Lachpach Pics

2011-09-19T18:25:00.000-04:00

Priscilla Anne, Sept 18, 8 pounds 4 ounces, 21 inches
Born at home surrounded by Godly women praying and worshipping!

Grandpa Kelly

2011-09-13T21:55:00.002-04:00

Still no baby. Seriously. Stubborn Stiles family member, obviously. Puffin asked me if I was going to name this one Katheryn too.

2011-09-12T10:22:00.000-04:00

40 weeks today. Since it is my due date, I'm not expecting labor to strike anytime soon. Tonight is a full moon, so maybe that will get things moving. I have way too many friends and family in the medical industry to poo poo the idea of the full moon affecting pregnant women and crazy people. Since I fit both of those profiles, I have hope, lol.

Tomorrow is Joshua's birthday. If Baby Broc does arrive tomorrow. My cousin Les will be Broc's Senior Grandpa and Joshua will be Broc's Jr Grandpa. I think it will be our first three person grandday in the fam, but I could be wrong about that. My little brother and sister were born on my Aunt Mary's birthday, but they don't count as multiple grands since they are twins.

Yesterday was 9/11. Ten years have flown by for me. I was four days away from my wedding to the man of my dreams. It was my last day of work before taking off. My child hood best friend was flying in from Mississippi. Mom was at my apartment. I got to work and my broker, Art said that the squawk box reported a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We chatted about what kind of idiot crop duster would fly smack into one of the tallest buildings in the world. Then we wondered why a crop duster was flying around NY City at all. We never fathomed it would be anything but a little plane. Later, we got a tv up and going and my friend Danielle and I were the only ones watching when we saw the second plane it. Our whole offices freaked out. It was just surreal.

Since they didn't know if these attacks were targeting the financial industry or what, and because we worked in a massive Exxon Mobil building that also might be a target, our office was shut down and we were sent home. I remember having to call the apartment office to have someone go beat on my door to tell my Mom what was going on since she can't hear phones ring. I was worried sick that my friend, Sharon, might already be in the air. I later found out that they were grounded before she took off.

It was such a weird week for us. We sat in front of the tv watching people fall from buildings while we put together guest goody bags for the hotels. Mom worked on finishing my veil while we watched the death toll increase. So surreal.

Four days later, I did, in fact, marry the man God created to fulfill me. No one was able to fly in for the wedding and we didn't know if we would get to go on our honeymoon or not as the airports were all still shut down. A friend had a crop duster fly over the wedding and you can see everyone duck in the wedding video. The next morning, Robert and I got up and headed to Houston Intercontinental Airport. When we pulled into the parking garage three hours early, as instructed when we called, there were four cars in the parking garage (all vehicles had been towed since they didn't know if there were car bombs targeting airports) and all four had Just Married on them. We made it through the hand searches of everything we had and were sitting at our gate in about 12 minutes. Our flight out to Belize was the first international flight out of Houston since flights were grounded 4 days earlier.

2011-09-07T15:47:00.001-04:00

For Daddy and Grandpa Kelly. No baby. No news.

That is all.

2011-08-30T12:07:00.000-04:00

38 weeks and counting. No signs of any impending action.

Although, after a conversation I just had with our old pediatricians office here, I'm worked up enough to start something. I hate the political, money hungry culture of the medical world in America. The pediatrician we used to use here is a wonderful Christian woman that just wants to help children. She is a JEWEL. Sadly, she is caught in the pool of greed that is our medical system. It makes me sick and mad. Basically, we were told that because we don't bow down to the establishment, money making pharmaceutical industry, their office no longer wants people like us as patients. I know this is not a personal conviction of Dr Ps. She supports parents, and their right to choose what is best for their children. Anyway, it was a saddening conversation. Thankfully, their is a wonderful pediatrician in our area that is FULLY supportive of not vaccinating and other parenting choices that we make. We will switch to her. But I really loved Dr P.

2011-08-16T16:57:00.000-04:00

36 weeks into this adventure of a pregnancy. Baby Broc is still busy juking and jiving on the inside, oblivious to the hot, bright world waiting to surprise him soon enough. Last week I over did it and spent all week trying to keep the contractions at bay. In Texas, it is illegal to homebirth before 37 weeks, so I have the rest of this week to play it safe, and then next Monday, it is game on.

People keep asking me what to expect, and I have no idea. I've had two babies go to 41+ weeks and I've had one at 38 weeks. I've had 2 labors from 48-72 hours and one that was about 12. I've had 2 c sections and 1 VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean, for you none birthy world people lol). I've had 2 girls and one boy. I've had 2 7 pounders and one 9 plus. Seriously, I have NO IDEA what to expect. Keeps us on our toes, I suppose. I will say that none of my three live births were near as painful as my miscarriage at 14 weeks, and yes, I've had one non medicated birth, so I do have comparison.

What I do know:
1. God knows. He has this and all of my births perfectly laid out for his glory and my good.
2. Spud, Sprout and Pod are ecstatic to soon meet Baby Broc. They tell me all the time.
3.We didn't move this pregnancy and that made it a much easier pregnancy.
4. Pregnancy is harder at 36 than it was at 29.
5. Both of my friends that I've been pregnant with for the last 5 pregnancies have now delivered their babies and now it is my turn.
6. It's going to be fun!

In non pregnant news....
Robert and I hit our homeschool conference a few weeks ago. I'll enjoy doing that not pregnant next year, lol. It was encouraging, as always. We got our Math U See ordered for Joshua and Leah. They are both DIEING to get started. I've held them off so far. I've decided to go with Veritas Press for most of Joshua's other subjects this year. Second grade history, grammar and bible and third grade literature. We will be studying creation to Egyptians. Going to be so fun. Leah is going to do Math U See and Explode the Code, maybe My Father's World, if I have the energy, Hannah will join in for those lessons as well. Going to keep me on my toes with a new baby. I'm not planning on starting school until late October at the earliest though. I had to bump Joshua's literature up because he's already read all of the literature in the second grade curriculum. This boy is still a reading machine. I love watching him fall in love with literature that I loved growing up too. He LOVED Old Yeller, but did not like Where The Red Fern Grows...said it was too sad.

Hannah is coming into her own. She has no baby left. She is potty trained, and quite happy to tell everyone she sees that she is wearing big girl panties, lol. I love when the non kid people just look at her in disbelief with no clue how to answer.....I don't help them out. lol. Hannah is ready for Baby Broc, or so she says. We'll see how that goes once he/she has encroached on her territory. We've never had jealousy issues with a new baby before, but there is always a first. Hannah has a different personality than her brother and sister, so we'll see what this brings forth.

2011-07-12T15:32:00.000-04:00

I'm 31 weeks into the voyage of this pregnancy. Baby Broc (short for Broccoli, remember, we all have vegetable nicknames) seems to be doing well. His/her (remember, we don't find out what we are having, other than a healthy baby) kicks are getting much stronger and when he's rolling around it is quite uncomfortable. I feel like I'm having to slow down earlier this time than I have before, which is kind of frustrating. I'm not a do it all at a frantic pace kind of girl, but I also don't like kicking back and watching the world go by. I do have some major responsibilities that do kind of need attention ie three other small children and an awesome Godly husband.

Several Moms have reassured me saying that things just get a little harder with each pregnancy, but I don't know. I really think I just need to get my big girl panties on and get this shipped better organised so I don't feel behind when I am relaxing. I don't know exactly when I've slowed this dribble down, I don't feel like I've completely dropped the ball. Things have just slowly gotten more lax around here. Meal planning, schooling, housekeeping. I think some of it is because most of my friends are off school for summer breaks right now. We really have to keep going because we will have a big break in the fall once Broc gets here.

On a brighter note though, we are eatin sooooo well right now. I just LOVE when I am feeding my family healthy meals day after day. Seriously, I sit down at dinner and just feel a warm, gushy feeling because I know what we are putting in our bodies, God's temples, is pleasing and nourishing. Makes me soooo happy. We are getting a modest crop out of our garden and our veggie CSA are keeping me on my toes with creative and yummy ways to prepare a bountiful load of veggies. I just love summer for this reason.

Kid Update

2011-06-25T11:19:00.000-04:00

Joshua- I am so proud of what he has accomplished this year. We are wrapping up our school year, sort of. We don't have an official off and on period, just take time off when needed. He's finishing up the second year of Math U See, we really are happy we switched to this program. He's adding and subtracting four digit numbers with carrying and borrowing. It's fun. The book also did time, but he's been telling time for a while. His reading has just taken off this year. He read constantly and he's fast. I wonder sometime how much he retains, but he can always tell me minute little details months later about books he's read. He read a ton of classics this year, along with the Hank the Cowdog book, Boxcar Children and lots of other misc books we came across through the year. His all time favorite book though is Dangerous Journey, the children's Pilgrim's Progress. He loves that book!

He's also growing! He's a tall lanky boy. He LOVED playing soccer and was pretty good, even playing with both feet, which his Dad tells me is a very important skill for soccer players. He's still just as social as ever! He's never met someone that he didn't consider an instant friend. Sadly, he's getting to the age where other kids, especially those schooled out of their homes are becoming rude and mean towards overly friendly kids. It is sad to watch, but he seems to take it in stride.

Leah- Leah has the biggest servants heart ever! Multiple times a day, she comes and asks me what she can do to help me, and she's serious. She will diligently and effectively do any chore that I ask of her. Big or small, fun or not. She is just such a blessing. She is also becoming more and more of a Mommy. She helps alot with Hannah and always with a good attitude. She's our little worker and the busier she is, the happier she is. It is fun!

She's backed up on asking to learn to read as much. I think she is enjoying the quiet play time she has with Hannah while Joshua does school in the mornings. She is, however, quite adamant that next year, she is going to play soccer, do ballet and tap. Not sure how she'll take it when we break the news to her that she isn't doing all of that, lol. She's as beautiful as ever, and people still tell us that she'll be a problem when she's older. I pray that isn't the case. I pray that God keeps her heart pure.

Hannah- Hannah is almost potty trained. She can be a little toot sometimes and is learning how to have her own will without running into Moe's. She loves to run around the house with any random object between her legs as a horsie. It cracks me up. She can sing her ABC's almost entirely correctly and can almost count to 20 correctly. These skills amaze me since I haven't worked with her on ANYTHING. Joshua and Leah also taught her her colors. Pretty fun watching her learn without adult instruction.

2011-04-19T22:05:00.000-04:00

The only remotely decent pic of the group. Hannah was having a "day".

My kids are goofy!

Kid Update

2011-03-29T20:52:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting to get some current pictures updated before I did a kid update, but..... SO, I'll do one without pictures.

Joshua- Is one smart cookie. He's reading like a crazy man. He read a level 8 reader today in about 3 hours. He amazes me. I love it! Robert came in the other night at bedtime and said he thinks Joshua has a reading problem, LOL! I told him it isn't a problem, it's an addiction. One I'm supportive of. My only problem is keeping enough stuff around for him to read. He's read the full Robin Hood and Three Musketeers twice in the last week. That's my sign I need to get some more books in the house. I love when he walks up and gives me random bits of trivia he's picked up in his reading. It's fun.

He's also started his soccer career. His Daddy has played for about 35 years, and judging by how well Joshua is doing, he might be a similar addict. He's played two games so far and scored 4 and 5 goals in each game. It helps that his team is a power house, stacked with big 6 year old boys. We'll see how that holds up when he's on a weaker team. Robert and he are enjoying the boy time together since R is coaching him. Go Blue Sharks!

Leah- is a joy. She really is at a great spot. She loves helping. Me, Hannah, Robert, whoever. She loves loves loves to work!! I see it all the time, but Robert was really impressed with her work ethic as we put in our garden, 15 trees, 4 rose bushes, a blackberry bush and mulched the flower beds. She just works and works and works her little heart out. I love to see that dedication from her at such an early age. There are many times she comes to me and asks "Moe, what can I do for you?" Does a Mom's heart good!

I think she is also teaching herself to read. Apparently, she's given up on waiting for me, lol. I kept telling her that she had to learn all of her letters and sounds before I could teach her to read, so task given, off she went. The next thing I know, she's asking me to help her spell out words in the car. She's doing really great. Hopefully, this summer I can sit down and get her launched before the baby gets here. She loves having Joshua to read to her and I think that is really helping her progress. I honestly didn't expect her to be such an early reader like her brother, but looks like she just might. I know if she decides she's going to do it, she will.

Hannah-is our adorably little Toots! Although, she isn't real fond of us calling her Toots anymore. When I do, there are times she tells me "I your Panny Poe! You call me PANNY POE!!!" It is the funniest thing ever. She'll also randomly tell anyone, "I'm Moe's Panny Poe!" Of course, they have NO IDEA what Moe is or what Panny Poe means. It fun. She is definitly a third child and has not had the early training that the other two children had, and so is a bit more of a hanful than they were. Thankfully, there are four of us to watch out for her, so it isnt too much trouble....yet.

She's a pretty smart cookie herself. She can count to 12 with no problems and sometimes can count higher. She also knows all of her colors really well. We worked on potty training, and she did great. She figured the system out and didn't have any accidents, when she wanted to, but after about a week, she said she wanted to wear diapers. I'm ok with that. She won't wear them forever. She's our little comedian and keeps all of us laughing all the time. People constantly tell us how cute she is.....and we agree. :-)

Spring is Springing

2011-03-09T20:36:00.000-05:00

I saw the very first bluebonnets of the season today!!! Made me sooo happy and thankful to be back in Texas. March was very hard on me in Ohio. We were still trudging through snow and that was pretty lame, but worse than that was that Ohio never has bluebonnets. I would change my windows wallpaper to a field full of bluebonnets with a little indian paint brush scattered throughout but it just wasn't the same. I missed two years of adorable kiddie pics in the bluebonnets on the side of the road.....and all of the memories that go along with that. Like massive fire ant beds to avoid in the gorgeous flowers and the deadly traffic flying by on the highway while my sweet gifts from God toddle around. Ah, memories. LOL! But man those are some good pictures! I might even order special little dresses for the girls this year just because it will be Hannah's first bluebonnet pics!

Spring also reminds me of one of the funniest newlywed memories for us. We bought our first house about a year after we married, (yes remember, we were older when we married) and I had only been living in Houston for two years. Spring came around and I was thrilled to throw open the windows and air out the winter gunky air in the house. It was marvelous. Our subdivision was new and so there was very little traffic....a HUGE difference from the same subdivision today, so we left the windows open at night too. It was glorious! (the Houstonians reading this are now giggling, as you see what's coming)

Remember, I grew up in W Texas. We had some trees. Ok, we call them trees, but most people know them as mesquite bushes. The only time we had to worry about closing the windows was when a dust storm was blowing in, and you could clearly see that coming as the sky turned bright RED! Easy to spot.

Well, Houston is different! Not only do you boil in the summer, literally, but Houston has these things called PINE TREES. Lovely, evergreen things that cover the land. I like them. Except for two weeks of the year. Right at the beginning of spring, these lovely evergreen creations of God dump MASSIVE amounts of YELLOW pollen. It covers EVERYTHING!!!! And I mean E V E R Y T H I N G!!!!

Seasoned veterans know that you DO NOT open your windows during the pollen dump. Silly, newlywed wives not from Houston do not know this. And our beautiful new home, that I meticulously kept clean was COVERED in yellow. EVERYWHERE!!! I vacuumed yellow out of my carpets for years. There was nothing I could do to rid it from every area of our home. It wouldn't surprise me if the current owners still find weird spots of yellow in places no one would imagine!

So, yesterday morning I noticed a tiny little hazy dusting of yellow outside and will be dutifully keeping our windows closed for two weeks. No matter how beautiful the day is!

Picture Post

2011-02-23T20:04:00.000-05:00

Believe or not, there are still three adorable children living here. I know, you were probably wondering about that since you never see them or hear much about them. Here's where they've been.

We took a family vacation to Port Aransas in November. We spent the day at the Texas State Aquarium.

Joshua got chosen as a helper. He fed an ant eater!

We stopped and had some yummy sea food. Note to self, need to feed my kids seafood more.

Robert got too rowdy in the restaurant, so stocks for him! That's what happens when you have a beer at lunch on a week day. LOL!

We spent the rest of the week at the hotel with other families from our church. We laid by the pool, chilled on the beach and shared cooking duties! It was FABULOUS! Oh, Robert and I kicked some tail in some bones games as well. Oh yeah. And it is now a tradition.

2011-02-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

So I might be coming out of the fog, shhhh don't tell my husband yet ;-), just kidding he can totally tell. I had a crazy busy weekend, and thought I would be cramping and miserably tired by the time we made it home from church today, but that isn't the case. Miracle! We'll see how tomorrow feels.
Robert and I celebrated Valentine's day last night with other couples from our church. I just have to say, our church is a hoot. I just love those people. We all laughed until we cried, and I almost peed my pants. I haven't laughed like that in who knows how long, I certainly can't remember, but it was wonderful. It was at a BBQ place this year, which kind of turned some people off, but for Robert and I, it is all about the fellowship with our friends, and man was it a good time. I just love our church. The families are all real people, living real lives out loud and together, serving the Lord every way we can. Life doesn't get much better than that!

We also had some of the Tres Dias ladies in our home Saturday morning and afternoon working for the upcoming weekends. They are busy times for us, since Robert and I are both serving, but such a welcome time with the Lord as well. It will be my last weekend to serve for a few years since the baby will be here before the next weekends (YIPPEE!!!) So, this one will be lots of fun for me.

This week the temps are supposed to be in the 70's and sunny all week. Wish I felt up to a zoo trip, but I"m not there yet. But we are going to enjoy it as much as is humanly or would that be Mommyly possible!

2011-02-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

Usually, I wouldn't post this but this is what is up in our life right now, and Daddy, I know you are waiting to hear.

More puke. Yup. Unfortunately, not just me this time. The fam got a lovely stomach bug. Thankfully, although it didn't feel like it at the time, the kids all got it at the same time. Saturday night, they all puked from 8pm to 4 am. A grand total of 28 puking events. Thankfully, after the first round, Joshua and Leah...officially the BIGS after this feat....hit their puke buckets every time. For Hannah, we just threw a paint tarp under her pack n play and changed out towels as bedding. Of course, by we, I mean Robert. I tried to help as much as possible but getting very involved would've added to his work load, so I really just helped bathe kids once he had them stripped and ready. He did all of the dirty work.

Why yes, I did marry the man of the century! We are very happily married, so back off!!!

In other news.....Monday Robert and I got the bug too. The End.

2011-01-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

We are here. My morning sickness is kicking my tail. I'm not fully puking yet, but can't wait to get there. These weeks of 24 hour nausea is my worst part. I just can't stand no breaks to ever feel good. Once I start puking, things get better. I at least get a little relief for a short while after I puke. I'll be 8 weeks next week, and that is usually when I start actually puking, although I got really really close this morning. Through the years, I've read about every stratetgy known to man to help with morning sickness. All of it helps, kind of, sort of, on certain hours and days of the week. In the end, it is a normal and healthy response to pregnancy. Maybe God gives us morning sickness so we don't notice that we bloat up like a wart hog in the space of a few weeks....that all of that self control we showed over the holidays to stay looking and feeling good are all for naught because we've already bloated up a size and are quickly passing thru it.

Honestly, I don't do pregnancy well, at any stage, really. The third trimester is easiest for me. I finally get the energy boost that most women get from the second trimester, I'm usually still puking in the second trimester. Up until about 36ish weeks, I'm good. That is until I hit the final frontier. You know, the part where you can't do dishes anymore because you have to stand sideways at the sink and your arms can't reach the bottom of the sink any more. Up until that point, I'm good.

So, I'm due in September. I have a 4th and 13th baby already. My anniversary is the 15th. Just by looking at the calendar, it seems I should carry this baby late so I can space things out. But, that would be insanity, or a male OB that would suggest such a thing. Every female, even those who have never had babies but have only been tramautized by their pregnant friends, knows that you never Ever EVER wish for someone to go late with a pregnancy. So, I'll shoot for the end of August instead. My Dad still isn't really a Grandpa anyway!

back to your regularly scheduled lives, this pregnant womens random stream of conscience is over for the moment

Our September Streak Continues

2011-01-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

So, we found out New Year's Eve that we will again be expecting another little blessing from the Lord in mid September 2011. For those of you that don't have my children's birthdays memorized (Daddy ;-)), this will be our third September baby. Leah is a July baby, but really, Leah needs her own birthday month. The kids are thrilled and I"m sure my cousin Les will be pulling for Sept 13th, so he AND Joshua can be a Grandpa.

What do you mean that doesn't make any sense?

Every family has "unusual" family traditions. This is one of ours....and I started it! You see, my due date just happened to be on my paternal Grandpa's birthday. He was quite proud of this fact and told everyone in the famliy, over and over that he was FINALLY going to be a Grandpa. Apparently, this was a sentiment he expressed often. SOOO, you see what's coming here, don't you? When I was born on May 9th instead, my cousin, Kelly, was thrilled that SHE was now a Grandpa. She has, in fact, been my Grandpa Kelly my whole life. We have lots of Granpda's in the family, and my cousin Les is Joshua's Grandpa, born on Sept 13th. So, if this little kicker is born on the 13th, they will in fact have ALOT of Grandpa's, including their adoring older brother, Joshua.

2011-01-03T15:50:00.000-05:00

Another new year. I love it. A time for fresh starts and looking ahead for the possibilities. I have lots of thoughts and plans for 2011, but I'll share some of those later.

We had a good holiday season. We visited Robert's family in Louisiana, and most of them got to meet our children for the first time. It was really fun. I hope our children get to spend more time learning about that part of their heritage. It got me thinking about really getting Joshua going on French, in addition to our Latin studies, now rather than later, so he can have the opportunity to speak french with the Lachney side of the family, before that generation is gone. I just need to research language programs for his learning age and hopefully find something computer based since I know he'll excel at anything on the computer.

Robert had strep throat for Christmas, but he was kind enough not to gift it to any of the rest of us. THANK YOU JESUS! It was hard enough watching him suffer through it, I couldn't imagine watching the babies go through that. We all survived and even had some fun to boot. I'll post holiday pics later, but here is a parting shot of the girls participating in our church's live nativity. You can't say that this isn't the cutest sheep you've ever seen!

thank you to my friend Marty Callan for getting this shot for me

2010-12-20T16:59:00.000-05:00

Some people just aren't happy no matter what. I've posted twice in one week and the news I get back from the farm......well, why aren't there any pictures? Pfsh!

Really, why would anyone want to see a picture of this...

Really. My siblings and I getting together at the farm for the first time in five years can't be that interesting. Right?

Or this? Grandpa not only buys raisins in bulk, he buys popsicles in bulk too.

This ragamuffin clan can't be blog post worthy. Really, three days all out at the farm is not a great moment to take family photos....unless you are looking for life time memory kind of stuff.

It isn't every year that your Pannie Poe turns two, but why does that matter?

Grandpa with his 7 youngest grand babies....no biggie, right?

Big boy turns 6 too, but why would that be news worthy.

Her highness Princess Leah also turned 4 and we even pulled off a party for that, one week after moving across the country. Now this, this is blog post worthy!!!!

Is that better Daddy?

Art- My Way

2010-12-17T16:11:00.001-05:00

It seems alot of my life, I've been surrounded by artists. Growing up in small town, rural Texas, we weren't exactly buried in culturally enhancing opportunities. I'd never been to a museum until well into my adulthood and not to an art museum until 2 years ago. Oh the beauty! If you are ever in Toledo OH, you really must check out their art museum, it is reportedly one of the best in the country. I was in awe, but I digress.

My Mother is very artistic. I didn't always know this about her since she was busy being Mother and breadwinner, but when I was in high school, I was on the drill team. One of our jobs was to decorate a football players locker each Friday morning before a game. Most girls had some store bought signs and streamers, but not me. My Mom blew my socks off the first week by hand drawing these awesome gorgeous signs of our mascot, the bluecat. I never knew she had any interest in art, much less talent. Boy does she have talent! She's done some pretty awesome paintings since then as well. Now that she is retired, she is always busy with some artsy thing. Right now, she's buried herself in quilting but still periodically gets the "sewing bug", as she calls it. She hasn't painted in a while, but I'm sure she'll swing back to it someday too.

My childhood best friend, Sharon, is also an amazing artist. I remember from about third grade on, watching her sketch. She produced some pretty amazing charcoals of dogs! They were always perfect. I would watch her in amazement, wondering how that was even possible. I can't and couldn't draw stick people. Sharon went on to be an accomplished musician and finish an art degree, along with a science degree. She now teaches homeschool art classes and I'm sure is wowing third graders still, lol.

Both of my grandmothers and all of my aunts, also very artistic. I always wondered what happened to me. I did get my share of the brains in the family, but that little or big section of the brain controlling creativity never seemed to be accessible for me. Then, I started cooking. Yes, cooking. I don't konw that many people consider cooking an art form. I probably wouldn't either except that I now, in our church am surrounded by some remarkably talented artists, many who create professionally. I try to find ways to spend time with these ladies, as they are gifted in an area that I really have to work at. As I've spent more time with them, and learned more about their crafts, as well as their processes, I've come to realize that cooking for me is an art. The way they think and consider their ideas and paths is the same way I do cooking. It is a love for me that I desire to contiunously stretch and improve and share. It is a gift that I hope to pass on to all of my children.

So, I want to share some of my art from this season so far.

YUM!

2010-12-14T14:55:00.000-05:00

I was chatting with my little sister this morning about a surprise I am trying to plan for my husband's 40th birthday next month. While we were chatting, it is a long process....we have alot to say, you see we've only had 31 years to chat together so far.... my Dad pulled up in her driveway. My sister is blessed to live really close to my Mom and Dad. Daddy doesn't even have to get off of the dirt roads to make it to her house. So, about once a week, he shows up, always with something in his shirt pocket for my nephew, Corbin. He learned not to bring round objects, like apples or oranges because, you see, Corbin is a BOY and all round objects are balls. So, he usually has raisins. Actually, all of our kids under the age of 10, my older brother has 6 children over the age of 10, know that Grandpa has a really cool farm to play at and buys boxes of raisins in BULK!

Anyway, Daddy shows up and Amie tells him that she is on the phone with me. He is then very quick to point out that he will soon have to cancel his internet access. You never can tell why something like this would need to happen at the farm. It could be because of the latest lightening strike on the house, or because the wind blew out the lines or someone dug up some lines somewhere miles down the road. It could be because so much dust built up in the computer that it needs to be disassembled and blown out with a shop vac. It could be a million reasons on a farm. BUT, none of those was the reason, no four legged animals to blame in any way, shape or form. He said he was going to cancel because I never post on my blog and so he doesn't have anything to look at! LOL!

Really, my Dad learned from some of the best on how to play his cards to get what he wants. Don't you think?

2010-11-12T13:31:00.000-05:00

What an odd year we've had. Blessed beyond measure, but certainly nothing we could have ever predicted. My friends in Ohio have seen the first flakes of the season, although nothing sticking yet. At this time last year, we were preparing to go into hibernation and figuring out how to fly home for Thanksgiving.

This year, we've moved across the country, again. Bought, what could be our last house, at least while we have children at home. I can't imagine wanting to keep up a big house on a big lot for just Robert and I. Of course, I can't imagine alot of things that have happened in my life, before they've happened. We are in a pretty awesome season, one that I am weary from alot, but really, things don't get much better than where we are right now. Or do they? See, can't imagine thing again. We are blessed.

I need to start writing again. I love it. Must find the time. I've started running. I get up at 5:30 so I can get my exercise in before Robert goes to work. It is kind of funny because I then take a shower and nap until the kids get up. I should probably use that time more wisely but I don't do well without sleep. My body is just starting to come around since our miscarriage. It has taken ALOT longer than I thought. And, I'm not just talking about the baby weight I have to lose. My hormones went nuts. It was like I had carried a baby full term, only I didn't have the birth or nursing hormones to balance me out. I really felt crazy for the whole month of October. Thankfully, a wonderful friend from church recommended some herbal teas that have helped tremendously. Now, I'm just back to a normal crazy. ;-)

2010-10-20T14:38:00.000-04:00

I got on the computer to figure out our tshirt designs for our Reformation Festival this year, but decided instead to do some kind of update on this dieing blog. Reminding myself that this is my record of our lives since I don't scrap book....although I am considering looking into digital scrapping, since I"m more likely to do something online than on table.

Joshua is now 6. He's lost 5 teeth. He's reading like a mad man, which I personally love to see, since I am a hopeless bookworm myself. Some friends got him a BoxCar Children book for his birthday. He read it in one afternoon. I was shocked....probably shouldn't have been, but I was. So, I hit up Half Priced Books and got him 10 more. He's read one a day for the last two weeks. Must figure out a good system with our library. The small little branch in our town is miserable, although modern. Need to schedule in trips to the bigger one in the town down the road. He's doing great in math also. We started the Math U See curriculum this year and he asked Robert if he could stay up all night and do the whole Beta book. So, like me, Robert got a little pride in the pot as well. Joshua is so big too. The boy just keeps growing and growing and it really makes me wonder where my baby went. I think 6 is my favorite age so far. I just love to watch him growing and developing and love that he can finally have some pretty deep conversations with us. He and Robert snuggle up every night in his bed and "chat". Joshua loves his Daddy chat time, and of course, that just melts me!

Leah is as spunky as ever. She's my little right hand woman, whether I'm in need of one or not. I'm sure that she is certain she could run this house if something were to happen to me. She LOVES twirly skirts and purple and having her hair braided. Every morning now, she takes she and Hannah to their bathroom and "fixes" their hair. Leah's comes out lovely everytime.....she needs a little more practice on Hannah's blonde/curly hair! She wants to read, but really isn't ready to jump on in. I am working with her a little on her letters and sounds and she's picking them up great. Maybe in January I"ll pull out the Bob books. Seems weird that I could have two readers by next summer. Leah is now 4 and well onto 18. Did I mention she loves to play with my hair? She does and I do too, soo relaxing. Maybe someday she'll teach me how to do something with this mop on my head. She's way girlier than I ever was even in my dreams.

Hannah is our little Toots. She is pretty comfortable being the baby star of the show around here. I've realized in the last month that we really do have to start training her. Its been easy just to let the older kids lead her around like their show pony, but her will is starting to show itself. She's pretty independent for being the baby. I think it is because she doesn't realize that she isn't as big as Leah. She just assumes she should be able to do everything they do, and so she does. It is quite helpful for me most of the time actually. She's sleeping in a pack n play now. I think she was too immature to move to a toddler bed when we moved, but I just didn't want to set up the whole crib again for a short while. So, after weeks of battling to keep her in her bed at nap time, which she desperately need, I put her in the pack n play. She loves it and always sleeps in it now. Crisis solved! She turned 2 in Sept and is my smallest baby by far. She is barely into 2t clothes. My other two were in 3t at this point. Makes the clothes budget go farther for sure. She talks up a storm and loves to color with the big kids. And she LOVES her babies. She got a baby bed for her birthday and she carries it with at least one, but usually more, babies around the house ALL THE TIME. She's so sweet and nurturing. It's fun.

Bullets

2010-08-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

Sorry for being MIA. Life has been more than hectic. Frantic at times, but we are blessed beyond measure and serve and awesome God!

Robert got a call from a company in Texas in the spring and started the interview process.
In May, we flew down and bought a house.
In June, I started packing us up in Ohio.
Two days before we loaded the truck in July, we found out we were expecting Lachney baby #4.
July 4th we pulled back into our former world that we love so much in the Houston Tx area.
July 5th, Robert flies back for three weeks of work in Cleveland.
I move us into our beautiful new home with the help of church friends....lots of help. The a/c, hot water, fridge, washer amongst other things all go out.
The kids and I survive and don't run away screaming, and my sister has a brand new baby boy, Titus that is adorable. We head to W Tx to help with new baby.
Find out there that our baby died at 8 weeks. We head home for our loss.
Thursday I ended up in the hospital for a pretty hair raising miscarriage adventure.
We are all home and getting healthy now. Hoping to soon get a family life going here. Our sweet Rachel Elisabeth is hanging with Jesus until we get to meet her.

Friday Kid Update

2010-06-03T20:19:00.000-04:00

Hannah aka Toots has really blossomed the past few months. She is really aware of and understands everything going on around her. She's very playful and always wants to be included with whatever the big kids are doing. But, unlike Leah, she is fine if they will just let her closely watch the proceedings, she doesn't have to be involved, just included. She's a pretty easy one still, but she is starting to flex her "mine" muscles, so I've actually had to start training her. Both of the other kids were already well into a discipline phase by this point, but she just hasn't needed it.

She's still a peanut physically. She is in 18 month clothes that Leah wore at 10 months. She's chubbed up alot lately, so I keep waiting for her to shoot up, but she hasn't really. Maybe she's just going to be our cute little petite one. She certainly has the cute part down. She's even learned this little coquetish look for people when she wants something. Cracks us up, but we all just eat her up.

She speaks really well, like her older brother did. And she's pretty physically steady too, like her older sister. She's her own little mix. But, watch out, she'll steal your heart real quick. Those big blue eyes and little blond curls are just too much!

Leah is still our spunky chick, but she is growing up. She loves to be my helper and left to her own devices, probably could run this house by herself for at least a day....or at least she thinks she could. She really wants to be in the kitchen with me more lately. I need to work more on figuring out how to work in the kitchen with all of the kids. Most of the time, the thought of juggling three in there with me at once is more than I want to consider and so I just always say no when they ask. Leah really loves helping though. She has taken it upon herself for her and Hannah to unload the dishwasher when they finish breakfast and I'm helping Joshua with school. The first morning I thought I'd walk in to a kitchen in total disarray, but it was all done neatly and in the correct spots. I was stunned!

She isn't rediculously advanced academically like Joshua, but I think she might be sharper than he is. She gets things really well, and I often forget that she is two years younger than him. We do bible, music, latin and lots of read alouds all together and she responds as well or better than Joshua. I don't know how well she'll retain it, but she does great for the short term. I think once she decides she's ready, she'll breeze thru reading and basic math skills. First, she will have to learn her letters and numbers though. She has plenty of time, whenever she's ready.

Leah loves being a big sister. She and Hannah continue to awe me with their growing bond. It is just so fun to watch. I really am sooo grateful that God has given us children to watch grow. I know that their bonds will last for a lifetime of love of one another. All three of them just adore one another.....mostly. ;-)

Joshua is really at a transition age. You can see it in almost all phases of his life. His mental/cognitive development astounds me. He's reading so well and every time he grabs a book and sits down to read it to me, I am amazed. He can and will read anything close at hand, and that just tickles me pink. It's nice having another book worm in the family! He also will sit and read to Leah and Hannah regularly. This morning I came downstairs and Joshua had started Leah on her prereading curriculum. Cracked me up. I think she took instruction from him better than me, lol.

Physically, he is pretty clumsy right now. I don't know if he's in a big growth spurt or if he's just at an awkward stage. He has been riding his bike alot and I'm hoping that will help him get back some steadiness....if he doesn't break his neck from falling off first, of course.

You can really see it in his self discipline too. We are going thru the transition that all of the Christian parentings books said would come, even though we seriously doubted it when we were constantly spanking in the early years. Discipline is now changing with him as he is "getting it". It is really fun to be able to talk about deeper things with him and him really get it.

It's a pretty cool stage we are in with him.

Our neighbor cleaned out her dress up clothes that her boys had outgrown.

And in case you were wondering. The ant hill is again vacant and packed up for the next round of visitors. We've since moved on to butterflies. We received our caterpillars yesterday and should hatch butterflies in about two weeks! Hopefully we'll capture some amazing pics to share with you.

2010-05-31T20:23:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is June 1st and I will have officially made it 6 months without breaking my new years resolution to go to bed with no dirty dishes in the house! I'm pretty proud of myself and Robert. He's pinch hit for me here and there when I'm not feeling well and even done the dishes for me some just because he loves me. Yup, I married a winner, best husband ever.

We have big things going on right now, and I'm not ready to write about them in blogoworld yet, so I've kind of just been at a loss as to what to write about, so consequently, I haven't. My dinosaur computer also went on strike. It will boot up just fine and dandy and do anything I ask of it, except get on the internet. So, I facebook and email on my phone, but blogging from my phone is not appealing at all, especially when I'm trying to avoid a massive issue in our life on my blog for now.

But I will try this week to get a Friday kid update up. It is well overdue. Maybe I'll get crazy and even post some updated pictures with it!

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Also, Green and Crunchy has another giveaway up. This time its CHOCOLATE!!!!! I won last time, along with two of my friends. Go check it out here.

Another Organic Giveaway

2010-05-15T13:07:00.000-04:00

Green and Crunchy has another awesone giveaway this week. This time 50 winners. Check it out here.

Even if you don't want to enter the contest, it is a great article on Race for the Cure and other cancer info.

2010-05-04T16:23:00.000-04:00

A loyal reader contacted me to ask why I wasn't posting, so I cranked up the dinosaur in my office and decided to hop on here. I could say I've been super busy, feeding the hungry, caring for the homeless, visiting those in the hospital or nursing homes or prison, but that wouldn't be true.

Or I could say that I was super busy and my house is now spotless, and my life hyper organised, and Hannah's potty trained, and Leah is reading, and Joshua is half way thru Calculus, but that wouldn't be true either.

So, I'll just fess up. This is what we have been doing.

If you've never had your own ant hill.You really really should. We are all enthralled with it and have learned sooo much about ants. Did you know there is a mortician ant that moves the dead bodies around so they don't get buried??

Ok, we did also have to get ready for small group in our house. So the kids helped fold up the blankets in the living room.

Awesome Organic Give Away!

2010-04-25T20:42:00.000-04:00

Go check out this really awesome giveaway over at Green and Crunch from my blog list! She is giving away some free MiEssence totally organic make up and skin care stuff. I've always wanted to try this brand as many of my UBER crunchy friends will only use it.....but it is super pricey and I just haven't given it a blow money priority yet. I'd just be soooooo thrilled to get to try it for free!

Flashback

2010-04-21T21:10:00.000-04:00

The weather has been really beautiful here lately but today and yesterday there was a chill in the breeze and I grumbled. So, to remind myself, I pulled up some picks from last April. I really gotta work on this contentment thing!

First, my babies last Easter. Leah and Hannah are soooo different!

Then this. Grumbling no more!

Movie Idea

2010-04-21T14:46:00.000-04:00

Robert is out of town this week. Last night, as I put the kids to bed, I was thinking how much better at it he is, than me. See by the time bedtime gets here, I'm done....D O N E DONE! He's had time to recoup from his day and so has a whole cute little routine with the big kids. He brushes their teeth and brushes out Leah's hair, then they all crawl into Joshua's bed together and snuggle up and read the bible and another short story. Then they have prayer time with its own little traditions together. Then Leah goes to her room and Robert and Joshua snuggle up and get some manly time in. Then Robert goes and snuggles with Leah and ta da, everyone is happy. I read the bible, pray and turn out the light.

So, last night I was thinking about how alot of people talk about the fact that no one can understand the 24/7 stress on a Mom, stay at home Mom in particular. I had an idea for a funny comedy movie. It could start with your average american family....or even better, one with more than two kids. Dad goes off to work, Mom stays home and does everything and Dad comes home and wonders why she's tired and dinner isn't ready.....you get the idea. He grumbles about what does she do all day and somehow, either a dream or weird alternate reality, the next day, his job becomes a 24/7 ordeal like hers. He wakes up with a jr staff member or two crawling into bed asking what they are having for breakfast at the board meeting that morning and if he can reach a file folder for them on the top shelf. Someone interrupts his shower with a mundane question that could have easily have waited. He heads down stairs to get coffee but the coworker before him is drinking that last cup and no one bought any more to make, oh and the donuts are all done too and three others are asking him what else they can have for the visiting high school kids for bring your kids to work day. He breaks away for a necessary bathroom trip only to be interrupted as he drops his pants by someone needing an emergency signature..... His day continues in a similar fashion. As he heads to his car, he realizes that his boss is in it with him and making the drive home talking about high level, A game stuff....oh and he's staying for dinner too. Finally dinner is over and bedtime approaches and a call comes in from a foreign customer with urgent, but unimportant assistance needs. He's woken up several times in the night by same customer whining over minute details that don't really matter and just when he finally settles into a good sleep, those same two jr associates wake him up wondering again about a breakfast option.

You get the idea. Anyway, I think it could be made into a hysterical movie if done by the right people.

Friday Kid Update

2010-04-16T14:05:00.000-04:00

Joshua- My sweet boy is a big kid now. He can be the best helper ever, like last week when he woke up early on laundry day, and so gathered up everyone's laundry and took it down to the basement before I was even awake. ***He also LOVES to help with Toots. He likes getting to her after nap before me because he's figured out how to push the rocking chair over to the crib and then get her out. He only bonks her about half the time....which are odds that he finds completly acceptable. I think she must too because she never fusses when he comes to get her. ***He does wonderful school work, when he feels like finally doing it. He must have a fabulous imagination because he can sit in front of his work book for hours doing nothing....then when he decides to finish he just whips out great school work. I flipped thru some school eval books the other day at the library while the kids played and I think he's about 2nd or 3rd grade reading level and probably 2nd grade math. So, I'm counting this year of school a success! He's fallen in LOVE with the Billy and Blaze books. I got two from the library for him and he's read both of them every day since...must find some more in the series! He loves to read and is thrilled that he nows get quiet reading time instead of naps most days. He quite happily stays on his bed and reads for 2 hours.....I can say that he gets that from me!

Leah- She's my little princess....that just happens to also play in the mud and dirt. She will quickly let you know that she only likes to play with the little worms, not the big long ones like Joshua. ***She also is a little helper. This morning after breakfast, she cleaned all of the downstairs rooms so they would be ready for me to vacuum. I went upstairs to work on some laundry and heard her messing around in the kids bathroom. I walked down to find her cleaning it too. Now if I can just get her cooking, then I can almost retire, lol! ***She has a big scratch across her neck right now. She fell off of a friends slide last weekend. Poor baby. It is healing really well though, thank you Lord for Super Salve.

Hannah- Is a bouncing, busy, blond haired, blue eyed little charmer. She's growing quickly too. ***She has begun idolizing her Lala and follows her around all over the house playing. This morning while Leah cleaned in the bathroom, Hannah happily sat at her feet playing with the pony tail holders. I asked Hannah if she wanted to come back down with me and she said NO***which, btw, is her new favorite word, sigh. She sits and just says NO NO....NO NO LALA, NO NO BUBBA.....NO NO. We are working this week on her learning that that sentiment doesn't work for Mommy. ***She eats like a horse. Seriously, girl out eats me every meal and most of the rest of the family too. She wakes up saying, oatmeal?, breakfast?, Lunch??, EAT??***She calls Robert, Doe. It is pretty funny. The other kids have started calling us Doe and Moe and so she calls him Doe. It is so cute. If he is the one that puts her down for nap or if she knows he's home in the morning, she calls "DOOOOEEE" "DOOOOEEEE" and if he doesn't answer she's say, in a sassy little voice, "DOE, TOOTS!" He and I die laughing, every time.

2010-04-15T21:03:00.000-04:00

We again attended the Medina Tax Day Tea Party today. It was really really wonderful. You want to know why? Every speaker, every single one of them that we got to hear, stood, literally, in the town square and talked about turning our country over to God again. I was BLOWN AWAY! Praise God for His name being proclaimed in the town square!! May He be praised and worshiped thru the actions of this current administration.
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In other news, I feel really fat. I'm heavier now than I've been non pregnant ever. For some reason, I am putting weight on. I'm not eating great, but not horrible either. I've actually reduced my overall calories a good bit since weaning Hannah. I'm working out, though sporadically. It just doesn't make alot of sense. I could understand if I wasn't losing right now, but putting weight on is making no sense at all. Guess I'm going to have to buckle down and cut out all of the bad stuff. This is pushing my limits here.

I am doing some intense cleansing right now. I did the Young Living 5 Day Nutritive Cleanse. Then, I immediately started a YL Liver cleanse support, Juvatone and two digestive enzymes to help with the lack of digestion that was creating my gout problem, Essentialzyme and Polyzyme. I've been doing that for a few weeks now and now I've added in a kidney and bladder support, K&B. It should take me another month to finish all of these ups and get back to just a maintenance level of the enzymes. Hopefully then, my liver and gall bladder will be healed enough not to cause me problems if the Lord blesses us with another arrow for our quiver.

2010-04-07T20:04:00.000-04:00

I feel like I should post something here, but don't feel like there is much to post right now. Things are clicking along well, funny how that coincides with the BEAUTIFUL weather we've had the last week. We've had 5 record breaking temps already this month. We are LOVIN it!!!! The kids are getting an awesome base tan for the summer, although I am learning about the different skin of a blond haired blue eyed girl, than my two darker children. Gonna have to put sun block on Hannah often. She has ended up slightly burned every night....oops. The rest of us don't burn unless we are in full sun for a full day.

Robert has decided to join me in the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred program. He is dieing.....it's that good! Seriously, it is the best workout I've ever done. If you are a workout kind of Mama, or need to be, this thing will kick your tail into shape real fast. And hey, it is in your own home, so moan and whine away. You'll be glad you did it!

Trying to get our diets back in line with a healthy lifestyle. So much easier to do in the summer months with abundance of fresh produce and warm salad weather. I'm going to try soaking our oatmeal tonight instead of quick cooking it like normal. Also looking into more probiotic foods, on the list to try next is Miso soup.

HE IS RISEN!!!!!

2010-04-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

Today we celebrate Resurrection Day, aka Easter. It is the celebration of the Messiah's resurrection from the tomb, conquering death and sin! For us, he made himself sin, who knew no sin to be sin. He was cursed, mocked, beaten, broken and hung on a cross. Three days later he rose again and showed himself to hundreds of people walking, talking and eating. He ascended to heaven and TODAY he sits at the right hand of God the father and intercedes for our sins. Our sins are forgiven, if we will confess them and accept his sacrifice for us on the cross. We are then a new creature and walk with him daily until he calls us home to be with him for eternity. If you don't know these truths in your heart, ponder them, read a bible, ask a friend. I'd love to talk to you about it. He changes life. He is life.

I am blessed.

Friday Kid Update

2010-04-02T06:01:00.001-04:00

A little comparison picture from our recent visit to the Creation Museum. Amazing how fast the littles are growing up.

I'd love to post about all of the kids doings for the week, but we are too busy outside soaking up sun and 70 degree weather. So enjoy the pictures!

2010-03-30T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hunkering down. It has been cold again. We even got an inch of snow last week, but it is gone. And the cold temps will be too starting tomorrow. Sunny and in the 60's even 70 one day thru Saturday. I am praying it will hold on thru Easter on Sunday but that isn't the forecast. Little flouncy easter dresses just look cuter in a sunny spring like day.

Friday Kid Update

2010-03-26T06:49:00.002-04:00

Joshua- Can't stand for me to do the dishes. Seriously, it cracks me up. If I put away the silverware, guaranteed the next time he is in that drawer, he will be straightening every single piece. LOL! I LOVE IT! The other day he asked me to please not put away the silverware, he would do it so he didn't have to fix it later. Music to my ears!!! I, of course, told him that things can't always be his way and it is ok for things not to be perfect sometimes, but I'd let him fix them, this time. ;-) He has also fallen in love with Linking Logs.

Leah- Is becoming a little Mommy. She's beginning to build the beginning of her best lifetime friendship. Hannah fell down and bonked the other day.....nothing was hurt but her pride but she wanted me to snug snug with her. I was in an intense part of dinner and couldn't. Leah stood up from her toys across the room and held her arms out and said "Toots, snug snug?" Hannah ran over and snug snugged with her big sister and I melted into a puddle on the kitchen floor. Since then, Leah looks for chances to love and bond with her sister. They happily walk around the house together looking for babies or grocery carts or tutus or whatever, Leah is so sweet to her. They will be bestfriends for life.

Hannah- is finally growing. She is a chunky monkey right now. She's still very short but lately when I carry her on my hip, there is something there to hold. It is nice. She's been so petite and dainty all this time and it has just been weird to me since J and L were ummmm, not. Physically Hannah is really small, but Robert and I were just talking that mentally and independently she is so far ahead of where Joshua and Leah were. She isn't as verbally advanced as Joshua was but I think she is smarter. Or maybe it is just that she's baby #3 and so she thinks she is 3 or 5 years old already.

2010-03-24T14:07:00.001-04:00

Since I ranted in my last post about people commenting on our familiy size, I thought I would share a great article from Above Rubies magazine this issue. By the way, their magazine is FREE, so if you like that article, you should get their magazine, it is a breath of fresh air for today's women!

In the newest issue of their magazine, their is an article about family trees. There are pictures that say alot more than I ever could on the issue of children. You can see the whole article at http://www.aboverubies.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=948:family-planning-family-trees-gods-weapon-for-victory&catid=35&Itemid=62

First is a picture of what we pray our family tree could end up looking like.

This is what our family tree could look like if we only had 4 children.

This is what the family tree of most American families will end up looking like unless the trends change.

Any questions?

2010-03-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

Day 5 of my cleanse was yucky. I started the day off hungry and sad not to share a yummy family breakfast on a lazy Saturday at home. Since it was the last day, I really had no motivation to find the good. We ran errands and so I missed my morning snack and things went down hill from there. We headed to the mall about 5pm to find shirts for the boys for some spring pictures in DC in a few weeks and I started feeling AWFUL. Light headed and dizzy, lots of "I NEED SOME FOOD" signs. So, I told Robert I had to eat. He said he thought it wasn't really a big cleanse so eat whatever I wanted.....BAD IDEA. Lets say that I am well aquainted with the mall restrooms now. I got home and put tons of oils on and took some internally and started feeling much better. My sweetie and I snuggled up and I snacked on some cantalope....MUCH BETTER CHOICE and all was right with the world again. It was a pretty good movie too. No Greater Love, check it out if you are the movie viewing type.

Today was a low key, everybody gets to eat kinda day. We had a nice time at church and then went to Golden Corral. We always get comments about how well our kids eat, but especially there because we all eat a LARGE salad before anything else. Everyone oohs and aahs that our kids don't complain about salad. I think that is sad....that our kids are so exceptional to eat salad or to eat what we give them without complaint.....ok, these people don't see all of the work that goes on at home, but anyway.

You know something else I get in public ALL THE TIME. I mean EVERY time I go out, especially without Robert. Something along these lines...
THREE, my, you are brave.
Are you crazy?
I don't know how you do it?
I'd never do something like that.
and so on and so forth, honestly, it happens so often that I am just mad about it. Seriously people. I have THREE kids. That is barely replacing my husband and myself in the world. Three. Please. And to be honest, it isn't that hard most days. Yes, it takes effort, but guess what, so does getting out of bed period. I think our standards and views are so stinkin warped, and I am sooooo sick of it. Really, get over yourselves for a bit, ok. Oh, and keep your judgemental nose out of my personal fertility, k? (ok, I feel better now) I usually smile my nicest smile and say something like.
Better to have my hands full than empty.
They are a blessing.
It sure is fun.
Every once in a while, I'll be blessed by an older couple. Usually, the man says something like "we had little stair steps just like that" or "God bless you. Aren't they great?" with a big smile on his face. Thank the Lord for those little bits of encouragement. There certainly isn't alot of it around lately.

I just finished reading The Pacific. Deep stuff. I wonder if our boys in the military today are the class act that they were in WWII, I doubt it. I wonder how we can instill the same love of God and country in our sons. We will start with a study of the constitution soon, since it might not be around much longer....afterall, we live in a socialist country now. Sigh.

5 Day Cleanse- Day 4

2010-03-19T21:48:00.000-04:00

As advertised, today was much easier until I made dinner. This morning was great, I even skipped my morning snack option. I won't say I felt like a million bucks, but I did feel good. Wasn't hungry or crampy or achy or had food cravings and hunger. I did get hungry towards dinner but I think that was from skipping the morning snack and eating the wrong afternoon snack, a fruit instead of the almonds, (must touch up chart reading skills before teaching Joshua). Then, I made the tortilla soup for small group tonight. It smelled sooo good, I wanted a big old bowl full. Then I fed Hannah and had to stop myself from popping chips into my mouth as I fed her, a bad habit of mine that needs to be broken. Somehow, I survived the soup, it even tried to lure me away while I was putting it away. I'm eating my apple like a good girl. Tomorrow is the last day and I'm glad. I want to eat, but I am glad I did this.

5 Day Cleanse- Day 3

2010-03-18T20:35:00.000-04:00

As advertised on my handy little chart for this, day three was MUCH better than day two. Still a little hungry but 90% fewer cleansing symptoms. I did start to feel yuck this afternoon but that was because I fell behind on my water intake and some other contributing factors. They say day 4 should see the end of specific food cravings and an increase in energy. I hope so because I realized today that I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with the house this week and we have small group here tomorrow.

Monday night we went and celebrated Joshua finishing his first math book and his second phonics book. We've taken the rest of the week off from school except bible.

5 Day Cleanse- Day 2

2010-03-17T20:57:00.000-04:00

Day 2 is supposed to be a hard day if you are heavy detoxing, and I am guessing that I am, I know I need to be heavy detoxing. My attitude right now is this if for the birds. I didn't realize how much clean up eating I do. If there is a little something leftover or just a small bag of cookies or something on the counter, I'll pop it in my mouth. I've been dieing to finish off a last piece of corn bread on the counter. Yesterday, I was a bit hungry but pretty good. Last night I had a craving for chocolate so bad I would have armed wrestled a gorilla for some. Today my cravings weren't as bad, I'm just hungry right before time for my next round of stuff, and I'm achy in my joints, and start to get a headache until I guzzle a glass of water, I'm pretty fatigued today and just generally blah. All sounds like signs of detox, but I was hoping for more exiting proof than body response proof, if you know what I mean. The detox poops thus far have not shown up.

2010-03-16T19:05:00.000-04:00

Hannah officially weaned this weekend.....ok, with a little nudge from Mama. She's doing really well. I sat down in our rocker this morning. She stopped and looked at me for a while then very quietly said, "night night?" I said, "all done night night, your a big girl" So she walked over with big arms in the air to be picked up and said " snug snug" in a sad little mourning voice. So sweet.

That means that for the first time since Dec 2003, I am neither pregnant or nursing or both. WHO HOO! I know that this might not be a very long norm here so, I wanted to get down to business on my health. I immediately cut out meat. Today I started Young Living's 5 Day Nutritive Cleanse. By cleansing standards, it is not very hard since I love the products, but my body would go into major shock if I jumped into a big dramatic cleanse right now. My liver and gall bladder are as bad as ever. I have a feeling my thyroid is not doing well either since I've been packing on weight the last few months. I need to get my Iodoral going in my supplement regimen regularly again...I've backed off of it over the last six months or so.

Then, last week, I had a gout attack. I feel like a 80 year old woman. Thankfully I figured out what was going on pretty quickly. I put some oils on my foot to help with the intense pain but it didn't cut much off, which I found unusual until I realized it was gout and not muscle pain. So, I looked up a homeopathic remedy and pushed it thru pretty heavily. Within 6 hours I could bend my toe again and by that night the pain was gone. Praise God! I'm so grateful that He has given us herbs from His creation to heal us.

Doesn't that all sound like fun??

You asked for it...

2010-03-14T14:06:00.001-04:00

Hannah wondering what all the hubbub is about.

All of the kids passing the time before we leave. I love when they play like this.

Hannah "helping" pack.

Joshua kept running by with the suitcase and the whizzing back by again and again. I finally figured out why when they stopped and Leah's head popped out. It was a blast. We all took turns!

Vacation Day 1 we spent driving down to Cinci, about 4 hours with a quick lunch stop. Sadly the DVD player in the van quit working so the kids had to rough it for the drive. Poor things.

Vacation Day 2 we headed to the Newport Aquarium. We are aquarium junkies and so if there is one near our destination, we will always put it on our agenda.

Hannah visited in style!

Frogs.

Everyone signing with the scuba diver in the tank.

Proof that I was there too and that I need to get serious about my eating habits again....anywhoo.

Speaking of eating habits, after the aquarium, we hit Johnnie Rockets.

We all loved the dance show by the wait staff.

Nope, no mini-me here. I don't know what ya'll are talking about.

Vacation Day 2

2010-03-14T13:00:00.001-04:00

We visited the Creation Museum. Loved it all over again.

They are alot bigger this year than they were last. I'm hoping to have a comparison pic up soon.

Those dinosaurs are scary up close.

For the Frye Guys. This is what it looks like before all the snow melts. Remember our lovely picnic last year?

Relaxing in the garden of Eden.

Joshua hanging with Adam and Eve.

Story time.

We are from Texas, and so when we see a dinorsaur, of course, we saddle it and hop on for a ride!

Hannah wants to know what happened to just riding horses.

Ahhh, this is much better.

The Rest of Vacation

2010-03-14T12:00:00.001-04:00

We spent at Great Wolf Lodge. We loved loved loved it. Can't wait to go back. Actually, Leah asks every day when we are going back. I had some problems getting my camera adjusted right, so most of these are awful quality shots, but they are the best I have and it is just too cool a place not to share pics.

Doing the Cub Club craft after the Wolf tour. We were the only family that did that tour so it was the Joshua and Leah show, they loved it!

Coats and boots GOOD BYE. Waterpark. Here we come!

Big waterpark, little girl.

Ready, set....

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Guys, this is what warm water feels like. See you can swim in it and it doesn't turn your lips blue.

You can do it...just a few more steps.

Leah has spotted her home for the rest of the trip. The SLIDES!!

Hannah decides to check out the scenery first.

Joshua lived for the basketball water court.

Hannah is pretty sure that this wet stuff is NOT safe!

Joshua and is friends, BBall 1 and BBall 2.

Yup, this stuff is great to look at.

The only thing better than basketball.....WAVE POOL!!!

Slow relaxing lazy river....nope, still not safe.

Everyone else loves it though.

Tree show and story time before bed.

Wylie came out for the bedtime story.

Alot of the kids come down in their pj's.

Leah does not do big scary over stuffed, over sized furry creatures.

This was the coolest floor ever. You can step on and chase these little balls around the image. Our kids would spend as long as we wanted here. So Robert and I would sit at a little table to the side and enjoy cheesecake and coffee.

CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!!!! Saving our pennies now!

2010-03-13T16:32:00.002-05:00

In case you were wondering......
Yes I am still keeping and have kept my new years resolution to change. I haven't missed a single day, although my most awesomest husband in the world has helped a few nights and I have been up at midnight doing dishes a few, I have gone to bed every single night this year with a sink with NO DIRTY DISHES IN IT!!! Ah huh! That's right! Who's bad!!! Oh yeah! That's me!!!!

yup yup yup

*************************************************************
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT
(non family readers might not get the full intent in this little drivvle)
To my beloved Grandpa Kelly (yes, you know I love you even if I don't ever call and return your HYlarious voice mails) and all other Texas family members and those who call themselves family members and ESPECIALLY those who live like family members and wish they really were family members and also to those that pretend they are family members but aren't really and to those that we all assume are family members and have long forgotten that they aren't really,
I realize that ya'll call me "The General" and for good reason. I can be pretty powerful/bossy/demanding/orgazationally brilliant/pushy/loud/bossy at times....only when needed, of course, like when the outhouse gets blown over and no one has picked it up and put it back in use and other such emergency situations. I also do realize and openly acknowledge that Sweetie has brought me and our beautiful children up to the land of snow and ice to live and shiver, far far from you. And I also do hereby acknowledge our fond and frequent memories of our beloved family and state afar to the south and our intense jealousy of fabulous weather in afore mentioned state.

HOWEVER, I want to clear up the misunderstanding/misconception/misinterpretation/delusion/authority misplaced...etc etc etc et al, of the recent weather events in said beloved state. Even in my blusteriest state, I cannot nor would I subject my beloved familial persons to snow....and especially not multiple times in one year. Really! I declare, I DO NOT know why anyone would ever think I'd send snow to Texas! It wasn't me!

Love,
The General

Friday Kid Update

2010-03-12T21:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't done this in a while, so let me jog my tired little brain and see what I can remember write about.

Joshua- His reading abilities astonished me this week. We do lots of school throughout each day and thru the week, but I haven't been sitting down and having him read to me alot lately. I had checked out some level 1 readers for him from the library and have noticed him grabbing random books and reading them to himself alot lately. So just to check in the other day, I asked him to read me a page from the book he was currently reading. I was amazed. He flew right thru the page, no problems. This isn't some basic Dick and Jane kind of book either. I was just so impressed and excited for him. I love love love books and I hope to pass that onto my children. Seems the bug might be biting baby #1. (Smith family, thank you for Tombo's book. That was the one he was reading!)

Leah- Leah leah leah. She's a challenge right now. She decided this week that she wanted to play the picky eater card again and see how it went. We don't do picky eaters in our house. We have a rule that we are all to be grateful for what the Lord has provided to nourish us, whether we care for the food or not. So Tuesday morning she got to eat her food from Monday night she didn't want. Then, Thursday night she decided to give it a go again. She skipped eating it at breakfast and lunch today. After nap time, her plate was mysteriously missing. She got up and threw it in the trash. So, you better believe that I picked it and the food up and put it right back on the table.* She finally ate it about 45 minutes before dinner time. You'll never guess what the VILE, AWFUL, NO GOOD, NASTY offending foods were! Grassfed, organic steaks off the grill, creamed spinach with lots of fresh garlic, and mashed potatoes. Serious!

Hannah- A little toot to be sure, but she is too stinkin cute for me to crack down on her and train her any better right now. You just CANNOT get past those big blue eyes! So, here are some Hannahease for you, because with this one, you need it!
Juice really means water.
Milk really means a juice of any sort.
Actual milk is not spoken of because she doesn't understand why anyone would drink that nasty stuff, lol.
This means I want what you have or anything within a 5 block radius and you better figure out what it is on your own because I'm giving you no other clues.
If This repeated over and over doesn't work, she will give you a "please" a few times and then right before she loses patients with your failure to comply she will say "good girl".

Pictures soon. hopefully this weekend!

*I did make sure that the food wasn't laying on any rotten salmonella laiden food, but I can't promise I wouldn't have given it to her either way.

2010-03-08T13:42:00.002-05:00

More randomness...
-We compromised and did both a Dave Ramsey vacation and a relaxing one. See, we had the money saved to relax and do nothing the whole vacation, but we've DR'd it for so long that well, spending frivolously is just repulsive to us now...most of the time ;-). So we had breakfast buffets every morning at our hotels, then ate veggies and dip and hummus and crackers for lunch in our room. Much healthier and cheap. Then ate dinner out. It worked out well. And Hannah was excited to see her beloved broc broc at lunch.
-It is sunny and 40+ degrees here all week. The snow is melting!!! Praise God. Spring might just show up on time here this year!

Hold On To Your Hats

2010-03-07T21:33:00.002-05:00

Whirlwind, comin through.....
-Had a whirlwind leading up to vacation, busy busy busy.
-We took off for some down time. We spent two nights at the Embassy Suites (best hotel chain of all time) south of Cincinnati and visited the Newport Aquarium and the Creation Museum. We give the aquarium 2 stars, we give the creation museum 5 Lachpach stars...our highest rating. Then we checked into Great Wolf Lodge and loved every minute of it. Joshua's favorite part was the wave pool, Leah LOVED the slides and rode them over and over and over and Hannah loved the water, as long as she didn't have to get in it. She and I stood with our toes close but not in the water alot. Sadly, Leah and Hannah got pretty sick and ran a high fever the last night we were there, so we cut our last day in the waterpark and headed home.
-We got home and my friend Erin was admitted to the hospital and so we went and picked up their six children. They stayed with us for three nights and we all had a good time. Things were really smooth and pretty easy, but no matter how it shakes up, 6 babies 5 and under is just exhausting.
-Tomorrow, I will prop my feet up and pretend that I don't have to miraculously whip this house into shape to start hosting a small group in our home on Friday after Robert is out of town on Thursday and Friday.
-Hannah is now 18 months old. She's a hoot.
-Tomorrow is day 14 since our pox party. I'm hoping to wake up to three poxy kids.

Schizophrenia

2010-02-25T14:19:00.003-05:00

schiz·o·phre·ni·a - (noun) disorganized speech and behavior

This is how I feel about my blog. Little clips of my life put randomly together seem odd and make me laugh. I could also add some kind of personality disorder here as well. I'm a many faceted person and depending on the personality that sits down at this computer when the moment of opportunity arises, you could get any mix of thoughts or sentiments. Blogging is funny that way. Some women are so great at being consistent in their content and thought patterns, probably because they have a precise purpose in blogging, but I'm just not. So I plug along here. After all, my two purposes of blogging are to continue to share my life with my beloved family and friends a 1000 miles away from me and to have some kind of insight for my children of our familial pursuits in their childhood. If nothing else, it should give them something to make fun of me about as I get old and crotchety.

And so, to warn my readers of a day when my post might be all over the place, I introduce you to my newest posting series.....schizophrenia.

So, what's on my mind today.
Snow is so pretty and I love it, except that it is cold and you have to wear too many clothes and you can't swim and then it gets slightly warmer and is still cold but the snow melts and gets really messy and muddy and it is still cold. Only 2 more months of winter here. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. The winter really has been much milder this year than lasts, and I am thankful to God for that!

When we moved to Ohio, remember I was big pregnant and soon had a baby and then saw snow for the first time, Sarah V came to stay with us and help us out (still waiting for her to come again...hint hint). She marveled one day about how I would let the kids run around our circle in our house and be loud and rowdy. I told her that I was trying out a theory. I had heard of women and children being locked in their homes for months on end by this mysterious thing called snow, and that sounded like alot of pent up energy to me, so I was going to let my kids learn that at certain times, they could let it all loose in the house. I can now say that I am glad I thought ahead to that! Today my children ran up and down our hall, screaming at the top of their lungs AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......for 45 minutes without stopping. You could see the awe and admiration in Hannah's eyes at the sheer genius of Joshua and Leah to come up with such an engaging game. It works! (I've also brought the bicycles in to the basement for a few quick laps while I change out laundry.)

I've been reading alot this year. I really miss reading when it doesn't fit into my life. I've read lots of books on health and nutrition, always trying to do better for my family in that area. It pays off, if nothing else because it gets me refocused on what junk we are putting into our bodies. I day dream alot about blogging a series here on my health journey. Someday, I'll even sit down and do it, but I warn you that I need to clearly relate the concept of place value to my 5 year old first.

I've also been reading on temperaments again. Trying to get a better hold on how best to guide and teach and discipline each of my chlidren. It is tricky business figuring out your child's temperament. They say they aren't fully established until 7, but I think we can see ours pretty well right now. Joshua is like his father, big surprise there, phlegmatic with a little sanguine...although he seems to have more sanguine than Robert. Leah is interesting. She is just like me and so I assumed she'd be a strong choleric...and she still might, but right now I think she has alot of sanguine in her....which I have NONE. Hannah is a baby, and I have that one nailed down! Or do I, she will be 18 months next week.....hmmmm. Maybe I should start potty training her.

When I finish this post, I will begin the list making and suitcase pulling for our trip!!!! We are all so excited. Especially since it is snowing heavily today and is supposed to continue tomorrow. But in Cinci, the forecast is for sunshine and 40 degrees. CAN'T WAIT!!! Sunshine!!!!

My cheap-Dave Ramsey side and my free spirit spender side are battling over this trip. DR on my shoulder keeps telling me to plan our meals out for the trip so we can save money and eat healthier...I like this option except the work involved in planning and executing it. lol! My free spender side keeps telling me that I love eating out and really it is vacation, my only glimpse of down time ever and I should take the break and enjoy it. Hmmmm, we'll see which lists I get accomplished before we leave on Saturday....that will really determine which side wins.

I used to pack for the whole week leading up to a trip. I'm one of those annoying people that forsees almost any need and packs accordingly to have all bases covered. However, since having children, I've learned about this crazy malfunction on the 22nd chromosome. Apparently it is a gene that shuts off once you reach an age older than my children, I'll let you know what age that is once mine reach it. It's wild to observe, especially if left to develop uninhibited. Here is what it does. Any time a suitcase is brought into the environment, it immediately clicks on and the gene springs into action. If the suitcase is left empty, the child must, genetically driven, completely and totally and haphazardly fill every space of said case. They really can't help themselves. However, and this is where the true wonder of the human make up comes into play, if the said case is being or is packed, the same child MUST remove all items and place them in the most unusual spots in the most extreme areas of the current environment. The first time I witnessed this with Joshua, I just thought it was a novelty of an unknown item, but I now know, after having three very distinct and separate test cases, that it is consistent across the species. Amazing really!

2010-02-22T17:10:00.002-05:00

We've survived our first chicken pox party of this season. Hopefully it is the only one we need to catch the elusive critters. All of us Mom's were talking about how funny it is that people freak out when there is a case of pox. We all swapped more germs than this germaphobe Mama can ever honestly admit and who knows if any of the 13 children will actually catch the pox. One of the Mom's here was with her #8 child, the last one to need the pox. She said her #7 took 5 parties before she got them. Seriously, this infecting gig is hard work.

My children all had their very first suckers. Joshua was pretty sure he had died and gone to heaven. Finally a sweet he really loved. I'm petrified of what tonight could be like with all of that sugar and artificial colors. I know that tomorrow will be AWFUL. My kids react to sugar soooo much and usually get very limited amounts. The big two ate a whole sucker, red and blue at that! EEK! Hannah did a pretty good job on part of a blue one herself. I can't believe I let my 17 month old have a sucker. Still freaked out about all of this. I'm such a germaphobe and healthaphobe, these pox parties are just hard on my pysche.

But, now we wait. 14-21 days from now we will know. Surely at least one of the 13 picked it up. The pox boy was awesome. Never fussed once about licking all of the suckers, or having his nose swabbed. Hope my kids are as willing to help when their time comes.

2010-02-21T20:49:00.002-05:00

We are going on vacation!!!!! Robert's company finally hired someone for the second full time management position that he has been working since Hannah was 2 months old. FINALLY! So, to celebrate our survival of this insanity and to get our family pulled back together, we are heading out for some down time!!!! We are going down to Cincinnati for a few days. We'll take Robert to the Creation Museum for the first time. The kids are ecstatic about going back, and so am I. It really is stunningly beautiful! We are also going to visit the Newport Aquarium, we are aquarium junkies, after all. Then we are going to park it at Great Wolf Lodge and just chill for a few days. Cannot wait! We don't plan on leaving the hotel at all. Our ideal schedule looks like sleeping in until 8-9. Get up and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the buffett downstairs. Mosey over to the waterpark a few feet away. Play play play. Have a quick lunch in our room. More waterpark time. Then long naps, playplayplay. Dinner, bedtime story in the lobby then sleep tight. Wash, rinse, repeat! We leave Saturday!!!

Tomorrow we are hosting a chicken pox party at our house. Hopefully it will work this time. It would be perfect timing to get the pox!!!!

Affirmations

2010-02-12T14:53:00.003-05:00

-Today I was wading thru knee deep snow to make a passable path for the kids to get to a hill in our back yard to sled on. I pulled Hannah on her little sled and Joshua carried Leah's sled for her as she worked her little legs in the high thigh deep snow for her. Joshua said "Mommy, it feels like we are walking thru the parted waters in the Red Sea. Just like Moses." That made me so happy.
-Joshua and Leah have morning chores that they are to complete before coming out of their rooms. Lately, Joshua gets up at 8, which is his "I'm allowed to get up now" time. Gets dressed, makes his bed, picks up his room and then, even though he could come on down to see what I'm doing, he has been going and making Leah's bed for her so she can just get dressed and pick her room up. It's so nice to see that sibling love and devotion.
-Earlier this week, the big kids were outside playing in the snow. I looked out to check on them, and they were out front shoveling the driveway for us.

Friday Kid Update

2010-02-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

We are doing good. We are all settling into our winter routine of only leaving the house on the weekends. Amazing how much money we save this time of year. It has just started snowing and we are glad to see it. We've had little snow this year. One good storm on New Year's Day that lasted for 2 weeks but since then very little. It has been nice in some ways. The kids and I have gotten to get out to the library some, but there hasn't been any fun snow to play in or sled on. This is supposed to be a pretty good snow, so hopefully we will get a good sled day in tomorrow.

The kids are all great. We are doing some retraining and role realignments right now, so it isn't necessarily pretty but necessary. We realized that herd parenting Joshua and Leah together needed to stop. Joshua now has more responsibilities to help push him to better maturity choices. Leah has had all choices and responsibilities taken away to get her back to being realigned at a 3 year old level, instead of 5 years. It is already helping. Joshua is listening much better and being much more caring for us all. Boys just need more work to keep them busy, and I forget that sometimes. Leah is having the biggest change already. She's much calmer and happier. Hannah is ADORABLE. I've thought that all of my kids were cute, but several times a day, I want to grab the camera and capture Hannah at this stage. I don't know if it is her temperment to be so cute or just a phase. Time will tell. She definitly likes attention. I don't konw if that is because she's a third child ans so always has someone's attention or if it is just who God has made her. It sure is fun. We all eat her up.

Hopefully, next week, I'll have some video to put up here!

2010-02-03T15:22:00.003-05:00

The winter blahs are setting in here. This year it isn't the snow, yet. We had a nice thick 18 inches that was great to sled in for about 2 weeks but then in a freak weather phenomenon, it got above freezing for several days in a row and it all melted. Since then, it has been cold but no snow. It did snow some this morning, but only about 2 inches. The problem is just that it is cloudy every day. Cold and cloudy is just blah weather. I can see why multitudes of people up here turn to anti-depressants and other drugs, although I don't condone or support this path of treatment, I do sympathize with people looking for a quick fix. It is just wearing never seeing the sun.

I noticed I was heading down the path of blahness again and so decided it was time to get back on my Netflix workout video reviews again. Up first this year, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I was pretty scared to be honest. I had heard much fitter specimens than me lamenting the agony of this system, but it was the next fitness one up in my queue, so I bit the bullet and resisted the urge to put it right back in the mail. Today is day three and I have to say that I like it.....with the caveats that I am still on level 1 and not doing it with weights, technically (I think do crunches with a 25 pound toddler on your chest should count as weights!). It is a reasonable system, as she leads you through 3 circuits of 2 minutes weight training, 2 minutes cardio then 1 minute of abs. The moves are pretty straight forward and she does them in a controlled manner, not fast and furious, so I feel like I can really do them correctly and effectively. And um, they are effective! My first day, I actually made it through the whole workout, and was pretty proud of myself. By that night though, I was pretty tight. The next day I was quite sore, but getting through day 2 helped work that out....until that night when my whole body was burning every time I got up or down. Ouch! Today is day three, and other than my glutes being tight and my knees being sore from the push ups, I am feeling really good. My only problem is that after having three kids, I'm realizing I might have to always workout in Depends! Very annoying!

I don't like that the girls are just in sports bras, but that is the norm these days. She also has said a couple of cuss words, in my book the A## word is a cuss word. And she talks about girl power and flaunting it, etc here and there. Annoying. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone significantly overweight or out of shape. It isn't a first timers video. I think you'd just quit because it was too much right off the bat....at least that is what I would do under those circumstances.

Tomorrow, I think I am going to add canned vegetables to the mix. My arms are gonna die. I already know it!

One World, One Heart

2010-02-01T15:13:00.002-05:00

Have you guys heard about the blog event going on right now? It is called the One World, One Heart giveaway. It is fun. You visit these artsy Momma's blogs and reply to their contest post and then you are entered to win something from them. They have some really cool stuff going on all over the world. Three of my friends in Texas are participating, so check them out.

http://shonastudio.blogspot.com/
First, my friend Shona. She's this amazingly fun and sweet lady that also happens to be an amazingly talented artist. You have to check her out, her work is beautiful and so full of life. She also happens to have a book coming out next month and she posted an introduction to it today on her blog!

http://sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com/
Next is my friend Trudy who is an amazing seamstress. Her blog keeps moving me closer and closer to sewing again. She does some really cool looks!

http://thehomemakingarts.blogspot.com/
Finally is my friend Donna. Donna and I have served side by side thru some really fun times, pulling weeds and cleaning friends homes and serving meals together. She has so much wisdom to offer us younger mothers and she is doing just that at her new site. She's a pretty impressive artist herself as well.

2010-01-30T15:28:00.002-05:00

Hello Blog,
Just you and me around these parts lately. Sorry if you've felt a little neglected. I really do love you and I realize you do have a purpose other than just my pleasure to get to sit down and write periodically. I realize that if I never post here, my children will wonder how we passed the years of their childhoods. I do know that it would probably be more practical to just bite the bullet and do the traditional scrapbooking things, but really, I just don't have it in me. Now don't be rediculous, haven't you noticed that I haven't even uploaded our pictures from our trip to Texas in NOVEMBER yet? Really. You honestly think I would ever get around to picking, editing, printing and scrapping pictures. And we both know how lacking I am in the artistic department......so no no, you and they will have to settle for my endless, random and sporatic writing escapades here. Now don't get pouty! I'm warning you!! Ok, fine....then I am not rambling today, I am ignoring you completely and going back to my reading. You know, you aren't the only outlet of my free time on the block honey. In fact, I've already read 15+ books this year. SO THERE! Now you know. I've been cheating on you........with the printed word.

I'm going to wipe a poopy bottom now, when I come back, I expect a cheerful heart.
Sincerely,
Your Author

2010-01-20T14:33:00.002-05:00

Ahh, the rollercoaster of Motherhood. Last weeks high is this weeks hiccup. We are still doing well but not near as together as last week, and of course by we, I mean ME. Hannah has had tummy issues and ran a fever one day and is still having teeth coming in like it is her life's job, so that means she wants Mommy to be holding her or nursing her constantly. Really puts a cramp in my "get 'er done" attitude. But hold her I do because she won't want or need that much longer. I try to remember that when I am frustrated with the poor attempt at schooling and the nasty, filthy floors and laundry that never did get put away and toilets....oh the toilets. When I hit these times now, instead of just throwing in the towel and calling the day a bust, which used to be my MO....at times I'd call a day a bust at 9 am, lol... now I pile us up on the couch and read books together or gather us on and around a kitchen counter to make something, ANYTHING and make myself no matter how tired sit down and do my devotional. This might surprise you all (or not since I'm sure 99% of you aren't as hard headed as I) but those days end up much better than they began. I look back with Robert after the kids are in bed, and the dishes are done of course, and can actually say that something got done.

So my superwoman cape isn't back from the cleaners yet, but that's ok. I'm focusing on growing Godly children and feeding us all as nutritious as possible, after all our lives are gifts from the Lord, shouldn't we fill them as such. (and no no, you are completely wrong if you think this recent healthy refocus has anything to do with the nasty taste still left in my mouth from our recent McD's trip...completely off base!)

We are of course praying for Haiti too. We haven't introduced the topic to our children. How do you really, to a 5, 3, and 1 year old? How do you tell them that there are children just like them starving to death lieing next to their dead mothers? I just don't know what to tell them without scarring them. They know about Haiti since some of our friends brought their boys home from their last May. How do I tell mine that the orphanage that Justin and Peterson lived in, and we looked at pictures of often is now unsafe and maybe after this morning not even standing. So Robert and I save those prayers for our time, not our children's. Sadly, this won't be the last time in our babies lives that they will see this kind of destruction, so we wait until their little hearts can handle it.

We are rejoicing today at the hope that the Lord has brought us thru the Republican win in Mass. We do continue to pray though for God to stop our nation from the innocent slaughter of children. Shame on everyone of us for not doing more!

Ok, this post has taken an sad turn and I can't leave it here, especially since I have some fun kid updates that I didn't get posted last week. So here they are...
Hannah- Has hit a developmental SPURT in addition to her fussiness. She is also talking much clearer and repeating everything she hears. Yesterday she went on and on about her hummus and crackers. The girl might just bankrupt us with her hummus habit! (Note to self, must get homemade hummus going quickly!) She can point to most parts of her body when we ask her. She likes this game particularly when getting her diaper changed. She is walking full time now too. If you don't believe me, check out the video I put up on FB. She's 16 months old now and like all three, I am becoming weary of her babyhood, but unlike the others, I know that a BIG corner gets turned at 18 months and so I'm ok.
Leah- Is struggling with middle child syndrome right now. Joshua gets lots of attention because of school, Hannah because she's still nursing and Leah is feeling left out. She's taken to lieing or trying too. She's still a helper though. I think she has to help, it is in her genetic make up to clean and pick up and coddle her siblings!
Joshua- Has had a big ole growth spurt lately. Right now he is LONG and lanky. I know that means to stock on groceries because he'll start chubbing up for his next spurt soon. He already eats twice the breakfast I do. He's doing really well with his school. He loves all of it. His handwriting is improving TREMENDOUSLY and I think he finally has conquered the "b"/"d" confusion....just in time to confuse a 9 with a P. He'd doing so well!

2010-01-12T14:09:00.003-05:00

Things are going really great here. It is nice to have a calm season that is clicking along. I seriously haven't felt this good in 5 years. We aren't moving right now, no new babies in the works, no babies waking up all night, we aren't surviving on nasty food...life is good. I'm feeling good and full of energy. I've been able to stay on top of our house work, cooking, homeschooling and baby nurturing as well. It is nice to have a break like this. Hannah will probably wean in the next few months and if I'm not pregnant, I'll actually get to kick healthy living into high gear and do some cleansing. My liver and gall bladder are in poor poor shape and have been for 5 years now, but I've never been able to treat them with more than external oils, which rock and totally get rid of most of the pain, but don't totally fix the problem. So soon, I might just get to do that. Most people with my issues just have their gall bladder removed, but we tend to feel that God put all of our parts in for a reason and so we would like to keep them where he put them. After all, it is my fault they are torn up. It is all diet related.

The weather is a pleasant surprise so far this winter as well. We are having to learn still to live on the calendar seasons, since that really is how things work up here. Winter began in late December. Unlike last year, we got no snow at all in Nov and Dec, but Jan came along and God opened the spigot up there and it has snowed constantly since. The weathermen are worse up here than in Texas, and that is pretty bad. Last week, schools were shut down and all kinds of closings in anticipation of a major snow storm. We were supposed to get 4-6 inches over night then another 6 or so the next day. We got about an inch, maybe. Tomorrow they are forecasting 0% chance of snow, so I'm bracing for a foot of the white stuff. ;-) They are also saying we are supposed to get above freezing three days in the next 10. Now that is just craziness. I remember last year we didn't get above or even close to freezing from Nov thru mid April. It was crazy towards the end of that stretch! But this year is proving, thus far, to be quite the mild and pleasant winter. Nice, pretty snow but nothing where I have to shovel the drive twice before Robert gets home from work.

This house we are in now is the perfect location in our neighborhood. We live right across the street from a giant hole in the ground that is perfect for young children to sled on and way too short a run for teens. Perfect. I got to sled for the first time last weekend and it is seriously one of the funnest things EVER! I'm an addict. Our familiy sleds all the time now. Sooo much fun! We even have a baby sled for Hannah. I'll get pictures one day if it isn't snowing and I can take the camera out safely. It is a blast!

We will be hosting a small group for our church starting soon. We are going to be doing the John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life material. Robert wants to read it with the group, so he asked me to preread it, and whoa boy, it is gonna rock some worlds. I don't think you can seriously read it and walk away unchanged. I can't wait. We have the DVD study along with the books and study guides. Gonna be soooo good.

Friday Kid Update

2010-01-08T15:30:00.002-05:00

But first, a Mommy update. We are rocking and rolling 2010 so far. This week we have schooled every day, begun our Latin studies and cleaned everyday....in addition to going to bed with an empty sink, things are awesome here!

Joshua- is doing really well. I think he might be bored with his math because he's choosing to do phonics before math some, an interesting new turn. However, he loves that he can count money and tell time. Both are basic skills so far, but he's doing well.
Leah- Is Leah. She's just growing up, but nothing real exciting. She loves to cut and glue. When Joshua sits down to school, she gets her supplies box out and starts cutting paper into tiny pieces. She insists on cutting it into her supplies box, even with my suggestions that she throw it away. Oh well, she is holding scissors much better than Joshua did at this age. She likes to marker too. Maybe she is going to be my crafting kid. She picks up tons of Joshua's school though, just sitting there. When he is working on his bible memory work, she can always correct him when he misses a word. Very interesting. It'll be interesting to see what her learning style is. She doesn't like working on her memory work but always surprises me that she gets it, when she seemingly flakes along when it is time to work.
Hannah- Every morning I walk into her room and say "Good morning Rooter, Tooter, Cuter, Pooter" She is snuggling with her baby doll and then asks me to put the babydolls clothes back on. Every morning. Lately she is living up to the tooter/pooter part. She is a TOOT. She's started throwing little tantrums when she doesn't get her way, mainly when I don't hold her 24/7. She is finally starting to walk on her own some. Can't wait for that to be a full time hobby!

2010-01-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

Joshua finished his first ever homeschool book yesterday. Phonics, step one....check! So, to celebrate, my sanity thru it and his accomplishment, we let him choose anywhere he wanted to eat dinner. We were expecting Olive Garden or Bob Evans or maybe Longhorn for his sister that seems to be exactly like her mother in everyway. But, he chose.....McDonald's. Seriously, I almost passed out until my stomach tied into a million knots from the fear of it and revived me. He had two very logical reasons, since he is exactly like his father, first, they have a playground and second he had gift certificates that have been burning a hole in his hand for weeks. So, off to McD's we went. Thankfully it is in our neighborhood since it was snowing heavily. And thanks to the snow, we were one of two families there. We all ate, YUCK and played for a while and then.....my sweet baby boy proudly took his three dollar gift certificates and went and bought a Sundae for himself, his sister and his mother. That made the indigestion and late night bathroom trips all worth it. He's such a sweet boy!

Public Service Announcement:
If you too find yourself in the above dreadful situation of eating at a less than desirable food establishment or have just found yourself on the bad end of a good pot roast, check out my link for my essential oils business and order the oil Digize and the supplement Alkalime! You'll be glad you did!

Happy 2010, May the Lord Change You for HIS Glory!

2010-01-02T20:48:00.002-05:00

A new year, how exciting! Really, it is a chance to choose to make a fresh start. It is a choice. You can also choose to sit in your own muck and mire and keep your life the way it is. This year, I have made a resolution to change. It isn't a major change, or maybe it might end up being, who knows. I've never made a new year's resolution before, just like I've never given anything up for lent, maybe I'll ponder that this year as well. But, last year, in January, I had the privilege of spending some time with my dear friend and mentor, Johnnie Seago. Her oldest son was getting married in Georgia and we were the only family friend that got to attend. We worked our tails off together for this wonderful couple and got to celebrate in a beautiful ceremony a God ordained joining of man and wife.....who by the way is now expecting their first baby, so stinkin excited about that, anyway, where was I.... so while I was working along side Johnnie, we talked about their new year's traditions. Most of us have holiday traditions of sorts, but I don't konw alot of people that include new years in those traditions. But the Seago family does. They sit down and talk about the year to come and their plans for it. They make goals for lots of areas in their lives and resolutions for change. So I asked her, "But no one keeps resolutions, why even bother?" And her answer is still with me. She's pretty cool that way.

She said, because even if you don't keep them all year and fall off from them in three months, you are three months better than you were before. Pause. Hmmmm, no one ever mentioned that to me before.

SO, this year, I resolve to change. I have tons of things in my life that I need and should work on, but I'm starting off with just one this year. It could be a biggie that could change my whole outlook on life, really, however, it is simple. I resolve this year not to go to bed with dirty dishes in my sink.

ok, now that you are done laughing, I'm serious. Never in my life have I done or seen this done. But, every morning, I get up and come downstairs and immediately feel defeated because I can't even start on the things for my life today because I still have yesterday hanging over me in my sink.....and yes, sometimes multiple yesterdays are piled up there, and yes, sometimes they stink....kind of like other things in my life that have been piled up over time, like laundry and emotional baggage, but I'm starting with the dishes, ok!

So, there it is for all the world to see. I'm doing my dishes! Two days down, 363 to go! So far so good. God help me if I get pregnant!

2009-12-28T20:22:00.002-05:00

It is finally snowing here. It started last night and snowed thru the night and most of the day today. I took all three kids out to sled this morning. So fun. I didn't really get to play last year since Hannah was so little. Hopefully this year will bring lots of sled time. I picked up an infant sled in a garage sale last spring and it is perfect for Hannah. I just pull her along behind me and she's as happy as a clam. Today one of her boots fell off on the way out the door and I just went on. Won't do that again. After about 15 minutes, she started grabbing her little foot, I'm sure it was frozen. Oh well, bad mom of the year award there. She doesn't seem to have any ill effects. Robert even got home early enough to get in on the action today. He and the big kids headed across our street to a big hill and start learning the slopes (pun intended). Since we are children of the south, it is as new and fun to Robert and I as it is to our kids.

Christmas was wonderful but not white. I mean, come on, we weren't in Texas after all. They had a white Christmas, at least first thing in the morning before it melted off, we had rain. Oh well, maybe our third Christmas in the north will be a white one. The kids came running in at 8 and yelled, "Mommy, Daddy, it's Jesus' birthday and we get to eat CINNAMON ROLLS!" We were tickled. First, that their excitement was first that it was Jesus's Birthday and second because their next biggest adventure was not just presents. We really try to instill that presents are just a small part of our celebration...only a recognition of the gifts that Jesus received at his birth. We too only receive three gifts each at Christmas. It keeps things simple and focused on other things.

We continued our cinnamon roll tradition this year. Two weeks ahead, we baked fresh cinnamon rolls for families at our church. Then did tons of candy for Robert's work and then a batch of cinnamon rolls for our neighbors. But, all of our neighbors were gone, so on Christmas morning, Robert and the big kids went driving around to find people that had to work on Christmas and blessed them with fresh cinnamon rolls. Robert said it definitly made an impression on everyone that got them. The 18 year old girl working at the movie store almost started crying, Robert left quickly, lol. I think next year, we are going to do another batch just to deliver to people working on Christmas day.

We had our friends the Denney's over for dinner on Christmas night. It was so fun. Kids were running everywhere (they have 6) and it just made it feel like home. We all ate. The kids, at least from three and up, got up and recited scripture and poetry. It was wonderful! We had so much fun.

Robert is back to work this week, but will have another 4 day weekend this coming weekend. We can't wait. What can we say, we just love being together as a family.

Bonus Kid Update:
Joshua lost his first tooth. It only made it about 36 hours before it was out of there. I think he played with it constantly from the time he realized it was loose. Robert put him to bed and it was just barely hanging in there, so he told Joshua that if it came out to just come wake us up and let us know. Well, wouldn't you know it that about 1am, Joshua comes in and tells Robert that it's out. We are pretty sure that he laid in there all night playing with it. So funny. We don't do the tooth fairy, but told him that we'd give him some money when it came out. He's still happy playing with it right now, lol.
Leah is just plugging along. Trying to find her way between big girl and little, although she's leaving little girl more and more behind. She's been asking to do school alot lately, so I might get our curriculum back out and work with her some more. She loves to color and cut right now and is so sweet with her baby dolls. She still tells me that when she grows up, she is going to nurse Hannah for me. She's alos my cleaner. She'll disappear and the next thing your know, the play room is picked up and organised. It's a beautiful thing!
Hannah is walking. Or I should say that she CAN walk. She only chooses to walk to Robert or I, but she can walk as far as she wants. She's still unstable and shaky but is progressing. I think she just isn't ready to move to the next stage of life, and that's fine with us....most of the time. She's eating well now and talks alot. She's into little temper tantrums now and then when she can't get what she wants, like a toy open or food fast enough, but she's easy enough to correct, that's nice. She's sleeping thru the night and even goes down awake now, which is going to be a major plus when it comes time to wean her.

This week I need to get us organised to start the new year. Robert and I will sit down and do our budget for next year. I need to organise what we want to finish up in school, we are starting Latin and music studies soon. I also need to get our healthy living organised. hopefully I can do some cleansing this year along with Robert and deal with my lingering liver/gall bladder problems. I also am making a New Year's resolution this year, for the first time ever, but I'll wait and share that later.

2009-12-17T14:27:00.003-05:00

-Joshua has his first loose tooth. How is that possible? Wasn't he just born?
-Hannah loves to make animal sounds. She does a purrrrfect meow. She also loves walking with her walker toy, now if she'd just walk on her own.
-I don't understand cancer. I know the prevelance of it now is probably related to our toxic lifestlyes. I had a classmate who was buried on Tuesday, he died of a brain tumor, the same kind his 5 year old daughter died from a year ago. One of my lifetime best friends' husbands found out his cancer is back after a short remission last week. Another friend was diagnosed with breast cancer on Monday. A friend at church's mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer this week too. I don't like cancer. The pain it causes families and individuals is ugly. Lord have mercy on us.
-Speaking of toxins, I finished my candy/cookie bakeathon last weekend. This year was 10 dzn almond cranberry sugar cookies, and a bunch of peppermint bark and rocky road fudge, but the star this year was the Oreo Truffles
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-OREO-Truffles/Detail.aspx
People went gaga over them apparently at Robert's work, which is where all of this nasty sugary mess gets sent! ;-)
But this weekend is the big weekend for me and where I'll end up in trouble. This weekend is when we bake the from scratch cinnamon rolls from Pioneer Woman. By the way, she' giving away three KitchenAid Mixers on her site. Check it out.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

PS Someone that is programming wiser than me, please tell me how to get these links to by cute little hyper links please.

Friday Kid Update

2009-12-11T11:08:00.002-05:00

Joshua- His face is chubbing up, so it looks like I'll be pants shopping for him again soon. Wowzers, his growth spurts have really kicked in this year. He seems to have finally made it thru his super clumsy and very irritable phase. Thank goodness! I was wondering if he was going to live thru both of those,lol. He's telling time really well now. His motivation is that I tell him what time he can get up in the mornings and from nap time. ;-) ***He loves taking care of Hannah. He can feed her, and take her out of her highchair and wash her hands up. He carries her around any time she'll let him. Now if I could just get him to change her diaper and bathe her, I'd be on vacation!

Leah- She's beginning to come into her second Mommy roll, being the oldest girl. She is quick to correct Joshua and Hannah when they are straying from the path of righteousness. Now if we could just get her to follow suit! She is very obedient as long as she thinks she might get caught, but if she thinks she can get away with something, all bets are off. Yesterday, she filled one of our vents with tiny little pieces of torn up paper, then so that she wouldn't get caught, she closed the vent. Thankfully, I found it very soon after and no harm was done. She still loves dressing up and playing BooBoo's (babies) with Hannah. She tells me often that when she grows up to be a Mommy, she will nurse Hannah for me. She hasn't quite figured out the concept that hannah is growing up too.

Hannah- Is 15 months old now and FINALLY is sleeping thru the night! because she is now night weaned!!! This makes for a much happier Mommy, at least when I get over the flu it will. She's finally settling in to this house. She will crawl around and play on her own some now. Before, she was constantly by my side and usually wanting to be held. She's finally cut her 8th tooth. I think because we were in Texas. She's cut a bunch of teeth in Texas, lol. Her vocabulary EXPLODED while we were in Houston. I think because there were so many people around talking all of the time. Our house is a pretty quiet house, even with three kids. We just aren't a loud, rampbunctious bunch. But the Seago house is anohter story. I believe there were over 30 of us there the first 4 days of our trip, and Hannah heard lots of talking. She nows says tons of things. She also has been coming and telling me when she has poopies and that's pretty nice too.

win some free stylish clothes

2009-12-09T20:42:00.004-05:00

you girls all know how I need all the help I can get being stylish....so, I entered to win some really cute clothes over here...check it out!
http://www.petitelefant.com/2009/12/shade-outfit-giveaway.html

2009-12-07T20:46:00.002-05:00

We are home. We arrived late Saturday night and slept most of Sunday. Today was grocery shopping for starving children in our family ;-) and putting up the Christmas tree, addressing Christmas cards (I can't believe how out of date my address book got this year), finding Christmas cookie and candy recipes for Robert's gifts to his employees (hint hint, anyone got some?), nailing down schedule for babysitter during Sifco Management Christmas party for Friday, deciding on a family Christmas gift for party at church on Sunday and food to take also.......

anyone see a theme here? Hopefully I'll be back to update about our awesome trip to Houston and Seagoville over Thanksgiving. In case that doesn't happen, we got to fly home with Jim Cantore and Mike Seidel from the Weather Channel, pretty cool for a weather junkie family like us!

Eyes of Blue, 2 foot 2...

2009-11-23T22:32:00.002-05:00

More Bullets

2009-11-22T20:58:00.002-05:00

-Thanks for all of the info and suggestions ladies. It reminded me that I am doing way more than just the curriculum. We've read thru the whole Charlotte Mason reading list for Kindergarten. We are starting the first grade list. We also got some Abeka K and 1st science books that we've gone thru. He's doing Explode the Code phonics and loving it and Horizon math and we are liking it. We also do bible studies and memory work every day. So, I guess we are good so far.
The curriculum we are using is actually My Father's World. I'm going to have to reevaluate it for us next year. I've realized that I'm just not a fluffy girl. To me, coloring and cutting and artsy work every day is a waste of time. My kids seem to be geared that way so far too, thank goodness. If I get an artsy one, we are in trouble, lol. So I am going to keep with the MFW but just lightly and use it for our one or two days a week of fluff, then focus on everything else the rest of the time.
-This weekend was crazy busy and I'm exhausted. The Candlelight Walk went really well last night. We served free chili and hot dogs to the community during the parade and festivities. It was fun but tiring. I organised all of it, so I was glad it went well. Today we had Thanksgiving dinner celebration with the Lohnes and our church family here. Lots of food and it was fun. I stayed home from church this morning to get some rest and get food prep done.
-I am hoping that everyone has passed thru their illnesses. Hannah had the flu all week but seems to be good now. Leah threw up on Saturday morning out of the blue, we still don't know if it was something she ate or a bug, but she seems ok. Joshua and Robert and I are good, so far.
-Getting ready to head to God's country again come Thursday!!!!!!!!

No Time, Bullets

2009-11-17T20:48:00.003-05:00

-Hannah woke up with a fever Monday morning. It broke this morning but is now back. Poor baby. She won't let me put her down.
-Busy week. I am organising our churches free chili/hot dog meal for the community during the Medina Candlelight Walk on Saturday, also making 2 huge pots of chili for the event. Went and bought 33 packages of hot dog buns today, can officially check that off my list of things to do before I die. Sunday we are having our church family Thanksgiving celebration at the Lohnes's home. I'm cook up a whole slew of yummies for that.
-I need some homeschool thoughts from you Mama's. Our curriculum is WAY WAY under Joshua's level. I thought we'd just push thru it anyway for a structure but seriously. It is a waste of our time, and I don't like wasting time. Leah gets most of this stuff and she's 3. What to do. We had purchased more advanced phonics and maths and so he's really pushing thru those now, but should I look for something else? Anyone? This totally reaffirms to me that Joshua couldn't got to public school. He's almost on a second grade public school level at 5. If we put him in "K" next year, he'd get diagnosed with ADHD and put on meds. Seriously.
-Robert is now in an indoor soccer league for the winter. It's fun but I don't like splitting my attention between the kids and his game. I'm a sports fan and just want to watch all of the action, lol.
-We leave for Texas in NINE days! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!
-I made some awesome chicken and dumplings. Actually, I feel like I'm coming into my own on this whole soup making adventure. I consider myself a good if not great cook. I've been doing it since I was 9 (my Mom worked second shift, so cooking was up to me) but living in the South, I never really had a reason to learn soups and so have always been awful at them. But now, I think I've figured them trick out......shhhhh, don't tell anyone, it is a blender! Yup! I use an immersion, but a regular would work too, just more work. I boil up a million veggies in some chicken broth, doesn't seem to matter what kind, and then blend them up, TA DA! Delicious soup. Really, we are loving it. My chicken and dumplings I boiled the chicken with onion and garlic and carrots and kale, celery, then pulled out the chicken to dice, blended up the veggies, add a little more broth to thin it some, then threw in the chicken and dumplings and let them cook. It was DIVINE and alot healthier than most recipes. So there ya go Kel, try it, you'll love it!

2009-11-11T16:32:00.002-05:00

and today just gets better and better. We ran to check out a health foods place I had heard about and it is the best Healthy Foods Grocery I've ever been in. It is called the Mustard Seed and I am in LOVE. I was soooo giddy going thru it today. Tons and tons of gorgeous organic produce. Awesome supplements and other groceries. A fresh butcher that had great looking meats and fish. Seriously, I'm soooooooooo stinking happy!

Then, I came home and all of the kids went down for naps!!!!! Hannah is still adjusting to the time change and has been taking a morning nap and it is about to kill me! No rest or breaks at all is more than this Mama can handle for days on end.

Finally, I've got a big ole pot of chicken and veggies bubblin away to make some chicken and dumplings for dinner. I am on a mission to make meals we love from our childhood but healthy. This one has kale, celery, carrots, onions and chicken. I'll pull the chicken out and dice it up, then cream the veggies to make a creamy broth then add the dumplings and chicken back in. I CAN'T wait, I was drooling while I made it.

2009-11-11T13:19:00.002-05:00

A little unsettled. We got an email from our HOA here today that said a man in a blue car has been going to kids waiting for the buses in the morning and yelling at them to get in the car. This has been happening for 2 weeks. Ick. I worry about Joshua at times. He is sooo social, and will talk to anyone, anytime. Anyone have good suggestions for a book on how to talk to your kids about safety stuff like this?

In other news, we are having the best day. I was just sitting thinking that this is how I would like all days to go. We got up and got the kids their baths and then breakfast. Joshua fed Hannah her breakfast while I did some computer work. Then, Hannah went down for a nap and the big kids and I got school done. Leah even asked to play some alphabet games and she is finally learning some of her letters. Joshua is doing phenomenal in school, no surprise there. Then, we made banana walnut pancakes together and had a tasty lunch. Now we are off to run some errands and enjoy the beautiful weather we are enjoying!

2009-11-10T18:52:00.003-05:00

I have a headache and no idea why. Hannah is sleeping ok, not thru the night but ok. I've been eating good, drinking my water....must be hormones. Blech. AND I don't have a book to read right now, which is what I"d like to do, curl up and read a book. I've been reading Cindy Woodsmall's Amish books lately. They aren't anything jump up and down about but the stories are fun to dive into. She isn't as good a writer as Beverly Lewis. She is more personal stories and sagas kind of writing with a little Amish life thrown in, where as Beverly Lewis is more Amish lifestyle with personal sagas included. I like Lewis better. That being said, I am still going to finish the Sisters of the Quilt series and then get back to what I prefer to read, nonfiction. I recently reread 5 Love Languages, still highly recommend that book. I also read two books with Joshua that we really loved and I would like to find for our home library. One was A Tree is Nice and the other was A Little Boy Named Babaji, really loved the Babaji story.

We our enjoying some unseasonally warm temps here right now. It is nice as I know what is coming this year. I know we will also enjoy the snowy times too, but they last so long. I'm trying to get the kids outside as much as possible, and am researching vitamin D supplements.

2009-11-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend. We have been blessed amazing summerlike weather this weekend. It has been in the 60's yesterday, today and tomorrow will be too. Sunny and BEAUTIFUL!!!!! So, we are out enjoying it! I think a zoo trip is in store tomorrow.

2009-11-06T09:18:00.005-05:00

8 Wonderful Years in September.

All of us on our 8th anniversary in September.

This is my first time ever, organised junk drawer. Is this inspiring or what?

Bad hair night for AWANAS.

This is our cutie little blond curly haired blue eyed girl.

2009-11-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

We had our first snow yesterday. It snowed off and on all morning. No sticking. The kids went out to catch flakes on their tongues.

2009-11-03T10:51:00.002-05:00

Don't forget to vote today, lots of people have given their lives for you right to vote! If you are in Ohio, please vote no on 2!

It is sunny but cool here today. We had a really heavy frost yesterday morning. Snow is forcasted for Thursday. It is November now, so I am ok with it snowing. Reminds me that I still need to order snow boots for the kids though...oopss. We've looked at alot of the cheaper snow boots around but none of them look like they would be waterproof and my kids would have frozen feet in about 10 seconds. They love playing in the snow, and so we are going to spend the money to get them boots that will keep their feet warm in the snow. Joshua actually begged to go play in the frost yesterday, lol! He ran to me first thing in the morning and said "Mommy, Mommy, look outside there is white stuff!!!!" He was sooo excited. Hated to break it to him that it wasn't snow and they weren't going out to play in it.

Hannah is either gearing up for a huge growth spurt or getting sick. The last two days she has nursed constantly. She climbs up in my lap and signs eat while pulling on my shirt and saying night night, lol! She may not be talking fully but the girl can get her point across. She also screams APPLE at the top of her lungs any time anyone has ANY kind of food. It is hysterical. She'll frantically sign more and eat and please trying to get some food. You'd think she was starving to death. She ate more chicken pot pie than Leah at dinner last night.

Happy Reformation Day!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-31T22:23:00.002-04:00

On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door in Wittenburg, thus unknowingly beginning the Reformation. This is what we celebrate today. We avoid the American celebration of death and the occult and choose to enjoy a dinner out for breakfast as a family. In Texas, we had lots of friends from our church join us. In Ohio, thus far, it is just us enjoying Bob Evans! Yum!!!

So, Happy Reformation Day Ya'll!

2009-10-30T13:43:00.003-04:00

We've had a lovely week. Spent time at the Akron zoo and two days tromping thru the woods at the Rocky River Reservation. We saw deer up close on both days, crawled around in tree roots of fallen trees, got pounded by falling acorns and were in awe of the beauty of God's creation in the Fall season. We finished up our creation study in school and now go onto 26 fun filled lessons surrounding the letters of teh alphabet. Each letter is paired with a math, reading, bible, science and I think geography lesson for a week. Next week will be sponsored by the letter "S"! ;-)

Today we go vote. Please, if you live in Ohio, vote NO on issue 2. I've never read a more poorly written and less thought out piece of legislation. It makes me mad actually. There is no reason that this issue should remotely be linked with any kind of constitutional amendment. And even if this were to try to pass as simple legislation, it is rediculous. There are no standards addressed at all and no over sight by anyone, or the option of oversight to ever be established or possible. Basically, it comes down to big agri business wanting to set up this committee that can run rampant over the farmers and therefore the people of Ohio. Don't give away your power! VOTE NO ON ISSUE #2.

And in case you are wondering, we will voting NO on #1 and #3 as well. We aren't in Cuyahoga Co anymore so we won't have the option of #5 and #6, but we would be voting no on 5 and yes on 6, if anyone cares.

2009-10-26T20:43:00.002-04:00

We had a good weekend....but I! had a great weekend!!!! I read a book on Saturday, and it wasn't a child's book and I did it all by myself! Robert got up with the kids at 9 and headed downstairs. I curled up with an Amish fiction novel and read in bed and ignored screams and bangs and fits until noon!!!! I got up, made everyone lunch. Got them all down for naps and went right back to bed to read until 5. Got up, showered and went out to a yummy Mexican dinner with my family. It was the best day I've had in FOREVER!!!! I told Robert that I need a reading day once a month. Hiding in bed with a book has been my escape/reboot mechanism since I was small enough to read...which I think started at 4 for me. The book was ok, not the best I"ve read by far or worst, but that wasn't the point!!! I'm refreshed!

Today was sunny and 60 degrees, so even though we got to be late and Hannah was up every 45 minutes last night and Leah has a cough and Hannah a cold....we went to the zoo. I knew what it would mean for this afternoons nap scenario and evening/night routines and we still went....and it was lovely. We visited the Akron zoo for the first time. We live much closer to Akron than Cleveland now. It was a nice little zoo. We can't wait to go back and show Daddy, and for Daddy to take the kids thru the snake building. Mommy don't play snakes! We still squeezed school in after dinner. And now, I'm off to bed.

Friday Kid Update

2009-10-23T14:23:00.002-04:00

Yes, I haven't forgotten.....just been tired and settling. Without further ado.

Joshua- Loves school. I wish his teacher could school him as much as he wanted me too. If that were the case, he'd graduate by age 10, I'm sure of it. Of course, that is one of many reasons we are homeschooling. So our childrens education will truly educate and grow them, instead of just being floated thru a system like we were. Robert and I often wonder how much more we could have learned and done had we been given any opportunity other than mundane school boredom. Anyway, Joshua is loving school. This morning he told me "I love math" I can't wait for his Daddy to get home and hear that. He'll cry..... no really, he will. Math is Robert's passion, he can do calculus in his head. I think Joshua may have the same knack. We could easily finish the kindergarten math books I got him in a week, if I let him, but I'm not. This year is more about us learning how to do school together than him learning any concepts. He pretty much has most all K concepts down.

He is growing like a weed. I think he is growing so fast sometimes that his mind and body can't keep up. He goes thru regular periods of being crazily clumsy. Thankfully other people have seen him just walking along and fall flat out on his face...other wise people might question his bumps and bruises. He is really funny though because he always immediately jumps and says real fast and loud "I'm ok!" I think his mind has days it can't keep up either. Every once in a while, he'll just not be him. He won't listen, has no regard for us or other authority, is mean to his sisters, and just kind of quiet. I really think it's his way of just shutting down some to process and then he's good again.

Leah- Is still so flamboyant and crazy. She's starting to try and be sneaky, which is funny since she's 3 and has no skill at it whatsoever. She too has had a huge growth spurt. She shot right through her 3t's and is a solid 4t now. Good thing I was slow on the winter clothes shopping or we would have been in trouble in the wrong size. She has her own room now and really seems to be thriving. I think she likes her quiet alone time in the mornings before I get everyone up. She gets up and gets dressed....which is always an amusing costume of sorts, and then plays with her babies and kitchen. I really think it has helped her calm down a bit. She does need more focused training from us though. She is kind the brat right now, but that is totally our lack of training. We are working on it.

Hannah- Now this girl has taken off! She is eating table food almost full time, although she still nurses 8-12 day too. She's putting on weight and BUSY. She's crawling for real. For a few days, she would hold our fingers and walk with us, but now if we try to do that she promptly plants her bottom. I think she figured out we were going to less carrying time with Mommy and she quickly put the brakes on that. She talks up a storm. She says NO NO, constantly...but only in car...to Leah! lol! She also knows alot of signs and can and will quickly put her siblings in there place. They love her so much though. She calls them both Bubba, which cracks everyone but Leah up, although she has come to terms with it now. We HAVE to work on her sleep. Up until 9 months, she was a great sleeper....for a Lachney baby, but then we traveled to Texas and back and then D.C. and we've been unsettled since and her sleeping is awful.....and I'm about to collapse becasue of it. Time to break out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child again. Poor Tooty doesn't know what is coming! But we'll all be happier once we get thru it.

2009-10-22T16:48:00.003-04:00

Things are on the up and up here already. A relief for sure. I'm not a big believer in all of the crazy media hype that stirs our country/world into hysteria every year or so over some new virus that is going to kill the entire world. But, having little ones and knowing that small children in our area have died from swine flu, does make me pause. We still handled this the way we always do any "sick" episode....meaning,we don't wait until we are sick to care for ourselves.

I always try to keep us in healthy habits to give our bodies strength for life, including virus's and bacteria. So, we just got everyone really going on the Ningxia Red, diffuser going full time, lots of oils on our bodies, homeopathic remedies and we got chiropractic adjustments. Everyone woke up fever free and well today. I think we are all a little tired but otherwise we are fine. I'm grateful to God for bringing us on a path of natural healing. I think it is sad that americans, christian and not, put more trust in doctors than our God who loves us and CREATED us. He designed our bodies with systems to fight, but sadly most people just want to run and take a pill to stop those annoying symptoms. He also gave us many things in His creation to help our bodies when they are taxed and stressed. He is a mighty God!

Oink Oink

2009-10-21T09:28:00.002-04:00

Well, some kind of flu has entered out house. I'm not guessing whether it is of the porcine variety or not, but it is here either way. I think Hannah has had it a day or two. She's had very very swollen lymph nodes and been really cranky and clingy, but really, how much can you get from a baby about their symptoms. I've felt really ick the last two days with a headache and general run down feeling, but I'm a Mom that is woken up every 45 minutes to 2 hours all night every night....so I assumed that was my issue. But then last night, Joshua says he feels funny. I assumed he was just tired from not taking his nap that afternoon. Then within 15 minutes, he spikes a high fever. So, I'm pretty sure we have a flu of some sort. Robert ran to Walmart and got 4 boxes of Ossillococcinum (OSC) for us. Thankfully they weren't sold out. I've heard of multiple schools being closed in our area this and last week for swine flu, so I was worried. Thankfully for us, most people run to their ped and not for natural remedies...silly people. Anyway, keep us in your prayers. I'm staying on top of everybody with oils and remedies now so hopefully it will be short lived and mild.

Beatles-esque Bible Books Song

2009-10-17T10:18:00.002-04:00

Wanted to post this so I can find it later.

SNOW

2009-10-15T13:15:00.002-04:00

Snow is forecasted for Saturday, October 17th. I keep refreshing weather.com to see if they made a mistake. :-(

2009-10-13T20:51:00.003-04:00

Too many blog posts running thru my head, so I'm giving ya bullets instead.

- First, B is doing better. He had 5 stints put in, in two separate operations. All went well and he flew home as planned two days after the second procedure....not against a few suggestions from the doctor and family members. He has a follow up with his cardiologist in Houston this Thursday, so we'll have a better report then. He is feeling well though. He'd be feeling better if LSU was winning. His heart monitor was going crazy during the LSU game, lol!

-Nanny flew home today after 5 crazily busy weeks here with us. It was a nice visit although we didn't get to have near as much fun as we wanted. I would say we will next time, but since we will be moving again next year, and I will be begging her to come help again then...well..who knows. She did get to see the leaves start to change and we ooh'd and aah'd about that together. It really is a sight to see. It was nice having her around. The kids LOVED having Nanny always ready to read a book or color a picture. And I didn't mind the help with the laundry either. ;-)

-It is fall here and that means a million different festivals and such. We love doing stuff like that together as a family. Last weekend we hit the local little Rennaisance Faire. It was fun and had more stuff than last year when we took Sarah V. But, this weekend I think we are going to hide and rest. We've been going at Mach 1 without a break since mid August when we decided to move. We've also had company that entire time, and so I think Saturday will be a pajama family day here. We are tired.

- Robert has joined an over 30 soccer league. He's THRILLED to be playing soccer again. He's played his entire life until the last 10 years. His first game was good but COLD for us on the sideline. I'm new to this soccer Mom status, so I am learning the ropes. The second week, I remembered the jogging stroller and water for us all. But didn't dress us near warm enough or bring blankets. I'd say this week that I'd be ready, but.... last week, Robert got taken out by the other team and has a badly badly sprained ankle. I'm really pushing the oils and remedies thru and it is healing remarkably but it will be a game day call on whether he'll play or not. Since they are forecasting 40 for a high with rain...I'm guessing not. ;-)

-We are starting school this week. Although, I was reviewing our curriculums intro lesson which is 10 days long and realized that it is SOOOO below Joshua. So he'll listen along and then go onto his higher level phonics and math work and I'll teach Leah kindergarten. Might as well get her started if I'm doing the work already. Today we worked on composers and classical pieces.

-I'm doing good. I need to finish getting this house into shape so I can find my happy place.....impossible for me to do in unorganised clutter. I need to start exercising again since winter is quickly coming, but we'll see when I get that into the routine. My headaches are still around, sadly. But there is a doctor in Columbus I might try to start seeing in the spring, when the snow melts and I have a car to drive again.

- FINALLY! PRAISE GOD, our house in Texas closes on THIS FRIDAY!!!! I thought it would be bittersweet, but honestly it is just a relief. It will be one month shy of 7 years since we bought it. It was a great house for us to get started in, but man am I ready to have another house of our own.

2009-10-02T20:09:00.001-04:00

Please pray for my father in law, B Lachney. They flew in to visit us yesterday and this morning Robert and Sue had to take him from the Pro Football Hall of Fame to a hospital for chest pains. He's had a heart cath and we're waiting to see what next.

2009-09-28T15:11:00.002-04:00

Everyone's napping and I desperately need to be unpacking and organising/cleaning...so I think I'll update real quick. We are moved in and getting settled. I have most of our stuff unpacked and somewhat ordered although I will be doing some major organising once all of our company is gone. Mom only has 2 weeks left here. It was been soooo nice having her here to help with the kids during the move and catch up on alot of my much neglected sewing projects. We've even fit in a few sightseeing jaunts, including our first ever school field trip today. We went to a local farm and the farmer gave us a tour. We got to all pick pumpkins out of the patch and apples from the orchard. Feed the pigs, learn about beehives and their honey making. Joshua and Leah both asked very good questions about the bees, dispite my nervousness of them being silly and distracting. Overall it was a good little tour. It felt good to be around other homeschoolers again and got me in the schooling frame of mind, which is good since we will be starting our year as soon as everyone leaves. Robert's family comes in on Thursday. We are going to do Amish country (a must for every visitor here), the ProFootball Hall of Fame (I'm giddy about this one), the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame (I'm sad I"ll miss this one since the kids have a doctors appt that day), dinner on Lake Eerie, Robert's first soccer game and other shopping and eating. Gonna be exhausting but fun. Hope you guys are all doing good. Shoot me an email if anything big is going on in your lives, I'm only checking email right now. I've popped on Facebook for about 2 seconds once or twice but that has been about it.

2009-09-23T09:22:00.001-04:00

We are moved in. Busy unpacking and getting "home" reestablished. My children are in desperate need of routine.

2009-09-15T08:54:00.002-04:00

Celebrating 8 years of marital bliss today. We've been so blessed by our Lord. He brought us together 8 years ago. We met in Feb of 2001. Robert came to know Christ in April, then quickly got permission to court me from our pastor. By my birthday in May, we knew we would be getting married. Sept 11, 2001 shook our world and then 4 days later we began a wonderful walk TOGETHER with our Lord. It really has been all blessings since. Only by His grace and love are we where we are today. We acknowledge and are grateful for that. Happy Anniversary Sweetie, I love you forever and ever.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

2009-09-13T15:02:00.003-04:00

Today is my sweet baby boys 5th birthday. Five years and three states ago, I became a Mommy and Joshua brought joy into our world. He is a really great kid. He has a heart of gold, even on his arnery days. He loves loves loves his Mommy and still will stop almost anything to snuggle up with Robert or I. He thinks Leah is a pretty cool playmate and Hannah is his joy. He is quite proud that he can now carry her around, since he is a big 5 year old after all, dontcha know. This morning he ran in to our bedroom and snuggled up as Robert and I sang happy birthday to him. Then he quickly got up and jumped super high, so we could notice how much higher he can jump, not that he's 5 years old. He's reading really well. He'd really really being doing well if his mother would hurry up and teach him more phonics rules. He loves playing outside in the dirt with sticks and rocks...and sometimes balls. He would sit and listen to books being read to him for days on end. He likes limits and having them reinforced when needed, keeps him a content boy. We are having our first, not at home birthday party since our house is now 80% packed up, including the entire kitchen. I even had to BUY a birthday cake, I hope it is tolerable. We are going to Bounce City and having a good fun jumpy party for him. I know he'll be blown away by it. I can't believe that it's been five years. We are blessed to have sweet Joshua Robert in our lives.

We love DAVE RAMSEY!

2009-09-09T22:05:00.001-04:00

Ok, we have taught his class, and are successful with his program. We love him.

In case you haven't jumped on the Dave Ramsey Debt-free Bandwagon yet, now's a great time to check him out. He's giving away baby step #1!

2009-09-08T09:48:00.002-04:00

Real quick catch up....before I dive back into boxes and packing and then head to the airport to pick up Nanny.

Hannah turned one year old on Friday. This year has flown by! She has been my easiest baby by far. I think alot of that is because I didn't have major surgery to deliver her. (insert my long rants about idiots that schedule Csections here) I feel kind of bad. We didn't do anything for her birthday at all. We had decided to go visit friend in DC for labor day weekend and so I was getting us packed and loaded and then we were driving the rest of the day. I hate that I don't have a picture of her eating her first birthday muffin that I always make the kids. I think I might make them later this week, and do a little family party then, just for the picture, lol. I just don't want her to later ask me why she doesn't have a picture like Joshua and Leah. Right now, I think she's ok with it. ;-)

We had a wonderful weekend in DC. We visited Pooka (Harris), Aunt Cake (Kate) and Jojo (Jonah) and Sammy the dog. They are foodies, like us and so we ate alot and loved every minute of it. I took my grain mill and Pooka made some fresh pasta for us. Cake made some fresh calzones also. It was lovely. They live in a beautiful planned community in Virginia. We walked all over, down to the farmers market, to the playground, so fun. We also drove into DC and went to the national zoo. It was nice but got crazy crowded in the afternoon. Cake and I got pedicures. The whole weekend was so nice and laid back and relaxing. Just what we needed before this next month of craziness. We can't wait to go back and do the DC touring. It was exciting just driving over the Potomac and seeing the Washington and Lincoln monument from the car. I can't wait to really go explore our nations capitol.

Awesome

2009-09-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

2009-09-01T10:14:00.002-04:00

We finally got and accepted an offer on our house in Texas. 14 short months was all it took on the market. Actually, it was less than 2 months since we listed with our new agents. If anyone in the Houston area needs to buy or sell a home, I CAN NOT recommend Ronnie and Cathy Matthews any higher. They have been amazing!! Seriously, they've been actually WORKING to sell our house, instead of just listing it and waiting. We have been impressed over and over by them. And now, we have a much better idea of how to sell a house the next time we need to. We are grateful to the Lord for leading us to them and for His perfect timing for our sell, even if it isn't the timing we would have planned. May His will be done in this sell and in our buying of our next home! He blessed us sooo amazingly in that, our first home. All three of our children were conceived there, along with babies for three other families, including the birth of a sweet baby boy there just yesterday! We thought about listing feritility blessings as part of our sellers disclosure, lol!

My Humble Apologies!

2009-08-31T09:24:00.002-04:00

I got a request for pics of the kids, and went to look back and realized that almost two months have passed since I posted any pictures. I am SOOO sorry. I have no idea how the blogsphere has continued to spin. ;-) Without further ado...my babies!

2009-08-30T14:00:00.002-04:00

Our first cold front of the year blew thru last night. Robert came in from switching car seats and told me to get jackets for the kids. I didn't want us to look like the wimpy southerners that we are, so I just got sweaters for the kids and headed out. Umm, it was cold. When we got to church, everyone had on long sleeves and jackets or sweaters. Next time, I know I can actually put some warm clothes on!

Friday Kid Update

2009-08-28T09:59:00.002-04:00

Joshua- Is almost 5. Where has the time gone? And where has my baby gone? He's changing. I have to talk to him differently now. I can sit and discuss his behavior with him and he really is starting to understand the why's and how's of discipline. I pray that God is working in his tender little heart. He's struggling with knowing boundaries with his little sisters. He can't figure out a good balance of fun with rough. He is excited about our new house, but says he is going to miss the little boys that live there now, he has seen them twice after all...just takes once for Joshua to make a lifetime friend. He also still asks me when we are moving back to Texas regularly.

Leah- Is getting physically stronger. She is trying to teach herself to stand on her head, and squeals with delight when she rolls on over. She wants to read so bad. Her hair is getting so long.

Hannah- Eating really well. Sleeping good too...I'm sure that will change once the pace picks up around here. She still only has 6 teeth. Still army crawls but can big girl crawl when she wants too. She pulls up to stand and play all the time but isn't letting go at all. Her personality is really coming out. She's fun to play and interact with now. She chatters away all the time. Has lots of words she says, but refuses to be a performance monkey. This week she has started saying apple, papa, whoa and she signs more and all done. She's my best signer so far!

2009-08-27T20:39:00.002-04:00

I really should be doing something other than being on the computer for the next few weeks.....I pray that I have the discipline to do that. Next Friday, Hannah turns 1 and thus begins the marathon. Then, we have a quiet long weekend. My Mom flies in for a 5 week visit on the 8th. I have another frequency treatment in Toledo on the 10th. Joshua turns 5 on the 13th. We celebrate 8 years of marriage on the 15th and begin moving. I have everything but the furniture moved by Saturday the 19th, then the furniture gets moved in. Then, I have two weeks to get unpacked settled, and take Mom around this here part of the country before the Lachney clan gets here. They are here for 5 fun filled days. Oct 5th, all of the kids have their annual hello to our awesome pediatrician. Mom flies home on the 13th. I go to bed and sleep and lay around and read books..... BA HA HA...just kidding. I get school started and make sure we have our snow shovels and clothing ready. Maybe I'll have a new pair of Uggs.

Ready, set, GO.......to be continued