The Great Christmas Angel Wrap Up!

What happens when you get two women together who love the Lord and want to serve women?

You get the co-chairs for Parkside Women's Ministry!

This is Julie and I...

no, our outfits weren't planned, but weirdly/kismetly/ironically we do this matchy thing a lot.

It is almost scary.

Then, Julie and I, over a cup of coffee (with double shots) and a salad (because we try to be healthy ~ despite our caffeine addiction) we created/invited/bribed other women to join our team.

The other team members are:

Amy!

She represents the younger ladies in our church.

She is so hip and trendy...

and..

 Cecy!

Cecy represents our middle~older generation!

We like to call ourselves the Mission Possible ladies!  If you want to see a funny video that we made for our "Wrap Up" teaser...check out our Facebook page:  Parkside, Women's Ministry.  It is so funny!

For December's Mission...

Our church has a Christmas Angel tree each year.  The idea is that we find families in our church and community that are in need.  Our church congregation chooses an "ornament" off the tree and purchases gifts for our friends.

Every year we have such an amazing response from the congregation to donate gifts.  This year was no different.  So, as the Women's Ministry team ~ we decided to spend a morning wrapping the gifts to ease the burden from our staff. 

A group of women showed up on a Saturday morning to wrap the gifts.  We brought a brunch dish to share and a roll of wrapping paper ~ and wrapped away!  It was so much fun getting to know the ladies in a social atmosphere.  Thank you ladies!  Your kindness and generosity are appreciated.

Carol is a wrapping queen!  She got right to work...no chit chat for her!

Carol also volunteered at the Samaritan's Purse "Operation Christmas Box" this last November.  She and her husband went to California to the distribution center.  She said it was an amazing experience.  We love and appreciate all the she and her husband do for our church!  They are true servants of the Lord!

This is Nancy!  She brought bright conversation to the morning.  She and her husband also went to the Samaritan's Purse - distribution center.  Nancy said it is something that everyone should take the time to go and do.  She said it was a trip worth while.

Thanks for your help, Nancy!

 Julie and Betsy!

This was the first time I had ever met Betsy.  She is so much fun.  It is always nice meeting new people and making new friends.  Thank you Betsy for taking time out of your day to come help us...even if you still had your own presents waiting at home to wrap!

 This is Ms. Ellen.  Shhh....she wasn't really here this morning... or was she?

Ellen is the wife of our Shepherding Pastor...she was suppose to be home cooking and cleaning because the staff Christmas party was to be at her house that evening.

 Here are the few of us that made it through the morning from beginning to end...

Wrapping sure made us tired...

Julie and I are headed to Thanks a Latte...

Anyone else in need of an esspresso shot..or three?



The Pre & Post Effects of Christmas and It's Lovely Parties...Part 1...Yes, as with many things in our life ~ we have multiples...

Woo Hoo!  Mr. Rooter of Yavapai and Coconino Counties has been opened one full year!

This year, we celebrated Christmas dinner early with our Mr. Rooter family at our home.  I cooked a big meal for all of our employees and their families.  It was so much fun to meet wives and kids.  It is especially fun for the older generation (hee hee ~ that would be my mom!  ha ha Just had to get that jab in...) to spend time with the younger generation.  That's right...the grandkid generation.  Oh how she loves that role.  She spent time with the kids reading to them and just being a grandma.



Grandma Goof talking with Levi and Aiden.





Nate ~ He sure knows how to let his hair down (or up as it seems).

Here are a few pictures from our Mr. Rooter Family Christmas Celebration...



Nate and Denise

Yep, they've been in the blog before so they are family in many ways!
Love you guys!  You are awesome!
Starbucks anytime soon Denise?  Call me!  :)



The Kid Table

L - R:  Isaiah, Chandler, Marco, Ashley, Cameren, Shelby
Aiden is slightly visible on the left behind Chandler



Larry, our Field and Customer Service Manager

Telling a very funny story...he had to use major gestures...



This is Aiden's reaction to Larry's story.
We know Aiden, we feel your pain...



Tim, the "Boss Man"



Nate and Levi.
I love when daddy's take time to read to their kiddos. 



Boss Man does dishes!
He knows not to allow food scraps to go down the drain, and he always scrapes greasy residue into the garbage can.



Dan and Rose
Aren't they simply stunning?
We are so happy to have you working with us Dan.



Larry and Janet
aka: Pop and Grandma Goof
...other regulars to the blog...



Levi and Tyler telling stories and singing songs.
Tyler sang "Jingle Bells" for Levi. 
I totally love when kids really PLAY together.  Fun times.



Larry and Tim hanging in the kitchen...
disregard all the remodel mess...
it is the Roth Mystery House ~ a home in constant remodel!

Tim and Levi have a special bond.  They both love each other!
Here they are reading together.  I'm not sure who was reading to whom...

We are so very thankful for all of our Mr. Rooter employees and their families.  Thanks to all of the wives and kids who were so very patient the last month or so with the crazy hours.  Here is to a new year full of prosperity and good tidings!

Merry Christmas 2010!

Merry Christmas Friends!



Tyler ~ in front of the kid decorated Christmas tree.




My 4 kids plus my nephews, Chandler and Cameren
December 2010



 I'm so glad you stopped by today.  Can I just say...Martha I am not!  Not the Biblical Martha and not Martha Stewart.  Sheesh!  It is Dec. 11 and I JUST finished up the photo Christmas card.  It should go out in the mail next week.  Hopefully you will get it by New Year's! 

I saw a Martha Stewart show about creating and making your own photo Christmas cards.  Martha Stewart I am not.  They are uploaded, printed, stuffed into envelopes, and soon to be in the mail.  Enough said.

This year has absolutely flown by!  Can I get an "I hear ya sistah!"?  Anyone? 

The beauty of a blog Christmas letter is that it is totally environmentally friendly,  you can review our year in more depth (for those of you who only check the blog once a year), and I don't have to figure out which pictures are the most important because I'm limited to 1 page.  The bad thing about a blog Christmas letter...I am not limited to space!  You did remember to sit down with a hot cup of coffee, right?  If you follow the blog...you know how we like our coffee!



Tim and I, 18 married years



Let's start with Tim and I...we are still married. 

 Tim is the school board President, working for his parents at Roper Plumbing, and also working at our Mr. Rooter Plumbing business.  He hasn't had much time for hobbies lately due to work, but we are all doing well.  He tries to find time with the boys and Ashley each week.  He attends as many of Ashley's games as he is able, and loves wrestling with the boys.  I am still staying home, but I work nights in the office doing the bookwork/accounting/paying bills stuff.  I've recently discovered Zumba and think it is the coolest thing since Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream.  I'm still taking pictures every chance I get, running around with the boys, and trying to stay sane...one hair color at a time...but you can follow my chaos in the blog.





Ashley, 16



Ashley, 2010 Colonel's Daughter



Ashley is a junior in high school.  She turned 16 this past May and hit the road driving...literally!  It is actually very nice that she can drive herself to school ~ especially since we send her to school in Cottonwood!  She went to Baylor for soccer camp this summer.  She is pretty interested in their programs of study...we will see where this takes her...  She coached a U12 boys soccer team for AYSO, and she is also on the varsity soccer team at the high school.  She studies harder than anyone I know.  She is also taking a Spanish class at a community college not too far from her high school.  It makes for a couple late nights, but she is so dedicated to her academics.  I'm amazed and please daily with her.  She is such an incredible young lady.  She, along with her club members, was also nominated (and won) the Governer's Award for Excellence in Youth for her work with the Interact Club where she is President.  She also won the Colonel's Daughter contest this year.



Part of the Colonel's Daughter pageant is to ride a reigning pattern.





Brother and Sister
circa 2010





Tyler, 4



Tyler turned 4 in April. He started preschool at the elementary school this year.  He LOVES it!  He rides the bus to school and thinks he is the coolest!  He is still wearing glasses, but I think he actually likes them.  He has an amazing vocabulary...he often makes me laugh with his choice of adjectives. He's also a huge photo hound!  He loves to have his picture taken!  I often hear, "Mom, take a picture of me doing this." or "Mom, take picture of me eating." or whatever.  He just loves being in a picture.  He enjoys watching movies and playing on the swings.  He and the twins are often found in the throws of an all out karate/punching/kicking/yelling match.  (Usually it is friendly...)  We also entered him into the Little Guy contest at Ft Verde Days.  He didn't win, but he got to dress up, have his picture taken, talk to strangers, and ride in the parade.  He thought it was pretty cool!



Tyler and his hole to ????





Aiden ~ digging in the rock pile



Aiden & Dad working at the computer



Aiden....is 2.  I might just stop there!  Wow.  That kid is hilarious!  He is most definitely our gentle giant.  He goes around giving kisses and hugs to everyone, but if someone is messing with his sister or his brothers... look out!  He has a temper, he has weight, and he isn't afraid to use it!  He adores Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story 3, and anything Buzz Lightyear.  His speech is coming along.  He has a large vocabulary, but it seems I'm the only one who can understand him.  (I'm not sure how to take that...I would like to think that I'm still an adult, but I feel as if I'm sometimes only 3...)

Mom and Isaiah

Isaiah is a 2 year old with an attitude.  Not the cute attitude that some kids have...the attitude that a 15 year old has.  Boy this kid is giving me a run for my sanity!  His cuteness is often his only saving grace.  He is also delayed with speech, but he doesn't seem to know that!  In fact, I heard Ashley ask him the other night, "Do you ever stop talking?"  He replied, "No," and kept on playing in her room...driving her crazy!  She loves it though!  (She really does...so long it is him... the others...NO!)  He is my eternal soccer player, but he also likes karate.  He is often found having intense karate fights with the air, bushes, stuffed animals, his brothers, the pillow... Oh how I adore him.



Isaiah (left) and Aiden digging for gold.
I can only hope they find enough to pay for college!



Please take time to view the blog.  We have had some funny moments.  I'm hoping that I will have more posting time in the coming months...the boys were accepted into a developmental preschool for 2 1/2 hours 4 days a week starting in the middle of January.  Look for more Random Roth Ramblings!

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

Much Love!

The Roth Six

Tim, Robyn, Ashley, Tyler, Aiden, & Isaiah

(Robyn also Facebooks...There are infrequent posts there too...)



Ashley on parade day...being escorted by the Calvary



Tyler ~ Our very own "Tom Sawyer"







Tyler and Ashley, 2010



The Rain is Bittersweet....

The Rain is Bittersweet...

A short commentary...

by a mom of a girl and 3 boys (but the girl wasn't home)

I Love the Rain!

I love the way it sounds,

I love the way it looks,

I love the way it makes my skin feel,

I love the way it turns my grass green,

I love the way it feeds my plants.

I don't necessarily love the way it makes my hair curl...

The rain is bittersweet...

I love that my boys aren't afraid to play in the rain...

or the mud!

I'm not so sure I like the fact that they found a sink hole in the pasture...

The rain is bittersweet!

Jessey does not like the rain.

She does not like the way it sounds.

She does not like the way it looks.

She does not like the way it feels.

Her hair is naturally straight...lucky dog!

I love that the "Mud Blog Monster" is not afraid to sludge through my house leaving a trail that looks like a giant slug slimed his way in the back door, through the living room, down the hallway, into two different bedrooms....and finally resting in a bathroom (already occupied by another sludge like creature that chose the crawl through a window...covered in mud...yes, the walls also appear as if a giant slug slithered up them!)

I love that the Mud Blog Monster has mud up to eyeballs, literally.  It has already started to dry.  I don't think he will cover his face quite so completely next time.

The rain is bittersweet!

I love that he is willing to roll in the mud and get dirty!

The rain is bittersweet!

Guess I'll need to get out my tiara...again!

Rain + Dirt + Boys = Dirty Muddy House

The rain is bittersweet!

Life Interrupted...

Please excuse my absence. 

My son told me, "Mom, this house is a mess.  We need to clean it."

Lucky for him...I heard the "we". 

We will be back shortly...

after we...

sweep

drink coffee

mop

drink coffee

dust

eat snack

(grapes, tomatoe slices, & strawberries)

disinfect bathrooms

drink coffee

change sheets

drink coffee

make beds

whine about cleaning (me ~ not Tyler)

wash windows

drink coffee

pick up dirty laundry

create a random blog post and waste precious cleaning time

clean kitchen

* wonder where Aiden and Isaiah are hiding

(found them out in the pasture with the "nice cows")

I thank the Lord that He was with them...they aren't always "nice cows"...

(then I found them out in the other pasture with the chickens)

take out trash

wonder why the heck I fall into my child's neat freak desire

He is bummed.  He has to work ALL morning.  Wednesday's are usually for a picnic in the park or story time at the library.  Bummer...for all of us.  We are here cleaning.  I hate cleaning.

Yes, it is a tiara.  Yes, they are calling me Princess Mommy.  Of course I told them they had to call me that!



Titus 2 tells us to be busy at home.  I hate it when God talks to me through my children.  It just doubles the guilt.  Clearly I wasn't listening to Him so he spoke through my little 4 year old boy.

Yes Lord.  I hear you.  I will submit and obey.

Oh yeah...about the blog post and wasteing time...

and coffee drinking...