Build Wisely

Read on!

2012-01-26T12:49:00.000-06:00

I just finished a great book...about books! (yes, I guess I am a nerd.) But really, I was staying up at night to read it and could hardly put it down! It is called Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson. It is written from a Christian worldview, so I was expecting lists of wholesome books to read my kids. I also got a little bit of research, thrown in with a whole bunch of love of reading! There are different genres listed, including books to introduce your kids to classical music and composers, art and artists, poetry, history, fantasy, classics, award-winners, nature, spiritual development and more. I don't homeschool, but with these book recommendations, I think I would have a good start! I was thrilled to see many books that we already own (from gifts, garage sales, or goodwill) in the book, plus I'm excited to see which ones the library has, and which ones I can shop for!

I also recently read Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson (the mother of the author above). It is SO good. Another one that I didn't want to read too fast because I didn't want it to be over! Just a very gentle, biblical, inspiring perspective on motherhood. I will be reading it again! Sally mentions exposing your children to beautiful music, art, etc., and I had no idea where to start, because I'm not very educated in those areas. Then I read Sarah's book, and now I know where to look for resources on music and art! Yahoo! A great quote from the book, regarding composers, art, and exposing your children to what God has made, and how that makes Him more personal and real to them: "...and He has also inspired the creative work of men and women through the ages who sought to respond to the beauty they saw around them with beauty of their own." I love that! I couldn't really articulate why things inspire me to create, but that's it!

~~~~~~~
There's been a lot of pretending going on--this is a 'game' (everything is a game--they ask each other if they want to play 'that polly pocket game' that 'house game', or in this case, 'that anaconda game')

The little ones have been having so much fun that when I tell them it's time to pick up the big kids from school--they whine and don't want to leave, and Snuggle-bug even starts suggesting (by name!) other people I could call to pick the kids up so she won't have to leave her 'game.' Funny!

This animal Go Fish has gotten very popular, as well. 'Narwhal' is now in the common vocabulary of my 3-year-old. :)

And this is our michelin-tire marshmallow baby...

Cookies, and Gingerbread, and Trees, Oh My!

2012-01-21T21:48:00.049-06:00

We finally got our Christmas tree on Dec. 16! The kids were excited as we packed into the car.

Lil Sugar was especially thrilled as we selected a tree and watched Hubby cut it down.

I was especially thrilled as we drove home with the tree hanging out of the trunk of the car.

You have never seen a tree get decorated so fast--I could barely keep up getting boxes of ornaments out!

The majority of ornaments on the tree were of the non-breakable variety--some glass ones were displayed elsewhere:

The little girls helped me put out these pretty purple ones--we had fun doing some different things with them.

This picture was classic for us--Speedy's mismatched socks; trying to get Lil Sugar to quit crying; trying to just get Snuggle-bug to just be in the same room as the others.

I purchased a clearance mini gingerbread village last year. I don't know if it started out edible, but Hubby had to use a hacksaw to get the pieces apart.

Honey was eating little candy balls about as fast as she could, but also meticulously lined the roof of her house with lines of little circle candies.

They had fun, but really they were more interested in eating than decorating.

Princess' house

Speedy's house

the finished tree

Sprinkles are interesting...the kids always clamor to put sprinkles on the cookies, but then they only eat the ones that have frosting. Except Honey, she is really a sprinkle connoisseur.

Princess really, really wanted to make postonia shaped cookies (i.e., poinsettia) and I finally found our 'sun' cookie cutter to use. I was out of red food coloring, though, so what we ended up with looked kind of maroon. If the sprinkles hadn't been used up, we may have put some yellowish sprinkles in the center. (Actually, I just thought of that now, but will make a note to self for next year!)

Change is the only thing that stays the same

2012-01-21T13:23:00.000-06:00

On just figuring out what motivates your toddler/gets your baby to sleep/interests your child/works for discipline-and then someone grows up and it changes:

"...I try to think of it as a growth spurt. It is like all my children have a growth spurt at the same time and develop new needs...This is only a problem when Mom doesn't have a growth spurt herself...
You know those pain scales at the hospital, where they rate your pain from one to ten? Well, pretend that you are screaming, 'Thirteen, thirteen! Fifteen!' What that should tell you is that it is time to restart the whole thing, stop screaming, and just deal with the fact that this is now the new 'one.' Start over, and accept the new 'normal.'"
--Rachel Jankovic, Loving the Little Years

Perspective

2012-01-20T20:51:00.008-06:00

"If I had only one child, these sorts of excited inquiries into 'Whatcha doin'?' followed by the 'Can I help you, Mama?' would be received with an enthusiastic and loving welcome.

But when there is a whole chorus of voices and a whole army of chairs moving into the kitchen, bringing out the enthusiastic welcome is a lot harder. I have to adapt. It is not their problem. Individually they are being precious and curious and excited. As their mother, I am responsible to see them individually, even when they are presenting themselves to me en masse."

--Rachel Jankovic, Loving the Little Years

9 months

2012-01-19T21:47:00.000-06:00

Lil Sugar is 9 months old already! She is clapping, trying to move, and wailing and flailing when she thinks she is 'stuck' somewhere.

Here is her snorty face--a good view of those 2 bottom teeth!

Lil Sugar is still getting plenty of attention around here. She is up to 23 lbs, 7 oz. She will sometimes sleep up to 7 hours at night, but she is still an early bird and starts being active and making noise around 6 am many days.

Christmas This & That

2012-01-19T21:12:00.000-06:00

I'll admit it-my blog needs some focus. But, here's to delayed and out of order posting.

We are working our way through the alphabet at home--Honey and Snuggle-bug are quick to tell me which letter we need to make a craft for next, but they don't like to practice writing the letters very much. For 'E,' we did Evergreen--painted with pine branches (a very messy and short-lived experiment!)

and made wreaths by cutting out the middle of paper plates and gluing on buttons.

'F' was Flower (poinsettia, to be exact).

'G' was Gift--Jesus is God's gift to us. We tried a little watercolor resist, to make the baby stand out inside the gift outline. Eh.

'H' was Holly, but I don't think I took a picture. I made a leaf shape by cutting up a sponge, but it was difficult to use. The berries were made with round sponge brushes I already had.

Yummy Family Faves

2012-01-19T18:42:00.002-06:00

Peanut Butter Snack Mix
Melt 1/4 c margarine, 1/3 c PB and 2T brown sugar on stove.
Stir well. Pour over 7c of bite size cereals and mix well.
Bake on cookie sheet 45 min or so at 250 degrees.
Let cool on wax paper. Add m&m's and raisins, if desired.

CORNFLAKE TREATS
½ c light corn syrup
¾ c sugar
½ c peanuts (optional)
¾ c peanut butter
½ tsp vanilla
2 c cereal (we often add more)

Mix corn syrup and sugar in large saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts, peanut butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Fold in cereal flakes until completely covered. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on waxed paper. Refrigerate 5 min. or longer before serving. Serve at room temperature. Makes about 30.

YEASTED WAFFLES

1 ¾ c milk
8 Tbsp butter or margarine, cut into 8 pieces
2 c flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over med-low until butter is melted. Cool until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add to batter and whisk until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours. (or less, it just gives it time to rise). Heat waffle iron. Whisk batter to recombine. Bake according to waffle iron instructions. Makes four 9-in squares or seven 7-in round waffles.

Homemade Play-Do & Wipes

2012-01-19T18:31:00.002-06:00

I'm finally getting around to posting my favorite homemade play-do recipe! I think it's so much easier to clean up than the boughten stuff. It's a fun color and smell, too! Halving this recipe makes enough for my 2 older kiddos to play with.

Kool-Aid Play-do
2-1/2 c flour
1 c salt
2 pkg unsweetened kool-aid
3 tsp veg. oil
2 c water

1. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. In saucepan, bring water to boil. Turn off heat and add oil.
3. Pour oil and water mixture into bowl of dry ingredients. Blend and knead until well mixed. (It will be hot!)

We usually keep ours in a margarine tub in the fridge for months.

Homemade Baby Wipes
Cut a roll of paper towels in half to make 2 short rolls. (I like Bounty select-a-size)
For a container, I use a round wipes container that the cheap wipes come in--I've had it for 4 years, I think!

2 c water
1-1/2 tsp rubbing alcohol
1 Tbsp baby shampoo
2 Tbsp baby oil

Mix together in container; remove center tube from paper towels; put lid on and turn upside down for a few minutes to get an even soak.

You can tweak the amounts of ingredients, depending on how wet, soapy, etc. you prefer your wipes.

Eureka!

2012-01-14T12:23:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't find my Loving the Little Years book by Rachel Jankovic that I purchased in September. It is still AWOL, apparently along with some school portraits and other things I can't find. My sister gave me a new copy for Christmas, though, so I put it in a safe spot by my bed and started reading it immediately so I wouldn't have the chance to lose it again! It is one of those books I made myself read slowly, limiting to a chapter or 2 per night--because I didn't want the book to be over! It is funny, relates right to where I'm at in life, and it really makes you think about your attitude, heart and actions toward your children.

I've had the book sitting by the computer so I could share some quotes from it, and 2-3 of my kids at different times have said, 'Hey, mom, you found that book you were looking for!' or something to that effect. You see, I had promised whoever found it a special treat! And shown them pictures of the cover online. I guess they are paying attention sometimes!

In one chapter, Rachel talks about the repetition of motherhood, like telling people to stop doing things all day long. She goes on to describe a report of a day like this as being bad, bad, bad, everyone was ugly, we flunked today, etc, etc.

"Imagine you give a report like this to your husband at the end of the day while collapsed on the couch making tired faces. Then imagine that he asks in his unhelpful way if you were spanking for it. (Don't pretend you haven't had a conversation like this some time--I know all about it!) Usually the answer would be not really, or very little. Because when you come right down to it, you know exactly who needs to be spanked, and it is you. Because if you are the teacher and none of the students are succeeding, you need to be doing a better job. You need to think of new ways to explain the lessons. Change up the terminology a bit. Give some illustrations."

I was laughing and feeling convicted at the same time! I really enjoyed this book, and it is changing my outlook on things. I'll share more quotes later...

Birthday project

2012-01-11T22:07:00.001-06:00

I decided to try to make Snuggle-bug a backpack carrier for her baby doll as a birthday present. Of course, I was making this the night before her birthday again. :) I used a basic drawstring bag design, and using the baby, designed the harness part. It took some re-sewing in the craft room, but I think it turned out pretty well. It works better if she is hauling a small board book in the backpack part, to give it some weight in the right place. For some reason, the bunny uses it more than the baby.

If I hadn't been so rushed (or knew what I was doing better) I may have taken some pictures as I went to give a decent how-to. I cut 2 of my leg/tummy support; put wrong sides together, sewed, then turned inside out and ironed. And then realized I should have sewed my shoulder straps into that as I went, to avoid stitched rectangles showing when I sewed them in later. (I hate switching colors in my sewing machine. I don't know why. I am perhaps the world's laziest sewer.)

Then I decided where to place the harness on the bag--sewed the edges on to each side of the right side of one side of the bag. Then sewed the bag together. Using the doll, tried to get the placement right, then sewed the shoulder straps in; then the casing for the ribbon backpack straps, etc.

Anyway, you get the idea. :)

Snuggle-bug is 3!

2012-01-10T22:07:00.000-06:00

(on Dec. 20.)

almost 2 weeks old

Snuggle-bug is turning into a lively little girl. She is a go-getter, not afraid to do what she wants to do, do it herself, and keep after it till it's done. She loves playing babies, strawberry shortcakes, polly pocket princess, and little ponies. She has gotten very brave at riding her bike down to the dead-end and back. She is very independent, likes making others laugh, and still craves skin-to-skin contact--when we are reading or lying down for a nap, she wants her tummy or back rubbed. She shares a bed with Princess, and likes to rub her feet or legs on Princess. Pretty cute. Snuggle-bug is excellent at playing games, especially Memory. Charades or Hide the Thimble--she still tells her word or her hiding place, though.

Love you, big girl, you make life interesting and fun!

8 months

2012-01-03T08:02:00.001-06:00

on Dec. 11:

This is a view of Lil Sugar's first 'trick.' She scrunches her face up and sniffs real loud in and out her nose. Which results in the rest of the family making the same face and sounds, trying to get her to do it again. :)

Nothing really happening in the mobility area yet, but her balance is good while she is sitting and she can stretch way out to reach toys.

It's for the kids

2012-01-02T19:52:00.000-06:00

After we got home from Thanksgiving, the mad dash toward Christmas began, spurred on by the kids continually asking when we would put lights up; get out their snowglobes; get a tree; etc, etc. We (and by we, I mean Hubby with a little assistance from the kids) did get lights up by the first week of December.

There was a little bit of leaf-pile jumping.

And I found some handy notes that I wrote myself after Christmas last year. If only I'd read and taken heed of this several weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving! See the first thing on the list? :)

Thanksgiving

2012-01-02T15:49:00.000-06:00

We went deer hunting on the way to Thanksgiving.

(Our van was towed and fixed up there, we finally got it back on Christmas Eve--yay!)

We had a good time with Hubby's side of the family, 39 of us in all. Lots of good eating,

I'm not sure what Princess is so upset about, this is Lil Sugar's 1st Thanksgiving picture. She had a bite of pumpkin pie.

Snuggle-bug and one of her double cousins, Emmit Smith.

The Turkey Bowl. Everyone takes the competition and the uniforms very seriously.

Lil Sugar had to stay on the sidelines this year.

Movie Night: Mary Poppins. We've been hearing 'Supercalifragilistic...' ever since.

There was also a 4 mile walk, putting up fence, collecting and shelling corn, one family sleeping out in a tent (by choice!), an intense soccer game, a talent show, and an appetizer contest.

Many of the boys were out around some torn-down silos, collecting old hardware and sorting it by type, then creating works like this:

Fun times! And as usual, I can't believe I didn't take more pictures!

Halloween rewind

2011-12-05T22:56:00.000-06:00

I don't think I got around to posting Halloween costumes. It was pretty simple this year, which is always nice for me.

Always working on something

2011-12-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

I never know what Princess will come up with next. I often see her busy at something, scribbling away, or coloring. Sometimes she presents us with what she's done, like this sorting page she made for Honey and Snuggle-bug to use.

Or I just find papers with interesting things written on them, all over the house, like this one:

The play doctor kit was out--apparently Lil Sugar had a checkup. {grin}

Princess has also written out an extensive Christmas list for each child in the family. And she's been drawing horses--I need to scan some of her pictures.

December...already?

2011-12-01T15:14:00.000-06:00

We are typically out of town the whole Thanksgiving, and come home to find everything is decorated for Christmas except our house! Honey keeps asking wistfully, when we will get out our...stockings...snow globes...tree...etc. I was excited to get out our new advent wreath last night to light for the first time. At Honey's urging, we got the stockings hung this afternoon. Driving around town, she said she didn't like to see other people's Christmas decorations out. I asked why not, and she said it was because it reminded her that we didn't have ours up yet! Hubby and the kids put up a few outdoor lights this week, and on the way home from Awana last night, the kids remarked that it was amazing that we had lights up before our neighbor, Keith, for once! Too funny. We are doing the Focus on the Family advent devotions found here. We started some 'count up trees' for the little girls today. Maybe I'll have pics of all that later...but for now, catching up on some fallish things...

..like God's gorgeous handiwork. The colors and textures were so pretty!

...why yes, Honey is wearing gloves and flip-flops! One finally broke and she has switched to her winter shoes--a pair of crocs.

...the rhyme Princess learned at school and can't stop singing...

...Princess working hard on her scrapbook--a kit she received as a birthday gift. It's SO fun to see her take off and work on this herself!

...And of course, some cute baby pictures.

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

2011-11-23T14:58:00.000-06:00

November 8th we got to celebrate Hubby's 35th birthday with an extended family party. That's a big fire on that cake!

Getting help blowing out candles from all the kids.

Hubby requested a yummy meal of chicken strips, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner rolls (which were the fail of the evening), cherry turnovers, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was my first, and turned out yummy!

Serving a layer cake is one of his favorite things! Love you, Hubby, life is much more fun with you in it!

7 months old!

2011-11-21T10:02:00.001-06:00

Where is the time going??

This Lil Sugar is such a social butterfly, she lights up when anyone talks to her, and she doesn't like to be alone. She has that full-bodied baby smile: where is starts at her face and becomes a whole happy wiggle. She is very curious about everything, and doesn't like to be bored, either. She wants to have a toy to chew on and check out with her hands. She also likes grabbing hair, necklaces, and earrings. Or her toes, if she can get to them.

Lil Sugar is sitting very well, and can sometimes reach waaay out for toys without falling over.

...and sometimes not.

This little girl is an early bird--ready to play and talk before her momma is in the morning, but it is hard to resist that smile! Often, Daddy or a sibling will hear her talking and bring her out to play while I catch a few more minutes of sleep. Love you, Lil Sugar, it's already hard to imagine what it was like before you arrived! Can't wait to see how your personality begins to come out.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-11-18T14:37:00.000-06:00

The kids started in by themselves--drawing their faces on with a red Sharpie, which seemed to be the most fun for them! I think they each made at least 2 faces, just to use the marker more!

Princess's kitty; Snuggle-bug's jack o'lantern.

Speedy's face; Honey's little jack o'lantern; Lil Sugar's pumpkin.

Lots of punkins in a row!

Fall treats

2011-11-16T13:54:00.000-06:00

Princess helped me make sugar cookies...can you guess what her favorite part of helping was?

~~~
This girl got some garage-sale rollerblades a couple weeks ago, and I can't believe how she has taken off on them! I had my doubts when she wanted to try, but she has done great! Yes, she falls sometimes, but I have never heard her cry about it. She even rollerbladed back from church one Sunday! (long story) Go, Princess, go! (Thanks, Grammy!)

The rest of the punkins

2011-11-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

We went with PAT to a perfect little farm: animals to pet, a playground, a story around the fire, and a hayride to the pumpkins. What a gorgeous evening in late October!

2011-11-12T21:35:00.001-06:00

Conversation with my 4-year old tonight:

she: "Do you have an ipod?"
me: "No, I just have a phone."
she: "Is it a touch phone?"
me: "No, it doesn't have a touch screen."

How does she even know about these things already??
~~~~
Here she is, Goldilocks, trying to pick the perfect pumpkin. She would pick one up, say, "nope, too heavy." then drop it and run to pick up another one.

Ahhh, the perfect size at last.

Margin

2011-11-10T22:31:00.000-06:00

So, after five kids, I do try to allow a little extra time to get things done or get somewhere. Seems we still end up rushing everywhere--always a leaky diaper, someone needs to go #2 right as we're walking out the door, forgotten lunch box, need mittens, etc. Even talking a simple walk takes awhile. Last week, I had the two littlest ready to go in the stroller, the three older finally ready with their bikes. I start putting down the garage door, and managed to smash my finger in between a couple of the panels. I felt like crying, but I had gotten everyone ready, and we were going to take that walk! Really, just when I think we've had every possible thing slow us down, something new will happen. I went inside and got an ice pack, laid it on my finger on top of the stroller. I try to jog a little bit, and soon Honey is in the middle of the street boo-hooing and hollering, "Mooommmyyy! Waiiittt!" because she 'can't go that fast.' Anyway, the rest of the walk proceeded in mostly the same fashion. At one point, Honey had a burst of energy and got ahead of us, naturally, at an intersection. Her training wheels are so loud she can't hear when I holler at her to stop. I always wonder what the people in their house think when they hear it! So, we get a block or two from home, and I realize I lost the ice pack at some point. A homemade gift, I really considered letting it lie. I figured the kids wouldn't let it go, so we turned around to look for it. I'm not sure walks have much stress-relieving benefit for me right now! I still can't feel part of my finger.

I'm thankful for smiles like this that help me forget my silly troubles:

Aggravation

2011-11-09T09:59:00.001-06:00

Yes, that was my kid walking in to school on this 39 degree morning, wearing a short-sleeve and carrying his jacket, with his shoelaces untied and a rooster tail in his hair. If only you knew what a battle it was to get to that point...last night he said he had too much laundry to put away--he was never putting it away again, and so-and-so's mom doesn't make HIM put HIS laundry away! This morning, all he could find were some slim jeans. He couldn't get his shoes on--every time bent over, the jeans made him fall down. I told him to change--he said he didn't have any others, because I wasn't doing enough laundry. I found him a pair and told him to hustle. He boo-hooed to the van, because he couldn't untie his shoes, and I made him carry so much stuff. THan he said it was all because I told him to hurry, and that makes him go slower. And he was NOT going to tie his shoes!

Oct 29

Here is the stinker--proud to lose his second tooth. Thankfully, the tooth fairy was prompt this time!

Singing at church

2011-11-08T09:36:00.001-06:00

I'm going to attempt uploading my first YouTube video here--it is of Princess and Hubby singing 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High' at church. Princess had been wanting to do this for several months, and I don't think she was too nervous. It was fun to see!

This was 10/16/11. And yes, I am filming with my camera, with a squirmy, gurgling baby on my lap. :)
Enjoy!

Working the big hair

2011-11-08T09:01:00.000-06:00

Start with fine curls, add humidity, and mix with playing outside:

10/8/11

The apple doesn't fall far...

2011-10-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

Lil Sugar, 4 1/2 months old

Hubby, 4 months old

Six months!

2011-10-26T07:20:00.000-05:00

Lil Sugar is growing so fast!

She has almost mastered sitting alone.

She likes to throw herself back when she doesn't get her way.

She has a sweet smile and loves to be around mommy, daddy, or her siblings.

She is getting squirmy and busy, and maneuvered the walker to the overflowing paper recycling.

Success!

Very grabby, and I could NOT distract her from the pretty flowers that I wanted in the background, but not in her mouth!

Lil Sugar is also very interested in her toes--grabbing and sticking them in her mouth, to the delight of her siblings. She LOVES toys, grabs at them excitedly when she gets the chance. She was 20 lbs, 5 oz and 26.5 in at her 6-mo checkup.

Walking the walk

2011-10-25T09:09:00.000-05:00

I sat down to do a 6-month post of Lil Sugar Saturday, and I found that baby Jude had passed away. His 67 days on earth were spent in the hospital, but the faith, trust, and transparency his parents showed on their journey is amazing. Join me in praying for the family he left behind, and in praising God that He is beyond our understanding. Read Jude's story here. Here is one of Mandy's posts that was especially inspiring to me.

Just For Fun

2011-10-19T23:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes pictures of Lil Sugar have expressions that just remind me of pictures of her siblings...

Princess, 9 months

Speedy, 5 months

The baby sister

2011-10-14T08:07:00.000-05:00

Who would've thought it possible for a baby to be so spoiled by her sister? Honey is nearly constantly by Lil Sugar's side: holding her, carrying her (!), snuggling, talking, playing, and sweetly, reading to her--in this picture, it's Rapunzel. SO cute to hear Honey 'read' the books, she's quite good at remembering lots of details!

Lil Sugar is patient with mom and sisters as we dress her up for pictures in gaudy bows.
Ready for a football game!

After a wedding...

My baby is 8!

2011-10-13T22:11:00.001-05:00

This post has been a long time coming--I don't think I want to admit that my firstborn is already eight years old!

Self-portrait

We had her first 'friend' party on Saturday (her birthday was Sunday Sept. 25.) It was a cowgirl/horse theme, so she dressed in her favorite cowgirl outfit, complete with the hat with streamers and birthday crown on it. We decorated with lots of toy horses and bandanas. That's a huge chocolate chip cookie on the tray, Princess also requested homemade chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream and punch. (Served in a big bowl with a ladle, since we don't have a punch bowl. I found one on a garage sale a week later for $5, so I'm ready next time!)

The girls made flower clips--their choice of two styles: one like Honey's, or a fabric one like on Princess' hat.

It is so much fun to see her interests and personality starting to shine! Princess, you are a caring, sweet, sympathetic, energetic girl, and I can't wait to see what the Lord does in your life!

I married into a family with a 'don't tear the wrapping paper' policy. Princess has embraced it, and Hubby gladly gave her a sharp knife to cut the tape on her gifts at her family party on the 25th. Strawberry shortcake was the dessert of choice for this party!

And...strawberry cupcakes with aqua frosting and sugar glittery sprinkles to school on Monday.

I love you Princess, you are my beautiful, special girl, and I am so thankful you are in our lives!

Inspired

2011-10-11T14:39:00.001-05:00

I see many shades of color in the trees...feathery stems boosting hundreds of round buds and shallow fringed flowers against the sky...bright pops of color contrasted with green foliage...breeze blowing leaves above me randomly while white lines of rope stretch in a pattern...I am inspired to create when I see the Creator's hand at work around me.

The urge to layer color and texture combinations sends ideas for a scrapbook page...a card...a quilt...a journal entry swirling through my mind. But I will hold the ideas in my head and heart for later...when the diapers have been changed, children fed, laundry put away, dishes done. It's enough to know that my God loves to create, and I am created in his image, and for now I am creating love in a home for my family.

linking up to Just Write at the EO...

Bows!

2011-10-04T20:57:00.001-05:00

I got the itch (after the 4th girl!) to make some fabric flowers and hair clippies. I thought it would also be a fun craft for Princess' birthday party, so here are some things I learned, that you may have known for a long time!

So...those stretchy baby headbands--the big flowers are sometimes barrettes clipped onto the headband! I always thought they were sewn or glued.

And, they make headbands with a loop of ribbon that you can slide a hair clip onto--fun! My girls were all over the barrettes and have been doing lots of accessorizing since.

I picked up supplies at Hobby Lobby (the headbands and hair clips in the jewelry section; the crocheted flowers and brads in the scrapbook section.) I later came across this website, the Hair Bow Company, that has tons of supplies for hair accessories! (I didn't order anything from them yet, but it sure looks fun!)

I first tried layering brads, buttons, and crocheted flowers and securing it with hot glue. So far they have held up well:

I then tried this fabric flower tutorial. Fabric circles are folded and overlapped, and hot glued onto a circle of felt.

I like the volume of this flower, but I had a hard time getting even spacing for the petals (might have been better with just one fabric print) and I ended up with burnt finger tips and glue everywhere.

I took a little running stitch through the bottom of the layers because I really didn't trust it to stay together!

Princess wore it to school one day and the button started coming unglued, so I ended up sewing it on.

Then I tried this tutorial. Can you tell my models are having fun? These flowers go together easily, all sewing. I did sew them to an oval of felt and then sewed the clip to the felt. I'm tempted to skip the felt and sew the flower directly to the clip to see how that works.

These flowers start out nice and floppy, but are getting kind of flat now. I want to try adding a second, smaller layer of petals to increase the foof factor. Or larger circles? I used a lid from a child's restaurant cup to trace around. added: I found this foofier flower I want to try! And here's a link to a gathered flower.

No, Snuggle-bug is not on her way to church or a dance recital, but to a football game. That's right, we spent more time finding tights that we liked than we did putting on team colors.

One more type of clip:

Next time I will not put the ribbon over the bottom prong--it was too difficult to slide into hair like this.

But it took about 10 seconds, because I used this adhesive ribbon (I guess that's what you call it!) So it stuck without any glue!

One more good bow tutorial from Make it and Love it.

I got 2 sets of ribbon like this in a grab-bag pre-packaged thing of scrapbook supplies--it was on sale, so I think it was $9.99 for a bunch of stickers and embellishments!

That was the same trip to Michael's where I found an album kit on clearance for $9.99. I would have been happy with just the album for that price, but it came with some stickers and six sheets of paper. I got home and opened it, and it actually came with THIRTY-six sheets of paper!

A Fun Day

2011-09-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

...back at the end of August, the kids and I, along with some aunts, uncle, and cousins went for the zoo's free day. I'm glad I expected a big crowd, because it was PACKED.

But let me back up, before breakfast that day, Speedy wanted me to pull his wiggly tooth. (insert heebie-jeebie shiver here). Still attached too much. But lo and behold, it came out while he was eating his cereal! His first lost tooth.

Up close to the hippos--we try to visit their tank first thing, before it gets too dirty to see through.

Aww, cousins. Snuggle-bug was so excited to see J. that she was dancing and leaping around and singing.

I thought I took a video of the baby giraffe running around the pen (giraffes are SO fascinating when they run!) But apparently I am not very good at it, because it was just this one still shot. :)

Lil Sugar is thoroughly enjoying her first time at the zoo...snoozing in front of the penguins.

Uncle D. was a hit--he bought pellets for the kiddos to feed the kids. Or they may have been adult goats--I don't really know.

Who needs to look at animals when you can check out your own piggies?

It turned out pretty hot, can you tell how sweaty and tired we are? There were also misters to walk through in many places.

We were so hot that I called ahead on the trip home to see if we could get some slushies made. Super Hubby had some of is Super Summer Slushies waiting for us, and they were SOOO refreshing! Just what we needed. (Don't ask what is in them, it's not good for you at all.)

Kids and other Random Things

2011-09-26T22:19:00.001-05:00

I thought I was doing well several weeks ago, finally getting out a simple craft--paper plate birds. Honey and Snuggle-bug were enthused. When it came time to attach the legs, the glue wasn't cutting it, so Honey and I went to the other room to staple them on. I came back to see Snuggle-bug with a curl stretched out and CUTTING IT OFF! {sniff} Look at all those ringlets on the floor!

I am thankful she has curly hair to hide it, and it was limited to the bang area, where her hair had been hanging in her face anyway.

She is the youngest one to try this: the other two girls were 4 and 5 or so when they did it. Princess has also cut her little pony's tail. I don't know why this is so fascinating! But I remember cutting Barbies hair when I was younger, and fur on stuffed animals...and I either cut, or convinced my sister to cut, her own curly hair--way short bangs that were much more obvious than Snuggle-bug's! If I can find a picture of that 'do, I will post it eventually.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I read a great post about children's messes and misbehaviors, and our response to them here. A great reminder to remember that they are creative and will find something to do--if we don't provide something!
~~~~~~~~~~~
The heat has finally broken here, and we've been enjoying some GORGEOUS days! But it is supposed to be in the upper 80s again this week. We're used to the variety here, for example, the kids have had two soccer practices and one game canceled so far this fall. One practice was canceled due to the heat; 2 weeks later, it was 'too cold' to practice! The game was called due to storms and lightning.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I feel like I can get nothing done during the day anymore! Tonight in one hour or less after the kids were in bed, I was able to get 2-3 things done that had been sitting out all day to be done. Maybe I should change my plan of attack for housework...
~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been really excited to read Rachel Jankovic's Loving the Little Years, I have heard good things and the excerpts I've read have been great. It's about motherhood with babies and toddlers, something I could really relate to! I finally had swagbucks to cash in, so got my book in the mail from Amazon a week and a half ago or so. I cannot find the thing! That is a bad case of mommy brain. Sheesh. It's kind of driving me bonkers trying to think where I moved it to, and looking in all the places I can think of, over and over again.

Sunflowers!

2011-09-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

{love}

Lil Sugar in the kitchen

2011-09-21T20:35:00.000-05:00

This girl was lonely in the other room one evening, so I brought her in to help me cook. She's smiling, but it was a tear-filled smile, just like she was so relieved to be back in my sight again! It was sweet, but sad at the same time.

Sept. 6th: This girl was just not settling down, I wondered if she was hungry, so gave her some cereal. She actually seemed to like it! That is very unlike my other kiddos, who usually grimace and spit it out! She's only had it sporadically since then, and just eats it so-so.

What a smartie--already doing the sign language for 'more.' (just kidding!)

Umm.....ew.

2011-09-21T20:17:00.000-05:00

I found this prehistoric-looking thing dried up in our basement. A lizard? I don't know. It was pretty small, like it could have fit on a half-dollar.

I got bit by something in August. This was Day 2.

Day 3, I decided to go ahead and go to the doctor. They didn't diagnose it as anything but a bite, and I don't remember being bitten. I got a tetanus shot and a round of antibiotics, and it cleared up.

These creepy-crawlies are for my sister, who was doubtful that we have brown recluses. I'm pretty sure that's what these are. And I've seen them in every house I've lived in.

Oh, the memories...

2011-09-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

The weather finally cooled off to where it doesn't feel like you're sitting in an oven, so we were eating on the screened porch one night, with plans to burn some branches and have s'mores. The 'stacker' marshmallows were on sale, and the kids had asked several times to try them, so I bought a package. I still prefer the regular kind, but I digress. Honey wouldn't eat her veggies yet again, so Hubby was talking up the s'mores and how fun and special they'd be, and how she would be missing out. Nope, she was still not convinced to eat the veggies.

I went to the garage to find the roasting stick, while preparations were made in the fire pit (AKA the hole in the ground that could be a swimming pool. Scroll down this post if you don't recall what it looks like.) All of a sudden, I hear bloody-murder screaming. I'm a mom, I took off running because I was dreadfully certain someone had fallen in the fire and had disfiguring burns all over their body. I round the pool to find Hubby checking over Speedy. Hubby gives me a look that says, 'Crazy woman, why are you running out here out of your wits?' and says, "he just got stung."

Phew. Anyway, apparently, some paper wasps had a nest in the rusted out side of the pool, and when Hubby pushed himself out of the side he disturbed them. Speedy was the nearest victim, stung once on his ear and once on the thumb. He said it felt like a thorn was in his ear. I put on a paste of meat tenderizer, and needless to say, we made our s'mores in the microwave! Hubby took wasp spray and attacked the wasps as they continued to fly out of their nest--he said he counted at least 20. Speedy's ear swelled up to twice the size and was sticking out perpendicular to his head. I was worried about what kids at school would say the next day--but it had returned to normal when he woke up. (Yes, I did check to make sure he was breathing before I went to bed, that he hadn't had a reaction that caused his throat to swell up.) (No, I am not a hypochondriac.) (Well, maybe just a little one.)

Birthday haircut

2011-09-12T22:22:00.009-05:00

Part of Princess' birthday gift was going to get a haircut at the salon with mom. We did it early, and she didn't look like she was having much fun during the cut, but was all smiles afterward!

This is before, the waves are from her french braids.

And, after. She really, really wanted bangs, and got some long side ones.

I don't think my hair has been this straight since 5th grade! The kids were looking at me funny. :)

Princess said the best part was getting her hair washed. Me, too. :)

5 Months old!!

2011-09-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

New tricks: grabbing my toes!

Roooooolllling....

...

...over!

And just looking cute and getting as much attention as always!

Soccer!!

2011-09-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

It's a lot of running around, getting these two to practice and games, but I am SO thankful they are on the same team! Their first game was yesterday, and it was pretty fun.

Here is Speedy, warming up at goalie:

Lil Sugar, the super-fan! Well, the super-fussy fan, anyway. I was glad there were plenty of family fans to pass her to! Princess & Speedy had 14 fans!

Princess is #8, chasing the ball.

All smiles after the game.

Hoodie

2011-09-11T20:56:00.001-05:00

Princess

Lil Sugar

A lot of our baby stuff has been well used--5 times and still in good shape, like this towel! I even remember who made it for us. :) Thanks, Mrs. K.!

Happiness...

2011-08-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

...is this for the girls:

...and this for the boy:

(That would be fishing a mouse out of a swimming pool. He was equally excited when there was a mouse in the live trap in the kitchen this morning--he quickly got a 5 gallon bucket and a TP tube, so he could watch it play.)

4 months

2011-08-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

You've found your fingers.

You weigh 17 lbs, 10 oz.

You've found your giggle.

But you're still not quite old enough to ride around the block with Daddy on his motorcycle.

Banana...no, it's a BanDANa (or, when Princess has the camera)

2011-08-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

The kids received bandanas at the end of Gold Rush VBS--so of course Princess wanted to wear hers like the leaders did...and she did, for several days! She had permission to use the camera when Lil Sugar modeled the bandana; what follows are less than half of the pictures Princess took. :)

I {heart} school supplies!

2011-08-18T23:07:00.003-05:00

Princess and Speedy showing off their stash

Just for fun:

(look at the big pink eraser in the back--anybody else remember 'drilling' holes in your eraser with your pencil?? I also remember seeing how far it could bend in half...and breaking one or two that way!)

Whether or not...

2011-08-18T11:04:00.000-05:00

...I like it, the weather has gotten hot again, and HUMID. We had quite the storm tonight--even blew down an old redbud tree. We had been debating cutting it down for a couple years--I guess the decision was made for us!

Here is some wacky weather from last week, as we were heading home from Kung Fu Panda 2. (We went to the cheap theater, on retro day--only $1 each, but it was PACKED for a Tuesday night!)

First Day of School

2011-08-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

August 17, 2011
My 1st grader!

My 2nd grader!

The kids did great once their mom quit taking pictures. :)

Hubby helped them personalize their lunchboxes: Speedy has zebra stripes and Spiderman stickers; Princess has purple with 'football helmet' stripes and rainbow star stickers.

Mrs. Brown

Mrs. Helmke

They both had a great day--Speedy said his teacher was nice and his favorite thing today was art; Princess said 2nd grade was awesome, her teacher is into sports, and the day went by fast. She couldn't pick one favorite thing.

Honey Funnies

2011-08-17T23:04:00.001-05:00

The kids and I observed Pole Vault camp in June. Lil Sugar had not one, but two very messy diapers while we were out there. Honey was watching me change the diaper and hollered, "Sugar's poop is ORANGE!" If that wasn't embarrassing enough, my older two answered, "I wanna see!!"

~~~~~~~~~~

One afternoon I came upstairs and couldn't find Honey. I asked siblings--they didn't know where she was. Then I heard a muffled voice call, "I'm in your room."

Sure enough.

~~~~~

I hate to say it, but Honey is also what you might call a 'baby hog.' Other siblings are often heard complaining that she comes and takes over Lil Sugar's attention. Then she nuzzles her, and kisses her head, and tickles her cheeks or chin or belly sides. The word 'smother' also comes to mind...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here she is, already not too happy that Snuggle bug is borrowing her clothes without asking:

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since we've read Henry and the Clubhouse, the girls have been 'playing Ramona.' Honey was calling Princess, "Beezus." And Princess would say, we're not playing anymore, quit calling me that! Sometimes Snuggle bug was Roberta; sometimes she was Willa Jean. Same for Lil Sugar. Speedy was Henry Huggins' friend, Murph. Too funny--I love to see them use their imagination and enjoy books!

The Low Down

2011-08-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

Eek! One week till school starts! I feel like our summer is just starting!

We had some birds nesting behind this wreath on our front porch. I hadn't heard or seen them for awhile, so thought it was safe to take it down and clean it out.

They had a TON of stuff crammed in there!

Shopping for school shoes. Speedy didn't want 'tie shoes' but the velcro straps don't last very long, so we made him learn to tie. He figured it out in half a day.

Snuggle-bug cracking everyone and herself up with her smoothie mustache.

Princess ready for church in a dress I wore when I was a girl. She is getting so grown up! (Snuggle-bug was mad she didn't get to go to church with her fever, and was trying to sneak off with them.)

A peaceful moment at our house: Speedy and Princess playing Battleship; Honey entertaining Lil Sugar. That is her FAVORITE thing to do! When she comes home after being somewhere with Hubby, she usually quickly asks, "Where's Lil Sugar??"

The summer of no dryer. (Much preferred to the lice infestation with no washer and the stomach flu epidemic with no washer.) Hubby thought I might be getting too hot, and using too much time to walk out to the clothesline in the backyard, so he installed this fancy model on the screened porch. Another plus: no birds can poop on the clean laundry. :)

Well, I'd better get off the computer--I told myself I was making a peach pie today. It always seems so intimidating. Arrgh, crust.

Funnies

2011-08-03T22:51:00.001-05:00

We had a delicious meal tonight--quick prep, from the freezer breaded beef patties. Unfortunately, nobody likes these. They actually have quite a bit of turkey in them. So there was lots of excitement around the table. Princess said she wouldn't "eat one for anything." Hubby replied, "Would you eat one if I gave you a hundred dollars?" Her eyes kind of went cha-ching, and she said, "Really?!" He said it didn't matter because if she did eat it, he'd have to spank her for lying. Did I mention this purchase was a 10 POUND BOX? I think we only have 8.75 lbs left to eat. Hubby did find it tolerable with bread, cheese, ketchup and pickles. Did I also mention that I did not make this purchase? :)
~~~
Speedy came down with something today, really tired, then had a fever the second time I took his temp. He quickly asked if that meant he could have something from the prize bag, since he was sick. (I always forget about the prize bag, but he ALWAYS remembers!) Luckily I still had some dinosaur pencils in the stash.

The Happenin's

2011-08-01T22:34:00.000-05:00

Someday I will get more updates done. Here is a snapshot of the last several weeks. It has been busy, tiring, FUN. We've had 36 (or something) days this summer over 100 degrees. We call it cool when it gets to the upper 90s in the evening! Crazy.

She wants to be a cowgirl

2011-07-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

and loves all things farming. My Princess is in love with horses, 4-wheelers and working cattle right now. I couldn't resist buying her some cowgirl boots. (and being in Vanderbilt's took me straight back to high school and showing cattle, halters, wearing lace-up Justin Ropers and Rocky Mountain jeans with no back pockets to school. Crazy what sights and smells bring to mind.)

She requested a craft one day, and I'd had this garland in mind for awhile. (If I remember where I saw it, I'll post a link.) I made a triangle template for her, she traced and cut and even ironed. She needed a lot of encouragement at first, but then took off doing it herself. She simply threaded the triangles together with embroidery floss and a needle, coming up one corner and down the other.

She was pretty thrilled with her efforts, and wants to use it as decor for her birthday party. :)

Cha-wold

2011-07-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

That's how Honey says, 'Child.' As in, "Where's the Child?" Or, "Hello, Little Child." Directed toward Lil Sugar.

And the Child loves the attention. {grin}

On the bookshelf...

2011-07-17T22:40:00.006-05:00

Have I told you how much fun it is to listen to Ramona books on CD in the van? It makes me smile. I think I am enjoying them more now than when I was a kid, because I have kids and Beverly Cleary just completely and perfectly captures how kids think and react! My favorite line from the books: "Ramona was indignant."

We listened to a book on CD by Eleanor Estes earlier this summer called The Moffats. The kids enjoyed it, so we got another by the same author: The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee. In the words of Little Lydia, a do-nothing doll afflicted with the Zoomie-Zoomies, it was "Fun, fun! Funny. FUN." :) It was a curious adventure, with both magic and real-life intertwined--don't try to figure it out too much, just listen. :) It's about a little plumber who bangs on pipes, talks in be-bop code and captures lightning bolts!

We stumbled upon a treasure at the library: The World of Little House. It's a brief look about each of the books in the series, giving info about the years, location, other little details including house plans of the different Ingalls homes, real pictures of the family, fun stuff! That's why I never get tired of going to the library, all this information stored there, just waiting to be read! (Yeah, I am a nerd.)

Here's a cute book from the local library:

A fun rhyming story about a day in the life of a bunch of hens with girls' names. And little eggs made to look like clocks punctuating each part of the day. Will the fox get in to steal the eggs? You'll have to read to The Hend to find out. :)

Fancy Nancy books are very popular with all 4 older kiddos right now, too. Honey has been thrilled to keep finding more to check out!

And the rain came down...

2011-07-16T10:35:00.000-05:00

And I was glad, because we really need rain. But then it rained all night, and in the morning I saw a towel sopping up a leak in the ceiling. And this standing in the backyard:

And I thought about the hay the guys had down in the fields. And about water leaking in the basement. And then I realized it was still raining and the sun was shining, and I opened the blinds and saw this:

July 13 2011

And I was reminded that God is faithful and all that other stuff is pretty piddly. (the official total was 4.10 inches!)

The Dress

2011-07-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

I had looked everywhere for this dress, that I wore, that my first three daughters had worn. I couldn't find it, hadn't given it back to my mom, finally thought to ask my sister--yes, I had passed it to her when she was pregnant with #3. Whew. So Lil Sugar gets to wear this sweet girly dress, too.

Snuggle-bug

2011-07-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

We were surprised to see that Snuggle-bug drew a bed with chalk one day!

And a person!

And another bed!

She's two-and-a-half!

And completely cute and ornery, sweet and rebellious.

Somebody's 3 months old!

2011-07-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

Lil Sugar is going to grow up before I can blink, I think. She's already wanting to sit up more and see what's going on! She is such a trooper with all her siblings kissing on her head, squeezing her cheeks, wanting to hold and burp her, getting her out of the bassinette, and pulling on her all over.

July 11 2011

It's so fun to see her smiling, talking, just about laughing, starting to grab things and sometimes bring them to her mouth.

She is an awesome sleeper so far! Likes to sleep on her tummy, will put herself to sleep, even go back to sleep on her own when woken up by a shrieking sister! She's giving me a good break at night, too, goes down around 9:30ish and wakes up anywhere from 4:30-6:30.

She has different looks that resemble all her sibs, it will be fun to see who she looks most like as she grows! We think her eyes will be blue, but not 100% sure yet.

Woo-hoo, some rain!

2011-07-08T09:17:00.001-05:00

So the kids wanted to take a rain walk, and we had to take a few pics. I don't know why Snuggle-bug thought she needed her jacket, it was upper 80s or so. :)

A Hairy Habit

2011-07-07T07:51:00.000-05:00

Snuggle-bug has this thing with skin contact. She likes to run the back of her hand up and down your arm, or up your leg into your shorts. It's not TOO annoying, unless she gets a real tickly spot, or she's in your bed and you're trying to sleep. Or her fingernails are sharp because they need cutting. :)

We were watching Voyage of the Dawn Treader one night and as the intensity picked up, so did the speed of her arm rubbing.

If I lay down with her for her nap, she'll ask me to move so my arm is in the right spot: "Rub yours arm, Mom?" She does it to her brother and sister, the neighbor girl, 'Nana' in the nursery. Funny, funny.

Did I mention Snuggle-bug is also in the throes of the terrible, tyrannical twos? I thought she hit them at about age 14 months, but I was mistaken. I don't know how many times she has bitten Honey today. Everything you ask her to do is answered with "no." She is using way more whining and crying and screaming than words to express her needs, and when you figure out what she wants and get it for her, she dissolves into tears and cries, "I. do. it. mine. SELF!!" Oh, and the smirking when she is getting in trouble--for example: pooping in her diaper and almost laughing about it. Oh, dear. Or the flip side, when she is given gentle advice, such as, "Oh, that's not your sippy cup." or, "watch out for ____." she hangs her head and runs whimpering to her nearest parent.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

Our plans were changed due to sickies, we still enjoyed a fun day with friends, family, steak, watermelon, corn on the cob, homemade ice cream, and of course, fireworks!

This crowd gave a drawn-out "wooowww!" With every burst of light they saw. :)

Hubby made sure that Lil Sugar was in the spirit of things!

Lil Sugar wouldn't go to sleep in her cousin's crib inside...but she fell fast asleep outside in her stroller, even with all the bangs and booms going off!

So very thankful for our freedom, for those who serve to keep it that way, and especially for the freedom we have in Christ!

Random Roundup

2011-07-03T22:15:00.009-05:00

What's up, hand?

Snuggle-bug is never far from Lil Sugar.

{grin}

Eek, there's a cicada on your shirt!

Father's Day

2011-07-02T22:12:00.003-05:00

Blueberry strudel bites, church and Sunday school, lunch and homemade ice cream at the farm, and of course some Nintendo. :)

Smiles, sunsets, swimming, soccer, and sweetness

2011-07-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

Honey snapped this pic of Lil Sugar:

Speedy picked this flower in the field for me:

Smile!

Pictures never do the sunsets justice:

Honey and I were also watching the moon rise, it was neat to see it change positions in the clouds, but impossible to get a decent picture of.

That was the same night we were walking across from the field near the fire station and I heard a buzzer going--I warned the girls we might be hearing the fire sirens go off. Shortly, the fire engine went zooming by, siren blaring, and Honey said, "See Mommy, you were wrong--the sirens are ON."

Speedy and Princess enjoyed their first organized sport--a Christian soccer camp. Can you see them?

(hee, hee!)

Wheat Harvest

2011-06-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Hubby finished cutting his wheat about two weeks ago, just before some big rains, it made 25 bu/A. He also got the soybeans planted in between a couple big storms and pole vault camp!

Lil Sugar had her first combine ride:

Happy, dirty kids with homemade gatorade mustaches. :)

PAT Big Truck Night

2011-06-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

Putting out the fire is always a big hit...

Snuggle-Bug driving the mail truck.

Speedy tries to go for a ride.

June 10 2011

Honey Mustard Sauce

2011-06-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

Yummy Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Mix the mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, honey, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight.

Just hangin' with the peeps

2011-06-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

You never know what you'll find climbing the walls around here...

Cutie-patootie outfit made by Auntie S.

P12:March

2011-06-20T10:39:00.010-05:00

P12, I've missed you. I'll try not to ignore you for so long next time. :) I have trouble limiting my photos--just can't decide! So this doesn't follow the layout design from SC&T at all, though I think it did have a kite on there somewhere...

All these photos and the half-circles for the scallopy border have been waiting on my desk for several weeks...maybe since before baby came!

Children's Day

2011-06-12T22:32:00.007-05:00

It's that time of year...when the kiddos know they get to pick what we do for the day! Donuts and little gifts at breakfast, then off to Sunday School and church, and a church potluck. Home for a little down time and Nintendo, SweetPea Beauty, and Planet Heroes. On to the stadium to play baseball and kickball with cousins.

Hubby told Snuggle-bug 'Good kick' one time, she replied, "No, I not, it a foul ball." (with a scowl.) It really was a foul ball!

Then to McD's play place and Wendy's for Frosty's.

We are so blessed!!

2 months

2011-06-11T10:23:00.014-05:00

Shots: check.

Well-child visit: check. (14 lbs, 6 oz!)

Poopy diaper explosions at unfortunate times: check.

Sleeping through the night: check. (whaat?!)

Fussy gassiness: check.

Lots of hugs, cheek squeezes, head kisses and pats received: check.

Smiles and coos given: check.

Love: check.

Too many pictures--the flash is scary, mom!

Go, Cats!

Love those smiles!

And the wind blew...

2011-06-10T12:50:00.003-05:00

This rickety fence finally gave in. I feel kind of exposed to the neighborhood now. :) Funny thing--the dogs weren't trying to get out. But, when we leave a gate unlatched, or they find a loose spot to dig under, they are out in a flash, running down to the creek or into a nearby pasture to chase cows.

Who's that baby?

2011-06-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

top: Honey; bottom: Lil Sugar

top: Lil Sugar; bottom: Snuggle-bug

This & That

2011-06-07T09:39:00.001-05:00

Someone wanted to take my picture...

Which turned into everyone needing their picture taken...

I feel like it just rained, but everything is SO dry already. Like, established perennials getting burned up in the dry heat. Guess I need to be more consistent using my Mother's Day gifts!

When did this happen? Lil Sugar is already getting pretty responsive to people around her, and smiling some big smiles. Which I can't seem to catch on camera.

And she's chunking up--see the rolls coming? She's wearing 6 month or so clothes. And she's not quite 2 months old yet.

Friends and fun

2011-06-06T23:10:00.000-05:00

Yum--ice cream cones!

Snuggle-bug looks amazingly older to me in this picture. {sniff}

Headfirst, and on her back? Brave Princess.

Honey started out pouting about something, but was soon trying not to smile.

Of course, Lil Sugar was there, too. I think this was her first trip to the park...but I can't remember for sure.

KC Trip: Congratulations, 'little' brother!

2011-06-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

The first weekend of June, we had a trip with my side of the fam to celebrate my brother's graduation. The kids were ecstatic, and even more so when they found out the trip involved a motel with a pool and cousins!

Leaping!

Hold your breath,

and back up!

Snuggle-bug saying, "Hi, cousin!" in a funny little voice she and Honey use just for that, and doing her hands like this.

Documenting Lil Sugar's first swim:

Good food and fun with family and friends for my brother. :)

Heading to a hot Royals game!

Grammy was prepared with snacks, water, and hand-held battery operated fans.

Aunt N. was prepared too, with a purse filled with Tootsie Pops. :) Most of us moved to the shade,

while some brave souls sweated it out in the sun below us. (That's hubby in the straw hat, my brother in a blue and white cap, and my dad in a white cap.)

Lil Sugar enjoyed her first game.

Uncle J with some of his nephews, and newest niece.

On the roof

2011-06-06T08:00:00.011-05:00

Hubby put together a crew to replace our roof memorial day weekend.

Everybody wanted to help--eek!

The shingling was completed Thursday evening. I think we'll like it better than "Desert Tan."

Our Life

2011-06-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

Speedy's kindergarten graduation

Who knew I would willingly buy hot pink nail polish--or that it could make three little girls so happy??

Yep, that's a whole lotta ornery right there...but lots of sweet, too.

A project started...the "picnic quilt." It's doubling as decoration right now...

Hmmm...

Another sweet big sis...

The last day of school!! Complete with a trip to Sonic for treats.

Look out, here she comes!

Big girl ponytail.

June 3 = 11 years!

2011-06-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

I am so blessed by the husband God has given me! He is so patient, hard-working and fun. It's amazing how love can grow and grow and grow.

Princess wrote down our family plans on the schedule board:

Um, yes, it was a little chaotic taking 5 kids out to eat and then mini-golfing,

and yea, Lil Sugar had to be held the whole time,

but it is fun and memorable to celebrate our marriage with these hooligans God has given us.

A talented Daddy

Honey loved the little houses and kept trying to get inside them.

Bird-watching

2011-05-26T21:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a pic of the bird that built a nest on our screened porch.

At one point, I thought it was a type of warbler.

Here are babies:

I noticed fluff-balls fluttering about one morning--unfortunately so did the dogs, and they caught one before I shooed them off the porch. I'm not sure if the other babies made it out safely, or if the dogs patrolling the holes in the screen caught them.

We've been putting out some bird seed and it's fun to see the different kinds of birds, even though I am not knowledgeable about bird types AT ALL!

Garden & Flower action

2011-05-25T21:05:00.000-05:00

We have some wind-blown tomatoes and chewed-on pea plants in the garden; along with some spinach in a pot on the porch. I HOPE to get some squash and other seeds in the ground this weekend!!

Lots of pretty flowers, though:

Snapdragons & Salvia

Lilacs (from a couple weeks ago)

Pansies, with snapdragons that grew back from last year, the salvia, gerbera daisy, the hazy green mound on the left is sage.

This gerbera is supposed to be an annual, it was a Mother's Day gift 2 years ago, but I don't mind a bit that it keeps coming back!

Same for this wave petunia--Mom's Day last year! Glad to see you back!

A few strawberries on the handful of plants we put out last year. Hope we can beat the bugs and birds to them!

Roses

I am sad that I haven't seen the lamb's ear I started from my grandmother's coming up anywhere. Boo.

What? ANOTHER sewing project??

2011-05-24T20:59:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I was supposed to be cleaning my house, but this just HAD to be done this week. :)

This is a soft, minky-like fabric from a throw blanket on sale at JoAnns on Black Friday. I had made the taggie/snuggly awhile back, but had visions of a changing pad cover from it, too. It came together pretty quickly, and I was not disappointed with the cuddly-softness of it. (Snuggle-bug rubs her arms on it and comments that it's 'warm' with each diaper change. Yes, still in diapers. Potty training is on the summer focus list.) And, of course, I whipped out a matching burper with a strip of the fuzziness.

It even has elastic fitted corners! Though I'm not very adept at sewing elastic--sheesh!

Quite an improvement to the white 'terrycloth' that we got 5 kids and 7 years ago!! Makes me smile.

A project...out of necessity

2011-05-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

Amazing how quickly these ideas in my head can come to fruition, when it is a desperate need! I have been hanging more clothes on the line because something happened to the dryer...do you see a problem with my clothespin holder?? (You're not supposed to be able to see through the back there!)

I love being able to find free how-to's quickly (most of the time!) online, and I wasn't disappointed when I googled this. I found a quick holder made from a clothes hanger and a placemat here.

I didn't have a placemat available, so used some heavier-duty fabric I've had for awhile. I used a hanger with crochet on it, to give it some padding so it wouldn't wear through my fabric as quick. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Smooch!

2011-05-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

There's a new stamp company out there called Paper Smooches. I like to check out their blog, and they also offer a free 'digi-stamp' each month. Fun to play around with, even though my coloring skills need a little polishing...

It's a cute little bee, but at first I thought it looked like a fish, so I made a fish card, too.

It made my day when Princess laughed at my pun.

Flower Child

2011-05-21T08:45:00.000-05:00

I've always sort of laughed at the big, flowery headbands for baby girls, while still thinking they are pretty stinkin' cute. We had a little photo shoot...

...and I'm not quite sure that we are hip enough to pull off this look!

Life...

2011-05-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

I want to remember all the little moments...

...the excitement of the kids to go help work cattle at the ranch, and how they were all racing to use the outhouse when we got there, how they were afraid to get so close to the cattle at the creek, Speedy trying to catch fish with his net, how they had to get out of the van and run ahead of us on the dirt road.

...reading stories or devotions, they will actually sit still and listen and snuggle.

...how much the older ones like having a baby in the house. Honey requests Lil Sugar on my bed so she can love on her.

...hanging out at track meets to see Daddy, the kids wanting to pole vault onto the mat.

...Snuggle-bug with her hand grasping the page, insisting to be the one to turn it.

...singing 'This is the Day' every night, and these two girls insisting that Daddy pick them up when he spins around. Snuggle-bug being crushed if we don't sing this song, and everyone certain that Daddy needs to 'hop them to bed.

I'm tired, really tired. But I want to remember all this, because it does go way too fast, and I'm having way too much fun.

Mother's Day

2011-05-20T21:18:00.000-05:00

We had an action-packed day: I was presented with a purple wand to water flowers with, as well as a purple spray nozzle; our niece was dedicated, we celebrated my Mother-in-Law's birthday,

the temperature reached a point where the kids were begging to swim, or do SOMETHING in the water (I can't remember if it was in the 80s or the 90s),

I am very blessed.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

2011-05-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

A May Funny

2011-05-18T09:10:00.006-05:00

Snuggle-bug had gone down for her nap, but now it was time to pick up kids from school. I went to her room and found...polly pockets, strawberry shortcakes...but no Snuggle-bug.

Went over to Speedy's room and found her all snuggled in. :)

A Shower for Lil Sugar

2011-05-14T09:14:00.004-05:00

Our church generously gave a baby shower for us. Princess stole the camera and was my photog. :) Honey was the gift unwrapping specialist, and Lil Sugar was passed around and snuggled.

It was fun. :)

One month!

2011-05-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

Someone is a month old already! I think I'll try the moniker Lil Sugar for her. :)

Honey at one month:

Getting some love from the sisters

Whew, cross-eyed! And already sporting a double chin.

Comparing you to Speedy at the same age:

Starting to fill out the new carseat a little more.

Lil Sugar reminds us of Princess--always happy if she's held. :) We've made it through her first cold--that made for some long, loud nights! We are having a lot of fun with her! :)

Easter Eggs

2011-05-05T10:37:00.003-05:00

14 cousins, 2 babies, and one grandma had fun dyeing eggs on the Saturday before Easter. Each person got to dye at least a dozen hard-boiled eggs.

It's so hard to wait for the eggs to soak...

Princess tie-dyeing an egg:

Umm, does the colored vinegar water taste good, Snuggle-bug??

Her shirt says "Just Hatched."

Easter egg hunt!!

Easter

2011-05-05T10:34:00.000-05:00

I think it's always a good time for a family pic when we are all dressed up...I just wish the rest of the family agreed with me!

When the 4-yr-old has the camera...

2011-05-04T10:19:00.011-05:00

...you get pictures of Snuggle-bug with a family of markers...

...a content baby

...who is approached by...

..someone who thinks baby needs a paci, even if she's not crying

(there were about 10 shots of this same pose on the camera)

...pics of floor, wall, or furniture

...and AHA! someone caught in the act of marking up the dry-erase board with a CRAYON!

Baby Bumps

2011-05-03T10:09:00.001-05:00

I never got around to posting these--go figure!

Apr 6

Apr 8

Apr 11--the big day! Princess took this shortly before we went to the hospital--in between running around telling herself to 'just stay calm!' During a contraction, she also looked at me and said, 'It's okay, it will be over soon.' ?!?

While all this was going on, the kids were running around having a dress-up party, and roofers were coming by with flyers. Interesting day!

Speedy is 6! (April 14)

2011-05-03T09:38:00.000-05:00

He likes to start his day with a birthday cupcake. :)

Snuggle-bug, new babe and I took cupcakes to his classroom (Grammy made them, and Speedy's classmates requested that she make them again sometime.)

He couldn't wait for the presents, of course!

Speedy, it's a good thing we didn't know you would be our only son, or you may have gotten SO spoiled! You are special to us in many ways--we love your grin; your focused 'look' when you are really concentrating on something; your energy; your excitement; the way you look forward to things and pop out of bed, your tenderness toward your little sisters and how you like babies. You have grown up a lot this year: you can READ!, count to 100, get along with friends and play after school, you've learned to play the piano, you made it through your first Awana book! You've developed a love of all things Nintendo. You've learned you CAN do hard things and things you don't want to do (although I think we'll be working on this for awhile still!). You have a memory like an elephant: you don't forget details Dad tells you about his growing-up stories or special things coming up, or little things we've done in the past.

You have a good heart, and I pray you will follow Jesus all your days.

We love you Speedy!