gang!! Well, I've never celebrated my post # before, & I just noticed that I have 162. Thats a good # to celebrate huh??
As some of you have noticed, I have been MIA. We have had a busy few weeks, & also going through some things with one of my daughters has honestly T totaled me.
You just arn't ever prepared for the choices that they start to make when they get to be a teen. She's been headed south lately & as a mom & someone that loves her , has dreams for her future, it's honestly overwhelming.
I'm taking some steps to get her help, but I just have no idea where to go from here.
So I'm here letting it out with you, my blogsphere bff's.
If you want to talk more about it & you have my didgits , just text me ;)
I also wanted to share with you all how great the womens retreat was that I went on. God is sooooo Goood. He knew I was stuck - some awesome things happend there.

One thing was that I kept teasing a girl that was a personal trainer to give away 5 free sessions , well she did & guess who won... THATS RIGHT I DID!! I tripped out & so did she. Well I met with her last Thursday & she told me that she wanted to offer me 3 months of training for FREE!! 12 weeks, no moola. I told ya He is good!!! She said she just felt like she wanted to do thast for me. I was blown away. On the flip side of that, she's having me keep a calorie journal... OMGash, its soooo difficult. I just tallied it all up since last Thurs. and I am now having an apple for dinner, lol!! I also got to do some very cool things like skeet shooting.. I rocked at it!! My shoulder ached after for 2 days but it was totally worth it... What a stress reliever...Here is a pic of me during one of the talks just being silly...

I have also put a bunch of new pix on Facebook - check em out ;)

 I have been tagged in the 4th of the 4th pic( you go through your 4th folder or page in your pic's and choose the 4th pic... by Mayberry so heres the pic..

This is a pic of myself (2nd on the right, black shirt) and 4 of my girlsfriends on a girl trip to Mexico!! Soooo much dang fun.....

I would love to have another one of these!! Anyone game for a few day's in our condo in SW. Florida right on the water?? ;)

I also have to choose 4 peeps so I choose

Eye glasses & Endzones

Kam@ Faith Family&Adoption

Dana My neighbor here in Ok.

And Last but by no means leastanother very special feller Okie

Jen of Living our own Fairtytale & is 10 weeks Pregnant! Yay JEN!!!
I'm watching the bachelor right now, quick, who do you think he will choose??
 I thought it was really wierd that Melissa 's family wouldnt meet him...
 What's up with that & what do you think he thinks about it??

Okay, well, I'm off to wrestlle with Lil P, she's on my bed and fiesty!!...

I hope you all have a teriffic Tuesday!!

LYLAS/B ♥ LA

Twitter Schmitter....& Other Random Thoughts!!

Okay people, what is this "Twitter" you speak of? I have checked it out & just don't get what all the fuss is about... All I can figure out is that you post what your doing right at that moment, but isn't that what we do on facebook? (If you have facebook, whats your name on there, mine is " Leah M. Allen" feel free to add me...)
Also, on twitter its seemingly not a community, its like this random screen where you are only connected to , you? What fun is that? Please enlighten me!!

Also, are there any of you that have teen girls & had a terrible time with them, & are now back on track w/ a good relationship?? ( need encouragement!!) It's sometimes (often) feels like we won't ever recover from this time in her life. And as a parent, you can't help but think that it's something your doing wrong & you just want to fix it.. Your never prepared for this child you know & love so deeply,to turn into this person you don't even like or enjoy being around.( I'm just being honest.) And you certainly don't have a peace about where this child's bad choices & behavior will lead them... No one & nothing prepares you for what has become the hardest season of my entire life. I really miss her .
Lastly, I have found out about this precious family (from another bloggy girl friend whom I have grown to dearly love, Elaine @ Matters of the heart, listed on my blog roll).
The Macks desperately need our prayer's. Please stop over & see whats going on in their precious family, I'm certain you wont regret it.
Thanks for reading gang, & even if your just a typical lurker, please share your 2 cents with me!!
I will be away this weekend @ a much needed Women's retreat, but I will receive all of your comments right to my cell, ( which I love getting!!) & I will come in and check you all out as soon as I return ;)
Have a fabulous weekend, & stay warm!!
LYLAS/B ♥ LA

Glory, I made it!!!

Okay, what a day!! We are having a major snow/ice storm here In N.E Oklahoma...

& thank God we havn't lost power.. Last year we had a bad one & some folx were without power for upwards of 2 weeks. We also lost 5 of our 8 trees( one of the main reasons we chose this house was the yard!)

See that poor lil stump?! ^^^^

Here is a pic of our neighbors house and my rose garden...

At this point we only had a dusting, but now have quite a bit more!!

This year we are just enjoying the shut down of daily life .

The girls have had a ball playing outside

They play so well together, and are so loving and kind..

(no teenagers were hurt during the taking of this pic)

I have just chilaxed here

all nice and cozy in my great room w/ my latte, laptop & a book "The Shack" (If you have not read it, I seriously suggest you do, it is such an inspiring and deeply profound book... ) I'm not quite done with it, but it has really caused me to reverse some of my life long thinking. 10 thumbs up!. ( okay, I know we dont have 10, but if there were 5 of us here, I know you would all include your thumbs in this!!)
Also,I'm not sure if it was my laptop (pleaseeee no) or the cloud & snow cover reaking havoc with my wireless card, but I have attempted to get in here alllll day.. And I'm in, YEA, but I am having the hardest time posting pic's and getting any other windows to pull up...grrr!! I took some of the girls outside today, I hope I get can them on here...

Oh and this is a "Wordfull Wednesday" Post.. Be Sure to stop by

Angie's

for more great WW posts!!!
Big A just got home, & I made guacamole & taco's for dinner, so I'm off to get him all fixed up, then I'll be back to see what all of you-my sweet netty friends- have been up to today !! ;)
LYLAS/B ♥ LA