The Zimms Zoo

The gift of service

2012-02-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

This is the second installment in a my series on the gifts my friends bring to my life.

This friend, we shall call her Red, definitely has the gift of service. I met her about 17 years ago. She was going through a really hard time in her life with the passing of her infant son. So our friendship didn't really start deepening until a year or so later.

When she became pregnant again, she had to go on bed rest for 16 weeks. Did I call and offer to clean house? Bring her a meal? Just come over for a chat? That answer is no.

When I had Brown Bear, 6 months after she had her sweet little girl, she was the first one to show up with dinner. When I had Lioness, she was there. Same with baby #3, #4, #5 and #6. Mind you she was pregnant several times, right along with me. Yet she was there time after time.

I watched while she brought dinner to sick ones in our church. She made herself available to an older man in our church who didn't have family close. She invited over people who needed a friend. She took dinner to another lady every single week for a long time until they could care for themselves again. She will help you track down information and make sure you received it. she has also brought dinner several times since my grandma started staying with us. She came to the hospital and helped my parents make some choices on care for my grandma because she had just one through it with her grandma. She even watched my kids for 3 days so I could go to Las Vegas one year with my brother!

She is always in the loop on the newest and coolest stuff out there. Often she will show up with a bottle of this or bag of that just so I can try it too. This is especially wonderful when it is some new candy!

I have learned to be on the watch for ways to serve others more. To be more intentional in my care for them and be thoughtful to those who might be suffering quietly.

Thank you Red for blessing our family with your gift of service!

Third Giveaway

2012-02-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have really enjoyed the other 2 giveaways so here is another one. When I hit 10,000 page views I will do another one. We are close to 7,000. So tell other people about the blog, pin it, and share it on Facebook.

I haven't decided yet what it might be. So stay tuned!

Family Fun..Snowmen

2012-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Pinterest has been a great source for family fun night ideas. This one came straight from there with no modifications. When all the Christmas decorations are packed away the house looks kinda bare. I knew I would want something to decorate the shelves with. Something wintery, but not Christmas-y. I thought snowmen would fit the bill perfectly.

I started looking for some simple, but frugal ideas. There are all kinds of ideas, however this one caught my eye right away. Snowmen made from socks. Socks without matches. I have those, piles and piles of those! We have white ones, colored ones, patterned ones, ones with snowmen, ones with camouflage, but I digress.

This idea would be easy and frugal and we had everything on hand. Yep my kind of craft. Oh and we could finish it in one night. Another requirement in our house.

We busted out the craft stuff and got busy. I have no pictures of the process and how much fun it was to clean up the spilled rice. No pictures of me screaming after I burned myself with the glue gun. You guys are really missing out. I know!

I would call this a success. Everyone participated. No one complained. We have some stinking cute snowmen on the shelves now. All they need is some snow and they are set. I should have made some hot cocoa or something, but I didn't. Enjoy the pictures!

The snowmen family

Project Fail

2012-01-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

I am only a month into this and I have already failed! I have missed 4 days. That makes me sad. I really wanted to post every single day. My grandmother spent 4 days in the hospital last week. I was with her every day, all day. It seemed like I would no sooner get ready to type a post up then a nurse would come in, a doctor would want to talk to us or the internet would get disconnected.

I tried 4 times to upload the video of my kitchen. It is so clean and neat and tidy. Except for the fronts of the cabinets. But we won't talk about that, ok? I have some more posts coming up and hopefully we will get back on track. We did have time to attend a civil war ball and it was so much fun!

I have completed 3 weeks of the organized home challenge. Those posts are coming up.

I have finished 4 weeks of pantry shopping with minimal grocery shopping. Those are coming up.

Lion Cub has had some great conversations with us recently. Something about drunk birds. Look for those!

We have continued to have family fun night once a week. So I have some already scheduled to post soon.

We had a impromptu ice cream party in my grandma's hospital room for Koala's 3rd birthday. Ah the memories! Nothing like cramming 10 people into one room that is really meant for 2 people. We are having her party this weekend. Super Bowl Sunday actually.

We have a karate tournament this weekend too. My parents get to come see the kids kicking and sparring.

Have a happy Monday!

Pantry Challenge week 3

2012-01-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

The first 2 weeks of January were very easy to do this challenge. Not much going on. No hospital runs. Your basic run of the mill life. The next week was a little harder, but not too much. This week has basically ruined any chance I had of staying on this Pantry Challenge and really make a good go of it.

My grandma was at the er on Monday. IV fluids, some tests, and then discharged. We are back again. This time is a little more serious. She will be here at least overnight if not more. So lots of convenience food will be bought and eaten. Hospital food will be slurped down. Dr Pepper will be consumed via IV. Chocolate will be hidden in all hiding places and some new ones shall be found!

I must also admit that we eat out about once a week. Grandma could live on it every single day. She likes to buy for us. So sometimes I let her. But I digress. I have spent $200 this month on food and household supplies. That is very, very good for us. This challenge has gotten my creative juices flowing again in the cooking department. They had all but dried up. I have cleaned out all the cabinets in the kitchen and consequently we have used up a lot of those little things that hide out in the corners.

I still have lots of frozen veggies and fish in the freezer. I have seen lots of pins on Pinterest for roasted veggies. I think I will try some of those. Still need some ideas for the fish. Fish is not my favorite. However saving money is so the fish will be eaten. Brown Bear has a smoker that he wants to try the fish in.

Proverbs 31 Living is doing this pantry challenge also but has taken it a step farther. Her family is pretending they are caught in a blizzard so they are avoiding the stores and trying to use only what they have on hand. This was brought on by reading the Little House on the Prairie series with her children. After reading this I was so thankful that I have a 24 hour Wal-Mart close (even though I hate Wal-Mart!).

We have eaten just about everything up that we can without getting a few more things. I do plan on making granola this week. I have also been making bread that you mix up and then let it rise in the fridge overnight. You can bake it the next day. It has turned out perfect every time! What a great alternative to store bought bread. Alas the flour is all used up so we have been eating lots of leftovers for lunch.

One thing Abi mentioned was having snacks available for her kiddos to help with that feeling of not being deprived. I have found that this is very important for my kids too. If they don't have snack stuff they just prowl the house looking for something to eat. Most of them like popcorn. The one that hates it, really hates it. So he is usually the crankiest of the them all. This is a good piece of advice if you are trying to stick to a budget. HAVE SNACKS PEOPLE!

Did you know?

2012-01-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

Did you know....

That you can find the model of your printer on the ink cartridges?

That if you use the right model number you might actually get the right driver?

That if you get the right driver that you might get the printer to work with the computer after hours of screaming?

That they have valentine colored candy corn?

That I didn't anymore excuses to eat red dye #5?

That the hospital now has Cox Cable in all the rooms and they are proud of that?

That even with 200 channels there still isn't anything to watch?

That a 93 year old woman has super strength?

That she is also immortal?

That my baby is going to be 3 and so now I need to eat more red dye #5 to wash my tears away?

That Cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper can really solve all arguments?

That I am running a 5k with my good friend, my daughter, my neighbor AND my mom?I am so excited about this!

So enlighten me. What did you learn to day? What did I miss out on?

Have a good Wednesday!

Family Fun Night #5

2012-01-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times. Don't plan anything because it is never going to happen that way.

I didn't really have too much of a plan for this night except to go see Christmas lights with ZK's aunt and her family. They are super sweet people that we really enjoy hanging out with. They hadn't been to see the lights in our area yet so we took them over there. It was fun to hear the oohs and aahhhs and watch them tapping their hands on their legs to the music. We pulled over and watched the trees that are timed to the music.

I just get excited about the free candy canes at the end! The city does a good job setting it up and it winds through the soccer complex where Monkey plays during the outdoor season. For some reason Koala thinks we have to go through it with our windows down.

We came back to the house and had hot cocoa with the gingerbread marshmallows. The kids played Taboo, which is their new favorite game right now. I love watching them laughing and loving on each other and their cousins. What a sweet time!

Techinical difficulties

2012-01-23T12:01:00.001-08:00

So I had posts scheduled to show up over the weekend. Or thought I did. Obviously nothing showed up. Then I made a video for today. It disappeared into cyberspace. Then my grandma thought it would be awesome to spend the afternoon at the hospital getting iv fluids. So here I sit. Lots of doctors. Lots of nurses. One poor guy trying to get an iv started. He barely looks old enough to be out of diapers. One lady nurse trying to help out. She is too cute for here with her pretty flower in her hair. One ornery grandma telling all the docs how handsome they are if they would just let her out. So if nothing else I certainly got a good laugh out of the afternoon.

Have good Monday everyone!

The gift of hospitality

2012-01-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

I was sitting here thinking about how blessed I am to have so many wonderful friends and how each of them have a special gift that brings something new and different to our relationships.

I am going to try and do at least one friend profile a month. I have so many to choose from so this may take a LONG time.

The first one I am going to do is my friend Winifred. I am fairly certain you think I have made her up because I have zero pictures of us together. I am not even sure I have any of her that she would let me put on here. But I swear she is real!

Her gift is definitely hospitality. She has lots of other ones, but this is the one that I think of when I think of her. She loves to host parties and have hundreds of people over even when she is one week from having baby #6!

From the moment you come in the door you feel at home and relaxed. When I went for a work weekend recently I left feeling like I had a been to a mini-retreat instead of baking for 4 hours. She has this incredible knack for thinking of all the little things that perfectly finish an event, drink or dish. Nothing is left out and she often goes above and beyond what most people would to make you feel welcome.

Here are some of the ways that she exercises her gift. She thinks through all the logistics of coming and has a game plan in place that can be quickly executed and changed smoothly if necessary. She knew where everybody was going to sleep and had all the bedding ready. The bathrooms were spotless and fresh towels out already. The next morning she had a percolator of hot water ready with cups and several type of drink mixes ready. Breakfast was simple yet tasty. She had cups with markers laid out.

We worked most of the morning, but we took a break to have a tasty lunch. She had loads of sandwich fixings, pizzas that she made by hand and chocolate chip cookies. Please remember she was feeding 14 people both days that we were there.

Dinner was super delicious too. Chicken sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and french fries. She had several kinds of chicken patties to make sure everyone had something that they liked. She made sure the boys that went to the basketball game had some hot food when they came home. I started craving more cookies and ice cream. She had cookie dough in the freezer that we pulled out and popped into the oven for some warm, gooey cookies.

She will often have movies on hand just for the kiddos. She will plan some activities or other things to give the younger guys things to do that make them feel included. My kids love coming here because they know not only will they see their friends but they will get some yummy food. That is always the first thing they tell me about when I ask them if they had fun.

I never have to take any food because she is always so prepared. I am always so happy when people offer to bring stuff because I can never remember anything. I swipe at the toilets and maybe remember to put out extra toilet paper. I love having people over, but very seldom have everything together like this friend does.

Thanks for teaching me to be more thoughtful of people's needs and how to add some extra touches that make people feel special and cared for!

What I gone and done this morning

2012-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

So far this morning I have:

- baked 2 loaves of homemade pinto bean bread. Suppose to be the best sandwich bread ever.

- made 2 batches of cornbread with friendship bread starter

- had the girls make triple batches of hot cinnamon milk mix and cocoa mix

- supervised the making of our hot water tank enclosure and organizing of the laundry room by Brown Bear. He did an amazing job making it!

- made a triple batch of monster cookies with only Ghiradelli chocolate chips in them, because is there really anything else as good?

- met with Grandma's social worker to see if we can get a ramp built.

- fished out the cardboard part of a toilet paper roll and then all the toilet paper unrolled from it.

- made lunch and collapsed in a chair

That was just up until 1pm. What is the rest of the day going to be like?

Birthdays Dinner, Civil War Prep, and 12 kids

2012-01-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

My friend, Winifred, invited the kids and I to her house for her birthday weekend. Silly girl thought that it would be fun to have 12 kids in one house for 2 1/2 days. The kids range in age from 17 to 2 months old. They all really get along very well and the only trouble we have is the toddlers. They are so sweet to each other and then become Dr Hyde and forget they love each other.

Winifred and I headed to a little Thai Bistro for dinner. Just the 3 of us. Yep the baby tagged along. The food was so yummy! They served us fried plastic first, in a cute little metal bowl, that almost made you forget it tasted like Styrofoam. Next up was Siam rolls. I stopped the waitress and made her bring us another bowl of the sauce since I couldn't pry the bowl out of Winifred's fingers. I practically licked the next bowl. It is that good. The entrees were equally delicious. She had yellow curry something or other and I had the spicy chicken with sweet chili sauce. Oh my heaven! I even liked the broccoli that was in it. It was that good! We just hung out, talked about the couple with matching dreadlocks, kissed on the baby and enjoyed the quiet (you know the quiet of not listening to 12 kids all talking and jamming!).

As you can see I left nothing on the plate!

Fortune cookies are a lot more boring now. What happened to "you might get lucky tonight"?

The next day we made 635 food items for the civil war ball being held at the end of the month. It was tiring, but so grateful to have it all done. It is baked, packaged and frozen. After that we headed over to her little country Wal-Mart and bought fabric for our dresses. The girls basically finished Lioness' dress. I finished the top of mine.

Those little brothers!

What might be hiding under there?

I also learned some cool facts about Civil War balls. They loved colorful dresses. The top and the bottom didn't necessarily need to match. Just be very colorful! You can't sit down in hoop skirts modestly. They fly right up in your face. You can hide two toddlers under a hoop skirt. So imagine what else you could sneak in under those things. A cannon perhaps? A union spy? Interesting.

It's a toddler!!

We ended the weekend with a mini Mark Ruffalo marathon, ice cream and lots of chocolate chip cookies!

Family Fun Night #4

2012-01-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

You know the old saying " the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."? That is how it went for this Family Fun Night. Initially Monkey and I were not going to be here, so I had planned something for them that they could do without us. Then everyone got the stomach flu and that meant we would all be here, together. Not the fun I was looking for though!

So I went ahead with most of our plans. The kids love Home Alone and it is easy to plan a night around a movie. This isn't my future plans, but it does keep us together and focused on being a family. I had planned on having pizza delivered, like in the movie. Instead I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup, pumpkin cream cheese pillows, and chai tea.

It is fun watching old movies with Koala because she gets such a kick out of them and we laugh harder watching her. It was nice to just hang out and enjoy just being together.

We didn't get any pictures of the night, but imagine all of us piled onto one small couch, covered in blankets, watching Home Alone and repeating all the lines then you get the picture!

Leave a comment on what you like to do for Family Fun!

Control part 2

2012-01-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

I did a post a few months ago about having control of absolutely nothing. But Saturday I witnessed control in my eldest son that humbled me and reminded me that he is becoming the man that Lord intended and I need to see that and quit trying to shape him into the man that I want him to become.

When we visited the group home, the karate class did some sparring demonstrations. That is usually the favorite of anyone in the classes. Several people sparred, including some bare-knuckles rounds. As it was winding down, I noticed Brown Bear putting on his gear. I also saw a couple of people talking to him and shaking their head. Strange, but oh well.

He entered the sparring area and this young man came out, from my left, jumping up and down like a professional boxer, and jumped into the arena. He was a good 20 pounds heavier than Brown Bear and (being the wonderful mother that I am) thought that he had finally met his match and was going to be pounded good. (he normally beats just about everyone so don't worry about his safety!)

About 2 minutes into the round, I noticed that he was really holding back and letting the other guy get in some good hits, which is extremely unusual for him. The round lasted about 3 minutes with Brown Bear winning by 1 point. As the opponent took off his gear I noticed that he had some physical and mental limitations that weren't apparent at the beginning.

As I sat there and thought about that for a minute, a sweet sensai came up behind me and wanted to talk with me. She said that she hadn't seen Brown Bear spar in awhile and was very impressed with his technique. Now I was thinking "how can she say this when he didn't even really get to show off all of his talent?" Her next words was like a punch in the gut for my selfish thinking and made me misty-eyed at my son's character.

She then proceeded to tell me that hardly anyone will spar this young man because he goes in swinging and doesn't have much control. If they do find someone to spar him then they proceed to humiliate him by pounding him good and never letting him score a point. She said Brown Bear is the first that gave him a good round and made him think that he fought well without being embarrassed. She pointed out that he had amazing control of his punches and kicks that she hadn't seen in awhile in someone his age and he had the makings of a good man and a good leader in his class.

I was humbled by this and the fact that she took the time to come tell me. I talked to Brown Bear about it later and told him that I was proud of him. He shrugged it off in typical Brown Bear fashion. While I would have ate up all those words and begged for more. He just accepted it, thanked me and moved on to how much fun he had. Humble, controlled, and character. Those are the qualities I thought we needed to work on more and those are the ones he had in spades. I just wasn't looking hard enough and resting in the Lord's words that "He who began a good work in us would finish it."

What a precious young man!

Pantry Challenge week 2

2012-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am really digging this Pantry Challenge! I cooked up 5 pounds of ground beef that I had gotten on sale and put it in the fridge for some future dishes. I really had no direction with it though and that usually means that I forget about it and then it goes bad (read science project!). So I knew that I needed to make a plan of attack right away! I decided on taco salad and chili. The taco salad was a neccessity if I was also going to use up the salad mix that I had on hand.

For taco salad we chop up lots of fresh veggies, add some ground beef, toss in the salad and fritos. We then add a bottle of Catalina dressing. Well I am out of the dressing so I was trying to think of what to do without spending any money. So I have settled on making this french dressing from Owlhaven. We also have homemade salsa and some leftover salsa from a Taco Bueno run that my brother made last week. That should round out the meal nicely!

Breakfast is more of a challenge around here because I like to get school going as soon as possible and they think they need to eat. I try to have cereal, oatmeal or muffins on hand. Cereal is expensive and not something I buy on a regular basis. The kids lucked out though because our friends gave us 2 huge boxes from Sam's. Then someone else gave us 3 boxes of the sugary kind (which I never buy except for camping) so they are still eating it. We had some pancake mix that needed to be used so Monkey made it up this morning. I think it made 10 pancakes. That might have fed 2 of them. BUT it used it up and cleaned out the pantry just a little more.

Lunches have been leftovers lately. Especially when we have some of the chicken enchiladas left! I put a dishpan(is that what they are called?looks like the bottom of a litter box.) on a shelf in the fridge for the Zookeeper's lunches. I package some of the leftovers in smaller portions so he can just grab some of the things in there and toss it in his lunchbox. I also put things like small bags of almonds, tiny cans of fruit(given to us!) and applesauce in there. That way he has the makings for a healthy lunch. Saves money, time and energy!

What things have you been doing to stay on track for the Pantry Challenge? Any new tips or tricks you have tried?

updated: the salad would have been so much better if I had used the right oil in the dressing. Tip to you is that sesame oil cannot accidentally be used for olive oil and taste ok! They still ate it up and I am going to make the dressing again with the correct oil!

Be Calm and Carry On

2012-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

We got up late. I forgot that we were having company for lunch. When I did remember I realized I was still in my pajamas and needed a shower. Then I remembered what I was going to make wasn't what I originally promised them. No one had finished their chores. School hadn't even been started. The clock said 10:30 and they were suppose to be there in less than an hour.

My temperature was rising quickly and attitudes were getting out of control. Everyday I promise myself I will do better. Everyday I pray the Lord will hold my tongue. I started yelling. I started stomping and throwing things. I also started behaving like my toddler.

Then, while standing at the counter slinging oatmeal into bowls, I felt the Lord tell me to Be Calm. I took a deep breathe and calmly finished breakfast. Then the 15yo let me know that he didn't think my instructions on writing were any good and he would do it his way. Oh boy did the words start to flow. Right before the words came out I felt again like He was saying Be Calm and rest in Me. So instead of my usual tactics that very seldom bring the results I would like I told him that was fine, but the day the paper was to be finished he would sit at the table until he was done with absolutely no complaining. He took his books and left. Normally he stands there and argues with me and it escalates into some serious consequences for him. This time was less stress for me and I was able to calmly help the 9yo with her long division.

I know this isn't a permanent fix, but the road to a change in my attitude and hopefully that will carry over to the kids and their behavior. I always need to remember to open mouth after praying instead of opening mouth and chewing on shoe leather.

A Staycation, Okie style!

2012-01-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

Recently the kids and I went to Branson. The Zookeeper stayed home to work over the holiday weekend and get that wonderful holiday pay! However he missed out on our vacation and was very disappointed. So I decided to surprise him and plan a stay-cation for us over the Christmas weekend.

I used Priceline to book us 2 rooms. We really wanted an indoor pool so I booked a night at two different hotels. Priceline is so easy to use and usually gets me a room at a 3 1/2 star hotel for around $50 a night. Score!

The first night we checked into the Courtyard Marriot by the newly renovated Chesapeake Arena. We had a great from our balcony and the kids loved it. Our room was very small, but we made it through. The big draw for this hotel was the indoor pool. When I took the kids down to the pool it was completely empty. We had a blast playing pool volleyball and just being silly. Meanwhile ZK was picking up pizzas from Humble Pie. Our friend owns this superb pizzeria. I highly suggest the cheese bread with the beer cheese dip. I can eat my weight in that! When the kids went back down to swim later in the evening, it was over run by people who were letting others in that weren't staying at the pool and had brought their own liquor bar in there. Boo! We finished off the evening watching Christmas specials.

Yep that is Bricktown in the background. This was the coveted view according to the concierge. Don't agree!

The next morning we had homemade cinnamon rolls that Lioness had made for us. The hotel didn't offer a complimentary breakfast so we prepared accordingly so to the cost down for the weekend. It was so yummy! We also opened gifts with the kids and they loved the novelty of opening them in a hotel room. They went back down with ZK to swim one more time.

Since we had time to kill before we could check into the next hotel, we decided to go to the Art Museum. Brown Bear had won a family pass and was really wanting to use it. The older kids (minus lioness who basically sat on the bench in each gallery) really enjoyed it. The museum provides backpacks for the younger ones filled with art supplies to keep them entertained. This worked beautifully for Koala. Lion Cub had one too. It didn't get used as much. They had a art class that started at 1 for the kids. We went to the suburban to eat and then came back in for the class. They were making Christmas cards. All the kids participated, even Lioness! There were lots of supplies provided and the class was free since we are members.

After the class the kids really wanted to do something else. We were very close to Myriad Gardens. It was a little tricky to find a parking spot for free (remember we were trying to keep it thrifty!) but it was worth the hunt. It just re-opened and was so much fun! We strolled through the new gardens admiring the landscaping. It was a beautiful day so we didn't hurry. The children's play area was a blast! I think they could have stayed there quite a bit longer. We wanted to get checked into the next hotel before we facetimed ZK's family which cut the time a little shorter than they wanted.

Check-in at the Residence Inn was just as simple and pain-free as it was at the Courtyard. Our room here was quite a bit bigger and had a full kitchen. We knew this coming into it so we brought food to cook. Simple things like hotdogs, baked beans and spinach dip. We also had cookies and brownies that we made at home. The Residence Inn has a sport court that drew my oldest immediately! He went and checked out a basketball and talked Lion Cub and I into playing with him. We played for about an hour. When we came back up, ZK and Lioness headed over to Bass Pro to spend his gift card. Brown Bear headed back to the courts with 2 of his siblings. They spent at least another hour out there. I can't tell you how much we appreciated this extra amenity.

After dinner, some of them went to the workout room. It is very nice and has a wide range of equipment. They are still down there as I type this. The other kiddos built a fort in the closet area. This hotel also has a breakfast buffet for their patrons and we plan on partaking of it.

Think a stay-cation might be something you want to do? Try Priceline! It could bring it down to your budget. You don't need to stay in a hotel, but it is fun and makes you feel like a tourist. We thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. It came in under $175 for everything, including the food.

There are always so many things to do that are free or nearly free. Just visit your cities website or Google it and see what other sites come up. In December our town has free museum Sundays. It is a good time to see other museums and see if there are any that we would want to visit again. Parks are always good ways to spend time together for free.

Have you ever had a stay-cation? What did you do?

I leave you with this hilarious video of the Zookeeper. He prides himself on being able to ride anything and not getting dizzy or sick. Just ignore my cackling and you will enjoy it. I promise!

Frugality at it's yummiest!

2012-01-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

We received a turkey for Christmas. Alas, schedules got in the way and I wasn't able to cook it for Christmas dinner. I roasted it a few days ago, in my trusty roaster. We had a fabulous meal that night of roasted turkey, baked potatoes, and broccoli. After dinner I stripped the meat and dump all the bones and skin back into the juice already in the roaster, added about 4 more quarts of water and set it to simmer while I took Lioness shopping.

When I came back I had some delicious broth. 10 quarts to be exact! I bottled it up and then took the rest of the meat off the bones. I was able to pull another pound and a half from them. I had a recipe in mind to use the broth and some of the meat in.

I made a trip to one of our local Asian markets, not my favorite but it works in a pinch, to get coriander seeds, fish sauce and more coconut milk. I left the lemongrass out because I couldn't find it quickly and had already spent 15 minutes trying to explain to the very sweet stocker that I wanted coriander and could he help me find them? 2 stockers later and I left with the seeds!

The Zookeeper had kept asking me to try this soup that I had found on Pinterest. I wanted to make yellow curry sauce so that I could use it in another recipe also. I finally had all the ingredients and a free evening. It was a go for the soup then. The curry paste takes the most time just because there are so many ingredients in it. The rest is a breeze. I used the broth and meat from the turkey. I already had the rice noodles on hand and most of the ingredients for the sauce. I think I spent about $3 for the soup and fed 6 people until they were very full! The soup has such a nice creamy sauce that pairs so nicely with the rice noodles. I will be making it again!

Found via Pinterest via Sweetspot

This is probably one of the most tasty, frugal meals I have ever made. Give it a try!

Family Fun #3

2012-01-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

This week was based on one of our favorite Christmas movies, Polar Express. When it first came out some friends invited us to go see it with them at the movie theatre. ZK wasn't too crazy about the idea because he doesn't rank animated movies to high on his list of ones to see. But once he watched it, he declared it a family must-have. Sadly it was stolen when we were robbed 2 years ago. Koala had never seen it so we knew this was on our list this year.

Again we choose the food before any of the other things. I knew we would be coming home to do this after a soccer game so I didn't really want to make a full meal or even lots of appetizers. Monkey and I chose to stick with just a hot cocoa bar and popcorn.

ZK picked up the marshmallows for us and was able to get 3 kinds, which added to the festiveness of the bar. Monkey put them in different height wine glasses. (this is a trick I learned from my sweet catering boss who screams height, height, height at us all the time. ok I teasing on the screaming part!) We also put candy corn in one and then finished off the choices with chocolate dipped candy canes.

Our yummy hot cocoa bar

Of course nothing ever goes quite as planned, so when I started the hot cocoa I found out we didn't have any cocoa powder. umm..whoops! Thankfully we happened to have some chocolate syrup in the frig and a couple of packets of hot cocoa mix that we dumped in too. It tasted pretty yummy and so we just went with that.

Lioness printed off some tickets from the movie for each of us. ZK bought us each a santa hat also. Koala loved the movie. I may or may not have fallen asleep at the end of the movie.

Our requisite group picture with our tickets and hats.

This is NOT a party ya'll!

2012-01-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

When we have a friend whose parent had died we try to go to the funeral even if we didn't know the deceased that well. We want to let our friend know that we are there and are supporting them.

This was case recently when our friend's dad passed away. The funeral was going to be held in a little town a short drive away. On our way out of town I stopped at Target to get Lion Cub a new pair of dress shoes and a belt so he wouldn't look like he just rolled out of bed. he loves getting new stuff so this was really cool for him.

When we arrived at the funeral he saw his friends and they immediately started playing. We oohed and awwwed over the new baby and then took our seats. I hadn't really thought to explain to Lion Cub what was going on because all the other kids had been to funerals and knew what to expect.

Right after the funeral started, ZK's uncle, aunt and cousin slipped in the back. Lion Cub was really happy now and could barely sit still through the rest of the service. After filing past the body, we hugged our friends and made our way out.

Then we went to lunch with the ZK's family. The kids loved it since we don't see this side as much as we would want. Following a late lunch we headed back to my parents to pick up Grandma.

When we got there Lion Cub went to sit in papa's lap because that is one of his favorite places to be. I overheard this hilarious conversation.

Papa: What did you do today?

Lion Cub: We ate with Uncle J and went to a party.

Papa: I thought you were going to a funeral

Lion Cub: Nope. We went to this party and did you know they had a dead guy there?

Papa (trying not to die laughing): Isn't that what a funeral is for?

Lion Cub: Well everyone else was alive. It makes no sense!

Are you laughing as hysterically as I did? Funny, funny boy!

Another winner!

2012-01-09T12:08:00.001-08:00

I am really excited to announce the winner of this giveaway! It is my sil, Hilary!! So Hilary if you read this scream and squeal and jump up and down!

Are you happy?

2012-01-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Recently Koala has taken to hugging me and sometimes giving me a kiss and then asking "Are you happy momma ?" in the sweetest little voice ever. What can you say when she asks that? No matter how I felt previous to that I am so happy at that given moment. To have those sweet little arms wrapped around my neck, her soft breathe fanning my cheek as she whispers those words to me makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

I have been reading some other blogs lately where those parents will never hear their child say I love you or have them hug their neck. They are making funeral arrangements or trying to get through another day that has been pure torture for both them and their child. Maybe their child has a less severe disease, but to that parent it is still heart-breaking.

I have 6 healthy children that are loud, talk back, fight, argue, hug, smile, laugh, play, run, dance, sing, eat well, can function well in large group settings, and can crawl into bed with me when they have a nightmare. I never have to think that this flu season may be the season that sends them to the hospital to never come home. I don't have to plan our activities around dressing changes or tube feedings.

I quickly forget how blessed I am when the small irritations of life start crowding in. I begin to snap and yell. I lose my temper over silly things, things that have no bearing in the grand scheme of things.

So when Koala comes and ask me if I am happy it is like a little reminder from God that things are not nearly as bad as they could be and to lift my eyes up to the One who is my Redeemer!

Have a blessed and happy Sunday!

Cupcakes Baby!

2012-01-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

I love cupcakes! I love that they are small. I love that they are so easy to make. I love that you don't need a knife and cake server. I love that you can hold it in your hand. I love everything about them! So I especially love when I get to take my good friend to my favorite cupcake place.

My friend, Winifred, came into town and we really wanted to get together. Between the 2 of us there are 12 kids. Not a lot of quiet if you want to visit. Not a lot of space to just hang out with all those munchkins. We took the big kids to the Bricktown Ballpark, paid a slightly inflated price to let them snow tube and let them have at it.
What were we suppose to do with all this time on our hands? Especially since we were down by 9 kids. Go to Sara Sara Cupcakes, drink freely from the milk bar, and stuff our face with cupcake. They have the best cupcakes in town! And the milk bar? Don't even let me pontificate on how wonderful it is when you grab a chilled glass, put it under the spout, pull the handle, watch the luscious milk (strawberry, chocolate, plain)slide into your cup, then slowly sip it.

The little guys loved it. They drank a lot of milk and licked their cupcakes and played with toys. We visited and visited and visited. It was such a wonderful afternoon! Go eat some cupcake!!

Friday Funnies

2012-01-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

When I was young I had a really cool pen pal who occasionally sent me some neat things. One year he sent me some wooden ornaments. We never really had a tree growing up so I held on to them for the day when I would have a family.

I have put up a tree every year since being married. Those ornaments have gone on those trees every.single.year.

Isn't that funny? That is all I have folks so laugh and be merry!

OK so here is the punchline. Not one single child has ever messed with those ornaments. Until this year. Koala loves the dove. She carries it around and calls it her "Tweet, tweet bird".

While I was helping Parrot with her math, I look over and Koala is wiping at the tree with some tulle. I asked her what she was doing. She informed me that her tweety bird pooped in the tree and she had to clean the tree for me. What a thoughtful girl!

Special Moments

2012-01-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

Lioness has a rock star Sunday School teacher this year. She is a college student who has been really encouraging the girls to read their Bible and post their thoughts on their Facebook page. Lioness has been very diligent to read every night in bed and then post her thoughts.

We have tried so many times to get them to study and read the Bible on their own. The fact that this is working is amazing to me. I do think that sometimes that encouragement from other people makes them try harder. I expect it so I don't praise or let them know I notice like I should. Others are excited with her progress because they don't expect it. Ok so that is a lesson in itself so I move onto the real story. I bet you would like that too wouldn't you?

We were headed to soccer practice, when she mentioned that she was the only one who was posting on the bible study wall. I told her I was proud of her, but before I could say more than that she said her teacher was really proud of her too. She said she enjoyed being the center of attention for a moment. Instead of feeding into the "look at me" moment. I decided to make it a teaching moment.

I shared with her some Scriptures that I had been reading. I told her my thoughts on them and asked her for her input. She gave it! She gave it without the eye rolling and sighing that I normally get. It was given in a humble manner that asked for more. She then asked about eating pork. I told her about Peter seeing the vision in Acts. She really wanted to know more and asked some very insightful questions.

It was such a special moment for me. To know that she is growing in the knowledge of the Lord, that she, deep down, truly desires the things of the Lord. She sometimes gets lost in the daily mud that is slung at us. But who doesn't ?
These moments are the ones that keep me going and pressing on toward the calling that God has given me to do.

Pantry Challenge

2012-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

Life As Mom was one of the first blogs that I read on a regular basis. Back them she was Fish Mama. She is funny, creative and the perfect fix for this frugal foodie! Every year she issues a Pantry Challenge. I haven't joined because frankly it scares me. To eat from your pantry? To try and not buy anything? (ok she says you can, but I am ignoring that!) Scary I tell you!

However I looked in my freezer and pantry and realized that I have lots of stuff that needs to be eaten. I didn't even know I had some of it. I think that is even scarier than the challenge!

I started on the first of January. I am just now posting about it. Better late than never, right? I have browsed recipes on Good, Cheap Eats (also ran by Fish Mama) and on Pinterest. I am actually very excited about it. We have lots of fish that I plan on smoking, using this rub, and some deer meat that Brown Bear is going to make into jerky.

We are having turkey potpie tonight, loosely based on this recipe from Crockpot365. Tomorrow are these white chicken enchiladas which are hands down the best I have ever had! To also stay on budget we made several mixes up from here so that breakfast can be made quickly. I plan on trying these muffins too.

Here are the goals for this challenge:

1. Lower our budget. This seems to be a recurring theme with the others that are doing this. I want to realize that I probably have something to make a meal with even if it isn't exactly what I want, thus avoiding a trip to the store, thus avoiding spending money. (lots of thus-es!)

2. Clean out the freezer. This is really my number one goal. It needs it so bad. I have bought more of something because I didn't realize I already had some. I ran out of coffee (which is like a torturous death to my grandma!) because I couldn't find in anything in my chest-style freezer.

3. Use up little bits and pieces of stuff in my pantry. I have so many little packages of this and tiny little bits of that. It needs to go but I can't bring myself to just throw it out!

Are you going to do the pantry challenge? What are your goals? Any good recipes for capers? I have no idea why I have a jar of them!

Family Fun #2

2012-01-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

It was Lioness' turn to help plan family night. I already had an idea in mind so I suggested it to her. She was happy with it and browsed Pinterest to get some ideas for the evening.

I don't know about you guys, but our family loves to eat so the first thing we plan is the food. She chose mini taco cups, pumpkin pillows, cheese sticks, and cream cheese tree with pepper jelly poured over it and crackers. The evening didn't go quite as planned so we ate most of the food the next morning and still haven't had the pumpkin pillows.

We usually have an advent calendar/Jesse tree for the holiday season to keep us focused on the true meaning of the season. It has worked for several years, but I still didn't feel like it was a really good fit for our family. So Lioness and I browsed through several sites to find an advent calendar that would fit our family better.

We decided to use a combination of several ones and this is what we came up with.

The stocking hung with care! Each tag has a tiny bucket behind it filled with candy.

Each tag had a service project written on the back. We went for simple things that could be done that day without lots of prep work.


Lioness cut out the tags from paper we already had. We re-used the buckets from our old Advent Calendar.

We did most of the work on family night, but just hung the stockings and other things a few days later. I can't wait to start on December 1st.

While the older kids were thinking of service projects, the younger ones made a felt tree to hang on the wall and then cut out ornaments for it. A friend did this with her little guy and he loved it so we stole the idea (and her felt!) and made one for Koala. She really liked it.

P.S. Please ignore the fact that only half the lights work. They all worked and then we hung them and now only half work. Whatever!

This won't be posting until 2012 so hopefully it will give you ideas for next year!

Not always what it seems

2012-01-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Back in October of last year, we stopped at the local grocery store to get a few things on our way home from choir. Having stopped at this store many times before, I had no misgivings about dragging my kids in there late in the evening.

We quickly rounded up what we needed and headed for the checkout. As the cashier was ringing up our groceries I glanced up and saw a man, two rows over, staring intently at me. I thought it must be for the person behind so I turned around and there was no one behind me. I looked at him again and still with the staring that was starting to creep me out.

I looked at the gentleman next to me and he pulled out a huge roll of bills. Mostly hundreds. I quickly deduced that he was a drug dealer in cahoots with the man in the next lane who was continuing his creepy staring. I could not think how to get out of there at lightning speed and not lose a child or groceries. Mostly the groceries, because have you seen how much they cost these days.

Then I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I instantly sprang into action. I grab his hand twisted it behind his back, which made him drop to his knees, where I proceeded to tell him that he was NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER to lay a hand on me again! Well at least in my mind. I calmly turned to face him and he spoke the following words " I am Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father, prepare to die!". Seriously! Haven't you ever wanted someone to say that to you? No? Then you must not be a serious Princess Bride fan.

So what really happened was that he said he felt like he was suppose to give me some money to help with the groceries and handed me some money. I looked back up and creeper guy was still staring, even though his groceries had been checked out, paid for and bagged. I thanked him and quickly headed out. Creeper McCreepy headed out the other door and beat us to his car, which was very close to ours. He then leaned against his car and watched us load our groceries. Anyone feeling the hair on their neck standing on end?

Brown Bear was on high alert. He was freaking out just slightly. I was worried that the guy was going to follow us home and so I turned out on the main street to head to the police station if necessary. He didn't. Thankfully!

It was the strangest night I have been involved in for a long time. I am not sure what was going on that night, but I have a feeling it was not what it seemed.

365 Days of Our lives

2012-01-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

We have decided to take a challenge, that was issued by some friends, to tell 365 stories of our family and the craziness that comes with a big family. Of course some of that could be that we are inherently crazy ourselves. Our kids were doomed from the moment they took that first breathe as our child, on loan from the Lord. We have funny ones, silly ones, crazy ones, scary ones, and "you have got to be kidding me!" ones. Some of them are legends in our circle of friends and have grown and evolved to epic proportions. I am excited about this chance to share with the blog-reading public some of our finer moments as parents.

As a way to kick off this year and hopefully entice more readers to join us, I will be giving away a $25 gift card to Chik-fil-a. If you live in a city, state or country which sadly doesn't have one then we will pick an alternate gift for you.

You may leave a comment about your finest parenting moment or just a comment stating why I am crazy to do this for a chance to win. To have more chances to win you can do the following: friend us on Facebook, become a follower of the blog, or tweet/ Facebook about this giveaway. Leave a separate comment for each action that you take.

I am excited about the coming year and all the adventures that we will have.

Updated: I will leave this give-away open until January 8th.

Disclaimer:Chik-fil-a doesn't know who I am or have any part in this giveaway. I just happen to think that it is the best restaurant around and want to share it's yumminess with everyone that I can.

Advent Calendar - all the other days

2011-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well we made it through most of them and that makes me very happy! We accomplished almost all of the projects. For me that is an accomplishment in and of itself. On the other hand I feel like I haven't shown my kids how to follow through. To really finish something that you start and finish it well.

And yet.

We blessed so many people. We stretched ourselves. We went out of our comfort zone. We learned more about the Lord than we knew previously. Does this outweigh the not-following-through thing? You be the judge. But judge gently. I have delicate feelings. (followed by maniacal laughter!)

Did you guys finish your Advent calendar? How did that go? Any tips on finishing what you start?

Day 20 and 21 Advent Calendar

2011-12-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

Day 20 bring goodies to grandpa's work. We have done this several times and everyone always loves it when we do.We had planned to do it this week but my dad took the rest of the year off so we will do it after the first of the year.

The name of the day was Lily of the Valley. The kids didn't really know what a lily is. After we talked about the lily a little more then they kinda recalled Easter Lilies. Lily is usually associated with pure and white. Both of which are perfect descriptions of the Lord. What a perfect name for him!

Day 21 go to a nursing home. This is one that will probably have to wait also. Kinda had a plan in motion and then our friend passed away. We will be attending the funeral tomorrow. So our other plans are definitely put away for this grieving family. It will be a good time for my kiddos to reach out to their friends who are hurting (their friends are their age).

The name was Son of Man. The concept of Jesus being fully human and fully God is really hard for them to grasp. If we are honest it is extremely difficult for us to grasp too. The spirit realm is such an abstract concept for kids because you can't touch or see it.

Have a Happy Thursday everyone and enjoy your long holiday weekend!

Day 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Advent Calendar

2011-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing like procrastinating right? Yep that is what I did. We missed a couple of days and then did several together. So I just couldn't myself to sit down and write the posts. Pathetic I know. But that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Day 14 Take a basket of food to someone. We knew this was coming up, so we contributed to several food baskets and also took some food to a home where it was needed.

The name for the day was Light of the World. This one was a good one for the younger ones because they actually grasp the concept of light and dark so this made sense to them.

Day 15 Write a letter of thanks to the trash man. You have to understand that I tried really hard to get our previous trash man fired. Now he is the water man. My dad said I better be careful or we will be without water! So I am thankful for this trashman. He actually empties the trashcans and puts them back on the curb without breaking them. WOW huh?

The name for the day was Day spring. This one was a little more difficult, but we discussed the life giving properties of a spring.

Day 16 Random act of kindness. Is it ok that I say I can't remember what we did. I know we accomplished this one, but my memory is a little fuzzy on this one.

The name was The Word. We talked about how the Word was more than just the Bible. How the Word is brought life to nothing. The Word speaks life into our worn out spirits.

Day 17 Help someone else with their chores. I don't know why my kids have the hardest time helping each willingly. But they do and this was designed to help them have a more giving spirit toward each other and not just strangers. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it is done and they survived!

The name was servant. This one really hit home since this advent calendar was designed to be focused more on others and their needs. We talked about what a true servant heart looks like. My heart needs to be transformed more to look like a servant and not like a selfish person who does things for praise. This one kinda hurt!

Day 18 Clean the house for mom so she could have a break for the afternoon. They cleaned and I sat at the ER with my grandma. Not the break I was looking for! They did do a good job though and I was very happy that I didn't need to clean when I got back.

The name was King. Since royalty is more prominent right now, with Kate and Will's wedding, this was a fun one to talk about. How could He be a King and a servant? Is it possible to be both?

Day 19 Tell your family that you love them every single day. The child that wrote this is really good about telling ZK and I and some of their siblings. Are you children selective sometimes? I was kinda surprised that they wrote this, but it has been good to hear them say it. Makes me smile when I want to scream.

The name was Rose of Sharon. ZK looked it up on a word study website (not sure which one or I would link to it.) and it told how the Rose is considered the perfect flower and the symbol for love. Sounds spot on right? The valley of Sharon grew beautiful, lush vegetation apparently and this is a name that the Israelites could really identitfy with.

It feels good to get caught up again. Hopefully I can keep it up better. As long my grandma doesn't have any low blood pressure, fainting spells.

Day 13 Advent Calendar

2011-12-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

Day 13 is helping a friend with things around her house. We haven't had a chance to talk with this friend so she doesn't even know she won this! We actually had some things in mind to do for her and some of it has to be done in the spring so we will probably need to schedule this one for farther down the road.

However an update on some of the other days:
Babysitting for someone: We are doing it this Saturday for some sweet friends who are celebrating the wife's graduation. Yay for her hard work!

Toys for Tots: ZK dropped some toys off in the boxes today. So we can cross that one off our list.

Taking dinner to our friends: We are taking lunch there tomorrow for their movers and themselves.

The name for the day was Holy One. We started talking about what holy means and why he had to be holy. However they started asking other questions and we had quite a long talk about the Tribulation and Rapture, what our heavenly bodies will look like, and why we can't see God right now because His holiness is so radiant that it would kill us. We used the example of Moses' face glowing after God passed by him.

I am so enjoying this time with the kids and ZK. It has been such a sweet time of talking and sharing. To be quite honest this isn't something that we have ever done on a regular basis. I always had good intentions, but never followed through. This has been wonderful and something I really want to continue!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Group Home visit

2011-12-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

One of our Giving Hope projects was volunteering at a shelter of some kind. This was kinda hard to do because most of them won't allow kids under 18. Some of them are not appropriate for our younger kids (shelter for battered women) and still others are overwhelmed with volunteers this time of year.

Thankfully Brown Bear's karate organization was doing a mission project at a Children's Home in the somewhat-local area. I jumped on this right away. The boys were excited about it because they were going to get to do some board-breaking and sparring. The girls just like to buy gifts for others so this was right up their alley.

We recieved 2 names. One is a 14yo boy and the other is a 16yo girl. This made it fairly easy to shop for them since they were the ages of some of our kids. We had a lot of fun shopping for them. They provided a list of ideas for us, which was also extremely helpful.

The karate demo involved katas, sparring, skits, and board breaking. Lion Cub participated in one kata and broke one board. Brown Bear did a 6 1/2 foot jump front kick and a flying side-kick over 2 people!

Then the group passed out the gifts and watched the kids open their presents and visited with them. Our boy was very talkative and told his some of his history and why he was there. It made Monkey really stop and think about her home life and how much she takes for granted. Our girl was not able to come so we just visited with her for just a few minutes as we were leaving.

Brown Bear enjoyed meeting new people. He wanted to play basketball with T but he couldn't because it had to approved through several different people and agencies. He was frustrated with that but also realized what you trade for a few minutes of "fun".

On the drive home we talked about how enticing the World's version of fun is. What you trade for those few minutes of fun. Very sobering and thought provoking.

Day 10 and 11 Advent Calendar

2011-12-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

So you know how you get all your ducks in a row and everything is laid out exactly like it should be so nothing goes wrong? Well just don't ever plan on that.

We did Day 10 and 11 with some of our friends last night. It was a sweet time of fellowship and eating sweets.

Day 10 is taking dinner to some friends of ours. Friends we don't see often and we don't want falling through the cracks of life and disappearing from our sight. Friends that have stood by us, prayed for us, and loved us even when we weren't very loveable. Friends that have taught me so much about humbleness and God's goodness, even when things have gone horribly awry. I love these friends so much and am so thankful for their blessing in our life!

Day 11 is seeing if we can ring the bell for the Salvation Army. The little guys get so excited to see them every holiday season so we thought maybe we could help. Not sure how that works just yet, so this one may not get accomplished.

Of course this morning I woke up sick so we can't take dinner to our friends because they simply cannot risk getting sick. Very frustrating for us. Hopefully we can take some lunch to them on their "We are so excited to move back into our newly remodeled house" day.

The name for Day 10 was Bright and Shining Star. This was also kind of a science lesson. We talked about it being the light in the dark and how it guides our way. Also how the star was part of the Christmas story and what significance it had to the story.

The name for Day 11 was Messiah or Anointed One. Our friend, whose husband recently passed away, was quick to say it gave us hope of seeing those we love again. She also mentioned that meant that we had hope of replacing this broken down earthly shell for our heavenly one that will be perfect. I think the fact that He sent His son to be our redeemer was our main thought with the underlying theme of hope!

I pray that your holiday season is filled with Hope!

Day 9 Advent Calendar

2011-12-11T14:33:00.001-08:00

Day 9 is clean in a park or on a street. We were going to do it, but whatever this stupid sickness is has its grip on pretty tight. So we are going to try for next week.

The name is Good Shepherd. A lot was mentioned on what a Shepherd does exactly and what a Good shepherd would do. Obviously laying down His life was one of the first things mentioned. Then they mentioned feeding and care of the sheep. Coming right after the Lamb of God we had already mentioned most things and this discussion was muc shorter than usual.

I can't wait to share some pictures of our day at the Group Home. I can't share pictures of the kids, I will of my kids enjoying the day. It was a growing experience for them.

Day 8 Advent Calendar

2011-12-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

Day 8 is volunteer in the nursery at church. This is something that has to be scheduled so we haven't been able to do this yet. The kids love little ones so this will be one that won't take them to far outside of their comfort zone. Still we will be helping others and not focusing on us.

The name for today was Lamb of God. We discussed how before Jesus died they sacrificed animals, what kind of animals for what type of sacrifice, and how the sacrificial lamb had to be perfect and a beloved member of the family. We also talked about how hard it would be to sacrifice one of our own family memebers. It made the Lord's sacrifice of His son more personal to us.

Have a blessed Thursday!

Day 6 and 7 Advent Calendar

2011-12-07T15:51:00.001-08:00

Day 6 was volunteer at a shelter. My kids are the most nervous about this. Getting out of our comfort zone is what this is all about though, right? We are going to a place in Muskogee on Saturday with their karate organization. They are also excited because it is a kid's home and they like to make new friends. I will post pictures after we go.

The name for the day was Firstborn of all creation. This one was a little trickier for the younger kids to get, but they still tried and asked lots of question. How do explain before there was nothing there was God? That is still hard for me to wrap my mind around.

Day 7 is making cookies for the librarians. We will make the cookies tomorrow and deliver them on Friday. We really appreciate our librarians and all the programs they arrange for the kids. Especially Lindsey! (Is it ok to have a favorite librarian?)

The name for the day is Unspeakable Gift. This discussion blew me away with the answers that they gave. After asking what the Gift was here is what they said. Brown Bear: Jesus came to die for us. Lioness: He was the Gift. Monkey: He gave us eternal life. Parrot: His death gave us freedom from the Law! (this was my favorite answer and I will explain why in a minute.) Lion Cub: So we can live in Heaven with our other loved ones.

Freedom from the Law is what sets us apart from other religions. Jesus died so that we could be free. If it just shackled us to the Law where is the gift in that? It is NOT works based and we don't have to follow any Laws. Our desire to be more like Christ is what drives our actions (mostly) NOT because we have too. Don't ever get lost in that! We are FREE, FREE, FREE in Christ! What an unspeakable gift!

The reason we have 2 days together again is because we had Pukefest 2011 a couple of days ago and that put us behind.

Day 5 Advent Calendar

2011-12-06T10:52:00.001-08:00

Today was giving encouragement to others. This was one I was really looking forward to! It made me really stop and think about who is important in my life and do I really make them feel special and loved. Did I take the time to make sure that they knew they were loved and not just assume that they were.

Some of the kids took it very seriously and some just kinda half-heartedly did it. When I reminded them why we were doing it their attitudes changed and the day ended on a rather "sweet" note!

The name for the day was Prince of Peace. This was a really good discussion because we talked about why we don't have peace on earth if Jesus is the Prince of Peace. How we could find peace for ourselves in Christ and when there would finally be peace for everyone!

Have a peaceful day!

Day 3 and 4 Advent Calendar

2011-12-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Day 3 was babysitting for someone so they can go Christmas shopping or have a date night with their spouse. We have the couple lined up but now we just gotta get a night picked.

The name for the day was Mighty God. We discussed the meaning of mighty and earthly examples of that i.e. weightlifters.

Day 4 was spending time praying for people that we don't always think of. This was really nice because the Zookeeper was actually home so we could do it as a family. Our friend's dad had a massive heart attack over Thanksgiving and isn't doing very good. Several of the kids and ZK spent time praying for him. We were all reminded that there is so much suffering around us and being on our knees in prayer for them keeps us less focused on our whining.

The name for the day was Everlasting Father. One child pointed out that this meant that God would be even better than their earthly dad and it didn't get much better than that. He wouldn't die or otherwise abandon them like humans have been known to do.

This has been such a bonding time for our family that I considering doing something for each month of the year and maybe have different themes for each month. Maybe acts of love for february, prayer warriors for another month. What do you think? Do you do some kind of Advent calendar with your family?

My First 10k

2011-12-04T15:48:00.001-08:00

So about 3 months ago, shortly after the 5k, I got the bright idea to sign my friend and I up for a 10k. In December. When it is cold. So not bright!

My friend, being the agreeable person she is, thought it would be good too. So we ran with the idea (hahaha! Don't you just love my humor?) and we got registered right after Thanksgiving.

Thursday I started looking at the weather and it wasn't looking to wonderful. In fact it looked pretty bad. I really thought about backing out. But instead I used it as an excuse to buy a Under Armour Storm Gear jacket. Any excuse to buy new clothes right?

The day came and it actually wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't raining either, which I was really nervous about. Northcare had a tent set up for us to stay in while we waited. So my friend, my mom, Lioness and I stood in there and chatted, while we attached bells and our chips to our shoes. Then this awful noise started. It sounded like the tent was going to rip apart. Um hmm! It was the rain or more like a torrential downpour!

The before picture

People started moving to the starting line and we were given the chance to change to the 10k if we wanted so we didn't have to run so long in the rain. But of couse we laughed at that chance and moved to the middle of the pack. The gun went off and we slowly moved across the starting line.

It rained steadily as I finished up the first 5K of the race. I was also feeling pretty nauseated. I finally realized it was because I was extremely overheated. In my novice wisdom, I dressed too warm. Even though it was in layers, I couldn't really get it off. I did take my hood off and then tie it so the rain wouldn't rain down inside my coat and that helped so much! The wind cooled me off and I was able to breathe again without feeling like I was going to puke. I ended up walking a lot of the last 5k. I was getting raw places on my toes. But I wasn't going to quit!

As I rounded the last corner, I saw the most wonderful sight! My sweet friend had come back to walk the last of the race with me. Wasn't that wonderful? I crossed the finish line at 1:25:04. This put me in last place, but at that point I didn't care. I was so happy to finish what I set out to do.

Crossing the line!

I would still like to do the Half-Marathon someday. I don't think it is in my immediate future though. I have friend that would like to do the Marathon Relay, to have that accomplishment after fighting cancer and winning! She wants me to be on that team and I am going to.


The after picture

The three things that I took away from this race was:
1. L is a great friend to come back for me and support me while I finished.
2. My incredibly comfortable and amazingly water resistant Under Armour jacket
3. That finishing the race was an incredible feeling that I will have for awhile. (I suppose it could have been all the chocolate I ate later too :)

Day 2 Advent Calendar

2011-12-02T10:47:00.001-08:00

I found a really cool Advent Calendar at a blog that I read on a regular basis. Go check it out. It is similar to ours in content, but not design. While you are there you should read about her sweet boy Jonah and her amazing faith in the Lord!

So on to day 2 of our Advent series. This one was hug each of your family members for at least 10 seconds. The reason there is a time is for our child who doesn't like hugging. I know lots of people think that this kind of thing should be forced, but I disagree. This child will only hug Koala and only her. It has hurt the feelings of several of the other ones as they tried to love on this child and that child pushed them away.

I was a little concerned that child would really make a scene but they didn't and actually enjoyed it and left the hug fest with a smile on their face. Everyone's spirit was buoyed up and moods were lighter for the rest of the morning. Grandma particularly benefited from this. She loved all the kids hugging her and I think it reminded them she needs that affection and love as much as everyone else, even when she can't remember who they are.

The name for today is Wonderful Counselor. This opened up quite a discussion on what exactly a counselor is and how earthly counselors can give us bad advice, while God's is always right on the mark. We also talked about how sometimes the paths He wants us to take don't seem right and sometimes things seem very difficult, but in the end are ALWAYS and without exception the right thing for us. One child also mentioned that we should always talk with Him BEFORE

Day 1 Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T19:03:00.001-08:00

We made a new Advent Calendar for our family this year. While I am going to wait until next year to post the details (cuz it is going to be part of my family fun night feature) I thought I would post about each day and what we did.

I found this link (on Pinterest of course. Was there life before Pinterest?)on the different names of the Lord and added those to our Advent Calendar.

Today's Giving Hope Act was buying dinner for the person behind us in line at the fast food restaurant. We chose McDonald's because it usually stays busy and someone was almost guaranteed to get in line behind us. My grandma was with us too so this added to the festivities! (said in a sarcastic voice.)

Brown Bear was so excited he was literally bouncing in his seat. They all wanted to turn around and see what the lady thought when she rolled up to the window to find it was paid for. As Brown Bear put it. "She is just sitting back there counting her money and has no idea that someone is getting ready to bless her!" I think the McDonald's worker was more surprised than the lady behind us. She just couldn't understand why we wanted to do this. I glanced in my side mirror to try and catch her face. She had a big grin!

I think this blessed us far more than we blessed her. The kids wanted to do it everyday and loved the anonymity of it.

We then went on to do some Christmas shopping for a mission project the kids are part of. They enjoyed this too and I was grateful to see their spirit of giving and sacrifice come to the front. I won't deny that there were a few moments when I was ready to pack them all up and go home (try pushing Grandma around Rue 21 in a wheelchair. Yeah we left a path of destruction behind us.), but all in all it was a great evening and I even got my grocery shopping done too!

Pin It

And the winner is......

2011-11-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to choose the random winner this morning. I couldn't bring myself to push the generate button because I wanted everyone to win! However I finally did and the winner is The Brewer Family!

Thanks to everyone for participating and I will be having another giveaway on Jan 1, 2012 for a Chik-fil-a gift card. What a great way to start the new year, don't you agree?

I will be contacting the winner via email so they can choose their prize.

Family Fun #1

2011-11-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

Recently the Zookeeper took on another job that keeps him very busy. Since our schedule is very hectic anyway this didn't leave a lot of time to be together and touch base with each other. I had seen the idea of Family Fun Night at Lost in Laundry where they had themes and also let their children help with the evening. It was something that I really wanted to do. I then followed a link that was posted by How Does She to a fantastic book titled "More than a Movie: 50 ideas for fun and frugal family nights." I downloaded it to the Nook and started reading. She has fabulous ideas that are easy to implement for a wide range of ages and abilities.

I decided to let Brown Bear choose first and then we would just go down in age order letting them choose and create the night for the family. His first choice was No-Manners night, but when I informed him that they already do that, he went with the indoor obstacle course.

She had a few suggestions to get your mind thinking. He used one of her ideas and then came up with his own to go with it. We had to draw on a mustache, put on a robe and tie it, put on a fedora, sunglasses and ZK's boots, run and climb over a bench, crawl under another one, spray glitter in your hair, crawl back under the bench, make a figure 8 with the remote-controlled car around some logs, make a figure 8 with grandma's walker and then jump in a pile of pillows. All the while keeping everything on.

Mustaches!

Lion Cub sporting the robe

Brown Bear then had ribbons for everyone. We found the template at this site. He called each one up and presented it to them in typical Brown Bear fashion. The kids thought that this was hilarious! He came up with the categories on his own and they really made everyone feel special. He had a Most Beast one, which to me is ridiculous but to them was the coveted ribbon. ZK won it for his spectacular dive under the bench (which resulted in an injured shoulder and possibly injured pride.).

We finished the night off doing some line dances with the girls, which the boys liked as well. We did the Cha-Cha slide and the Cupid Shuffle. I can only do those two because they tell you what to do in the song. Lion Cub danced for us too, doing some Air-Popping. Yeah I don't know what that is either but he is pretty good at it!

We did close with devotions. We have been using Dinnertime Devotions and the kids really enjoy it. They participate in the discussion quite a bit and it lets us know what they are thinking about some of the problems that they are faced with.

PS Since I can't Lion Cubs video to load it will get it's own post!

New Life

2011-11-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

The sights, sounds, and smells of birth are intoxicating to me. The sight of that little one just placed on your stomach, eyes blinking, and little legs and arms waving around. The sound of that new little cry, the joyful talk and laughter of dad and siblings, the soft noises the baby makes as it nurses for the first time. The earthy smells of life just beginning outside the womb. It is all so amazing to me!

My friend just had a baby a few days ago. She emailed me a picture of him. He is simply beautiful! The most gorgeous red lips, smooth skin, and soft hair. It makes me want to drop everything and drive up there to see him. To snuggle him close and breathe in that new baby smell. She is so blessed to have him.

With the thought of this little guy so fresh on my mind, it made me think of our new life in Christ. More specifically new believers and the joy they feel when they are handed a new life, a new beginning. It is so amazing to watch them and their zeal for living, determined to live differently, motivated to seek out His will. And yet for some, after two or three years, this joy fades. The struggles of daily life take over and that new birth experience can't be pulled to forefront of their minds anymore.

I know it is the same for me with the birth of a baby. For days I am on that high from the empowering task I had just accomplished. Then reality sets in and the memory starts to fade, replacef by midnight feedings, the demands of the other siblings. Organic foods and carefully sanitized pacifiers no longer seem that important. Getting through the day with reasonable success seems to be the only goal.

But in living life that way, we miss so much! Forgetting the birth experience or letting the joy slip through our fingers, drags down our hearts and minds. It takes the bliss from the moments that we should be sharing and remembering constantly. Don't get me wrong, our eyes should be looking forward also. But with remembering how we became children of God, how he sends us our own children, keeps us remembering the fire burning inside and spurs us on toward the goal.

He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. I have forgotten that lately. Forgotten from where I came. Forgotten my birth experience. Take a few moments today to reflect on yours and remember that He gave his life for you so that you may life eternally.

Have a Blessed holiday season!

Pinterest part 2

2011-11-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

These are some things that haven't made it onto the Handmade Christmas. Well some of them. I can't see giving the Tub Scrub as a gift, but whatever floats your boat.

1.Lemon Sugar Scrub. Apparently this was a real hit. We made it for my mother-in-law, who lives in the mountains, and she said she almost tried to eat it because it smelled so good. It made her hands feel wonderful too! We tried the tiny bit, that wouldn't fit in the jar, and we loved it too.

2.DIY sundae kit. This was definitely a crowd pleaser and made the recipient very happy. Her mom loved it as much as the daughter did. They both thought it was very creative. We added a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream to it also. It was a fun gift to make!

3. The love note box. This is my love language. I love to write notes or letters telling people how much I love and appreciate them. We put this in a picnic set that we gave to some newlyweds. No feedback from them, but I am thinking of doing it for our house to get the kids to focus more on others.

4.Scavenger Hunt that fits in an Altoid tin. I printed this out and did it with the kiddos I babysit some. They all loved it. We made it the boys against the girls and they were all laughing.

5. Martha Stewart's Tub Scrub. The jury is still out on this one. We have used it several times and I am not sure it cleans any better than straight baking soda. But since the kids do the majority of the scrubbing, and they like it better, I will keep making it and not complain too much.

My first giveaway

2011-11-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

I decided that I couldn't wait until next year to give something away. I love to enter giveaways on other blogs and thought that you guys might too. To date I have entered around 50 contests and won 2 of them. One was at Nettacow and I received the cutest baby legs. The other was at Only Sometimes Clever and I won some lip balm which my girls promptly confiscated and never returned.

I will have three choices of prizes.
1. Tutu tights. We are making some for Koala and I thought they were so cute that I would make some for this. You may let me know what size you need and color of tights (black, white or pink). The color of tulle may be the only thing that won't be negotiable.

2. Apron with pot holders in the corners. I have been eyeing these for awhile and this would give me a good reason to make one.

3. Build-a-fort kit. I realize the other gifts don't include boys or that your little girl might want one. So it will be like the one I linked to in my handmade post.

So the ways that you can win are the following and you will get an one entry for each thing that you do. You can like us on Facebook, become a follower, or subscribe by email. You can also post it on Facebook or tweet about it for another additional entry. Just make sure that for each thing you do that you leave a new comment. If you have already done any of these things that leave that in the comments. I am excited to see who is going to win.

This giveaway will be open until November 27th at midnight.

PS All prizes will be mailed out after Thanksgiving

Google Calendar or On being organized

2011-11-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

Several months ago my friend raved about Google calendar and how it was saving them so much time, trouble and headaches. When you have 8 kids and a football coach for a husband you are bound to have a few headaches anyway, but this was synchronizing all their schedules and making it easier to see who was going where and when.

I took a look at it and decided it was way too much trouble to put all those dates and times into the database. So I went back to my trusty wall calendar and decided that was the way to go. I could see the entire month at a glance, but there was never enough room to write everyone's different schedules. So I made a dry-erase calendar out of our cabinet door. That was great as far as there was enough room to write in the squares. The drawback was there wasn't anywhere to write for the next month or months. Some appointments we have are for a year out and I had no where to record those.

Enter last Wednesday and a happy dance text from the hubby. He was so excited about the new calendar they were using at his office. He told me that he thought it would be perfect for our house and I could share the calendar with him so that he could see what we had going on and put his schedule on there too. It would make it so easy to see, at a glance, when he would be home with us and when I might need to find some transportation for some of the kids to their respective places.

I was thrilled because this was exactly what we needed. I quickly sent back a text and asked him what it was so that I could get it started that very minute. What was his reply? Google calendar! I decided that I didn't give it a fair shake the first time and went back to look at it again. I was much happier with what I found this time. It is probably the same as it was before, but our schedules have gotten so much more complicated and this was what I needed now.

You can designate a color for each child so that when it prints they know what they have going on. I also have a color just for family events. You can make it repeat an activity if needed, add details to the schedule, drag something to another day if it doesn't get done, choose time slots, block out certain days, add appointment times for people to schedule something with you, put reminder alarms on certain ones, and add maps for things.

The feature that I like the most is the appointment time slots. I can block out certain times and then mark those available. If someone asks when we can get together I can send them a link to the calendar, they can view, choose the time that works for them, add their name and all the details to it and wah-la! They are on my calendar and none of this back and forth stuff. I can also decline from the calendar if something comes up and we need to re-schedule.

My second favorite feature is the invite option. I can set up an event on our calendar and then invite people from there. None of this setting up a million different places to invite people. You simply add their email, sent the invite and then they can add their name if they are coming.

If you haven't checked it out and you have a type-a personality this might work for you. I encourage you to check it out. Especially if have a crazy, busy family!

Pinterest Projects Part 1

2011-11-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

I love Pinterest! It organizes all the things that I want to try, want to buy, or someday want to go. I can have as many boards as I want and name them whatever I want too. (yes that makes me very happy!) It feeds my type A personality so wonderfully. I still have about 700 likes to wade through and see if I would ever actually do/use/go. The one thing that I do have an issue with is clicking on a pin and it taking you to the home page of a blog instead of the actual project. It takes a lot of time to track down that specific post. But I guess if that is the only downside then I can live with that!

Here are a list of the projects that we have done and how we rate them.

Food:
1. Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti. Everyone loved this! It was a great way to use up some leftovers and feel like we were having a completely different meal.

2. Apple Pie Oatmeal. Oatmeal is never a complete hit at our house. A couple are willing to go hungry rather than eat oatmeal. The ones that do like oatmeal really liked this. Of course I made it in the rice cooker.

3. Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. I made this for a small group night. There wasn't anything left. Again this was a great way to use up some leftovers. I put in a few veggies I had on hand. I also used a homemade cream of anything mix instead of using the canned cream soups.

4. Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. This recipe actually drew a few more of the haters to the table. I am always looking for different ways to make oatmeal more tempting and still keep it healthy.

5.Hot Cinnamon Milk Mix. This is by far our favorite recipe off of Pinterest. We keep a huge container of it mixed up at all times. It does help that I received about 20 jars of powdered creamer from someone and this is a great way to use it up. This tastes a lot like eggnog, which is a household favorite, so of course that made this a winner. Monkey is making this as christmas presents this year!

6. Cinnamon Roll Cake. This is probably a close second to the Milk Mix. We made it 4 times in as many days. It is super easy, my 15 yo made it and he hates complicated recipes, and so yummy smelling when it bakes! Make sure you have somebody(ies) to share it with!

7.Lasagna Soup. The first time I made this was karate night, which translates into everyone is going to a different place night. We try to eat before we leave and this hit the spot. There was just enough left for the Zookeeper. We have made it several times since then. I simmer the broth and such in the crockpot and then add the noodles, uncooked, to the broth about 20 minutes before we need to eat. That makes it such an easy, healthy and wonderful meal to feed the kiddos before we head out the door.

8. Microwave Potato Chips. I was really excited about this one. We have been trying to get away from chips and I thought this would be the ticket. Not so much. It worked perfectly the first time. Then I did it again, on the same piece of parchment paper, and everything went south. The chips burnt and tasted terrible. So I started changing the paper every time we made another batch. This would become somewhat cost prohibitive. So this was a fail, unless of couse you only want to make one small batch.

9. Baked Chicken Nuggets. This is another winner! The kids love these and specifically ask for the nuggets with basil and parmesan. We tried another recipe on Pinterest and this is the one that won! He has lots of other delicious recipes on his blog.

10. Lemon Spaghetti. This is so delightful! Spaghetti noodles coated with garlic-infused olive oil, a hint of lemon and the sharpness of the parmesan make it a real winner. Paremsan by the block is one of the things that I will splurge on and this is why. This recipe wouldn't taste good if you use the parmesan in the can. So do yourself a favor, buy a small block of parmesan and make this recipe.

So as I was linking to all of these, I realized that I could add about 20 more food pins and still not be done. I also realized that if I continue to make all of these recipes then I need to run about twice the amount I am now! I don't really want to do that so what is a girl to do? Eat more cinnamon roll cake and forget about it! (spoken in my best Mickey Blue Eyes voice!)

Handmade Christmas week 7

2011-11-16T06:50:00.001-08:00

I am really excited about this handmade gift. My mom is really hard to buy for (no less difficult is my dad though!). She will wear or use anything we give her, but the question is always in the back of my mind if she really liked it. So I am constantly listening for her to say that she really wants something.

She recently said that she wished she had a new set of glasses because what she has now is such a mish-mash of ones from all stages of her marriage. I, of course, jumped on that.

I had remembered my friend sending me a link to glass etching on the Make it and Love it blog. After reading the tutorial thoroughly ( I have bad habit of not reading completely), I browsed Pinterest to get some ideas for what to put on there. I decided to do the kids silhouettes, mustaches, hearts and a R for their last name. Of all the designs, our favorite is the mustache!

cost: glass etching gel: $3 with 40% coupon
glasses 14 of them: $10 at the thrift store
vinyl: free because of water damage to the bottom of the roll
designs printed off the internet: free
sponge to apply gel: free from a game we had

I am linking to Handmade Christmas and Works for me Wednesday.

Some Christmas present suggestions

2011-11-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

I was in Wal-Mart a few days ago and was browsing their selection of Christmas gifts and decorations. It was amazing and so thought provoking that I thought that I would share some of the ideas with you, in hopes that it would help you with your gift shopping. No need to thank me!

1. This was at the top of my list. Forever Lazy. I wish I had seen this a LONG time ago. It would have saved me from so much work. What? That isn't what a Forever Lazy is for? You mean it is really a stylish pair of fleece pj's that cost a fortune? Well I guess I won't buy some of these then!

2. This one was a real winner. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a link for them so you will just have to picture it in your mind. "Tired of having to bend over in the shower to wash your feet, can't lift your lift your leg up either to get at them, or your shower is so small it simply won't let you do the gymnastic required to get those puppies squeaky clean? Then look no farther! The foot washer will save you time and a sore back. Simply slip your feet in the foot wash and rub back and forth diligently!". I don't think that is a direct quote from the box, but I think it is pretty close. It was these weird looking slipper-things that had soap in them, with bristles that would scrub your feet. Think of all the time it would save!

3. Because I always like to have the best dressed lawn on the street, I give you the Santa that pops out of an outhouse! I all I have to say about this one is exactly what mullet-man that was in front of me in line said (and this is a direct quote) "Isn't that the coolest thing?".

4. This one is by far my favorite of all and is going on my list for ALL the kids I need to shop for. All of the joys of a doggie without the smell. Doggie Doo! Feed him and then clean up after him. If this fails to be a crowd pleaser you can always go with Gassy Gus. This is where the money is made. Why I can't I ever think of these wonderful ideas?

Stay tuned! I might actually put up a list of some real presents that we are buying for the kids this year. These are hilarious and I can't believe that people are actually making money on them.

Teaching children to write

2011-11-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

In the past I have steered clear of really going in depth on our teaching methods. There are many reasons why. But I think my main reason was because after 10 years of formal teaching I am really just now figuring it out, at least for our family anyway.

We use Robinson curriculum almost exclusively. I like his theories behind why his core curriculum is set-up the way it is. His philosophy, in a nutshell, is reading, writing and math are the most important things that you can ever teach your child (in school! not life!). If your child is a profecient reader then he can read about science and history. If he can hold his own in math, then he can work at McDonald's and possibly move up to store manager (because remember he can read well!). If he can write well, then all those reports he has to turn in will be entertaining for the higher ups! OK hopefully your child would do more than that, but seriously those 3 things are really the foundation for everything else.

So back to writing. My kids really, and I mean REALLY, struggle with writing. Brown Bear struggles with grammar and punctuation, Lioness struggles with sentences that flow and aren't choppy and disconnected and Monkey just struggles with putting thoughts on paper period. Anytime I mention writing anarchy is sure to ensue.

Robinson recommends having your child write for an hour everyday on any subject that they choose. Then the teacher is to correct their mistakes right then and give the paper back. The child re-writes the paper with all the necessary corrections. His theory is that the more they read good literature, the better the writing will become. You add to that all the corrections that you make and they will become amazing writers.

Well this hasn't happened with my kids yet and I was at the end of my rope. Every single time we sat down to go over a paper someone left in tears and that was usually me. I sat down and took a good look at how I was going about this. Did it work for our family? Were my kids learning anything? Was the strife it was causing worth the miniscual gain?

Here is what we are going to do now. I have started dictation with the older 3, where I read out of one of their current books, they write and then we go over it. This has deifintely improved spelling and lets them see, a little easier where punctuation fits in. I am focusing on composition this year with my Sophmore. I am focusing on clearer writing with my 8th grader, and being able to summarize chapters with my 6th grader. Trying to do all of these at once, with all of the kids, was just to overwhelming. I am going to overlook the missing commas and capitalization in an effort to have ideas that are all her own. I will ignore some of the less faulty sentences to correct the one that is three in one and doesn't have any punctutation. This may sound counter productive to most of you, but it is working for us. And THAT is always a good thing!!

I am linking to WFMW

I have lost my touch!

2011-11-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

Koala decided, about seven months ago, that she was finished with diapers. I was ecstatic to get rid of diaper bags and all the rest that goes with it. No more money thrown in the trash. I thought this would be the easiest child ever and boy was I going to brag about it. That right there should have been my clue that things were not going to go as planned!

She was fabulous at one month into it. Hardly any accidents and I never took the diaper bag with us anymore. Then we went on vacation. We were about 2 hours into the drive when one of the big kids, specifically Lioness (and if you knew her in real life then you would know how hee-haw funny this was!), started saying that water was dripping on her foot from the seat in front of her. About that time Koala announced that she had peed in her pants and we needed to stop and change her. Yep, you guessed it. It wasn't water at all! We are not stopping people so Koala had to endure the wet pants for a while longer. Plus I thought that might cure her.

While on the trip I decided to put her in pull-ups so we wouldn't have any accidents at the theme park. BAD IDEA!!! That was the beginning of the end for all the potty training we had done so far.

She refuses to wear diapers, but also refuses to make it to the toilet. I can't tell you how many times we have been out and she has pooped in her pants and the diaper bag was no where to be seen. She has worn other people's t-shirts, a jacket and nothing at all until we could make it home. Several of those outfits went straight into the trash. I think the kicker was when we went to the zoo without the diaper bag. It was running down her legs so I threw her in the wagon, with a gorgeous birthday cake, and hot-footed it toward the nearest family bathroom. It was all uphill to that bathroom too, let me tell you! By the time we had found the bathroom she had drug her fingers through all the icing. Then when she stood up she stepped on the cake with shoes covered in you-know-what! So into the trash can went the undies and cake. Thankfully she had on a long dress and we made it out of the zoo without further incident.

Yesterday I finally admitted defeat. I just couldn't convince myself anymore that she cared about being dry or clean. So back to diapers it was. Except for today when she arrived at the eye doctor clinic in big girl panties, unbeknownst to me of course. Yep, she sat on my lap, completely happy witjh herself, in wet clothes. I think I may burn my jeans!

So if you have any tips, tricks, bribes or threats that have worked on your kids let me know. Please don't suggest stickers because they seem to have a homing device on them where she finds them within minutes and destroys them all in less time than that! I have no earthly idea how I potty-trained the other 5 kids. Maybe they did it themselves or maybe they came to me potty-trained. My memory is a little fuzzy on that.

Handmade Christmas Week 5

2011-11-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I only have one gift to put up this week. I have been working on the other ones, but I haven't completed anymore except for these. I actually came up with these when we needed a gift for a sweet little girl that we know. We had made her some slider headbands. That just didn't fill up the bag so we needed something else to go in there. She had a tea party for her birthday and what better gift than some snazzy gloves.

I had seen something similar once before but the exact tutorial eluded me so I googled it and came up with this fabulous one from Alisa Burke. I always enjoy her blog because her projects always have a little more bling. We didn't do her exact ones, obviously (I can be so dense sometimes!), but I can see making some of these for Lioness for her stocking. I think the gems would be fairly inexpensive with a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby. I also looked at this tutorial from Little Miss Momma. Then we drug out all of our odds and ends and went to work. The girls really enjoyed doing these and we have since done 2 more pairs for my niece, who moved to the Antarctic or somewhere near there.

All of the sparkle stuff was from garage sales or the clearance rack at Hancock. The fur was cut off an old Santa costume that we bought at the thrift store for something else. I probably have about $1 in the trimmings. The gloves were $1 at Academy and they had so many different colors. The adult ones were the same price, just not as many cute colors.

OK, I just realized that we have the slider headbands too. Remember me saying I can be so dense sometimes? Yep that is me! Anyways we saw something very similar at AAOTH and decided that we could make the same thing at home for a lot less. Lioness has made all of them. They stay in my hair even when I am running and they don't give me headaches like most headbands too. They fit a variety of heads with just the slide of the bead. We used shelf liner, but I think that either side of velcro would work too. You can tie the ends around your hair to make a pony tail or pull them to the side, twist your hair and have a cute side pony too. We like them a lot and Monkey wears them in her hair to just about every soccer practice.

A Fly-In

2011-10-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to think of a witty way to lead into this fun day, but I got nothing. No jokes about flies being in something, or what did you fly into? I have never been to a fly-in so this was a whole new experience for us. We really enjoyed it and would love to do it again sometime.

Step 1:Be 9 months pregnant, have 12 people come stay at your house overnight, and then make 3 batches of homemade cinnamon rolls and 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies. Oh yeah she is that good!

Step 2:Head down to the main hanger where there were lots of old men, old friends, new friends and crazy stories!

Step 3:Eat lots of food. Bratwurst flown in from Ohio, sauerkraut, burned hot dogs (which are my personal favorite!), desserts. Oh yeah baby!

Step 4:Play some version of Poker than no one else can figure out. It does help to have Pirates of the Caribbean money and Star Wars playing cards.

Step 5: Take an airplane ride, which of course is the highlight of the entire experience. You pick out the airplane you might want to ride in and then stand by it looking pitiful and forlorn until the owner comes over and feels sorry for you and takes you for the ride of your life. I wouldn't know this because everyone turned me down, but the Zookeeper was able to go and had a great time.

Handmade Christmas week 1,2,3 2011

2011-10-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Some how I missed the beginning of Handmade Christmas hosted at Proverbs 31. Since the posts from last year were my most read posts you can bet I am doing them again this year. I actually have the gifts picked out, links posted on Pinterest, Now to get to the actual making of them. I have a bag packed with things that I can do by hand at soccer practice or karate class. This helped a LOT last year, plus the fact I started on the gifts in August rather than the middle of October. I am seeing lots of late nights ahead!

Week 1Lioness has been working on some super cute pens that she is making to sell, but will also be giving them as gifts. The little girls love them and they were all made with scraps we already had on hand. She also was blessed with some leftover tulle from an art class they took at the library (see why we love the library?). She has browsed Pinterest several times and tried several different varieties. We found the original idea here. The tulle ones are from this idea.

She also started making some bows again. She made some tulle ones based on the same idea from the pens. They are so stinking cute when they are tiny, aren't they? She also made some of these tiny bows for our friend's soon-to-be born girl.

We are also working on some ruffle butt onsies. They are stressing me out because I can't get those ruffles quite straight! They are pretty cute though. These would all make super cute and mostly simple gifts for stockings or gifts.

Week 2 and 3One of the gifts that we are the most excited about for the Build-a-fort kits for Lion Cub and my nephew. They are so cute, can be made from recycled sheets, simple too do, the extras can be bought at the Dollar Tree and will be a big hit with them. I plan on monogramming their carrying bags. I need an excuse to get the embroidery machine out again. We are using the t-shirt tie method in case you are wondering. I plan to recycle or upcycle as much as possible.

Now I do want to point out that we will buy some gifts for the kids, but they usually only get one or two that we have bought from the store already made. The grandparents buy them things that are from the big box stores or from the blue or orange home improvement stores. Brown Bear especially loves stuff from the orange and blue. Power tools are very useful and something that we can't make (I can't even manage it with my super powers!) so I encourage them to do this. We are making a real effort to cut down on spending and spend more time with them, time put into heartfelt gifts, and gifts bought for kids that don't have the same privileges that we do.

My needs

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

I need this pan because I need to make these. (pumpkin donuts)

I need this watch because all the cool runners have them. I need to be cool!I need to make this because that would justify my need to buy this.

I need to run further and harder and faster and with less effort, so I need a new body.

I need to focus on one thing at a time until it is completed. Maybe I wouldn't be so scatterbrained.

I need to snuggle my kids close because tomorrow isn't a guarantee.

I need to love more, hold closer, forgive faster and forget wrongs completely!

I need to take this challengebut then I would need to give this up and I don't think I can do it.

I need kisses from my sweet little girl. All the sudden she has decided that 2 yo is too old to kiss her momma anymore.

I need these because they would go perfectly with my fall wardrobe. OK who am I kidding? I don't have a fall wardrobe but I still need those.

I need to learn to accessorize better. I know the perfect necklace would make my sweats look like a million bucks!

I need salted caramel on something, anything!I need to appreciate my friends more.

I need to take more to time to see the hurting people around me and do something to cheer them up.

I need to eat better.I need to be more organized. I wonder if thiswould help?

I need to learn to let some things go and know that it is ok. I need to see these people . Like right now!

I need my friend to have her baby boy already so I can remember what it is like to have a soft, sweet smelling little one that needs you every single second of the day and never lets you get a good night's rest.

I need to make some shirts for my friend and I when we run the 10k(it just happens to be a coincidence that this run is for a mental health facility. SERIOUSLY!). I am thinking the Tortoise and the Hare. What do you think? I will let you figure out which one is the hare!

I need some funky knee-high socks. I have always loved those things and I just saw some that have mustaches all over them.

I need to listen to the Lord better and follow His leading more. I need to go to bed.

Daybook for October 10, 2011

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

The weather is changing and I love it! The crisp mornings, the cooler nights, the smell of fireplaces, and the feel of hoodies. Makes me want to bake an apple pie and light a pumpkin spice candle.

I am thinking....that my brain is turning to mush. I can't remember anything anymore. Want an example? I was suppose to go help with a garage sale set-up after Monkey's scrimmage. On the way home I was thinking I was so glad that I was going to be able to go to bed when I got home. I pull in the drive-way and out come the big kids with the folding tables. My brain is scrambling to figure out why they were bringing them out. Yeah, completely forgot! There are lots of other examples just like that. Mush, Mush, Mush!

I am thankful for....a husband who helps me with grandma. If he didn't stay with her some, so I can get out with or without the kids, I am fairly certain I would be crazy by now (maybe this is why my brain is mush. hmmm...) Brown Bear helps out with her a lot too. Bless his sweet self he stays with her more than anyone. My brother and his wife help out on nights when our schedule is crazy and my parents take her on weekends sometimes. This is such a blessing to us so we can keep her at home.

From the learning room...that forcing my kids to do things they don't like will pay off eventually. All of my kids have an intense dislike for math. I won't give in on them working the problems out the first time and reading the lesson and trying it without help first. (if they need help I will then help them.) This has taught them to be self learners and they are reaping the benefits now. Brown Bear scored very high on his placement test. Math being his very best subject! I know this may sound cruel and unusual to some of you, but being self learners is the biggest asset I can give them. Because we have adopted this method, Brown Bear is in Algebra II, at 14 yo, and is teaching himself with a 3.98 grade point average.

I am creating....some sweet baby gifts! I want to make some of these for a friend from church. I just finished a quilt for another friend who is due any day now. I would like to make this too. How cute is it! My girls would have a blast making it. And, of course, some of these sweet little bows.

I am reading...uh. hmmm. well. Not a single thing. Sad I know. I have big plans though.

I am hoping...that this cooler weather is here to stay and that the burn ban is lifted soon. I would like to use our outdoor fire pit. Nothing like sitting around the fire, with your eyes watering from the smoke, flaming marshmallows on a stick being slung around, and flames threatening to singe your eyebrows. LOVE IT!

Plans for the rest of the week...Going to a corn maze with the kids. The little ones are so excited because I bought a bunch of glow sticks for them to use. Did I mention I love outdoor fire pits? We get to roast hot dogs while we are there. Oh yeah baby! Of course I will be running, hopefully hanging sheet rock in our laundry room and POSSIBLY laying the rest of the tile. Pretty excited about that.

Picture thought of the week....We were notified by our sweet librarian (yes I think most people I meet are sweet, but especially her!) that a fun musical group was coming to the library and she thoguht that the kids might like it. So I made arrangements for me to take most of the kids to see them. THEY WERE AMAZING!!!! I am so glad that we went, even though my kids were the only kids out of about 100 people. The group was the Bonham Family Revue . It is bluegrass music, but with a modern freshness to it. The lady who sang had such a clear voice that carried and made me sit with my mouth gaping open for the entire first song. Her sister, who plays a 150 year old fiddle, did an amazing job as well. The son played a song he had just written, Last Sunday's Waltz, which had a fun rhythm to it. An elderly lady in the crowd asked them how they came up with the name Bonham for their group. Of course most of the audience started laughing, because it seemed obvious, but the dad was so gracious and without missing a beat explained to her that his dad gave it to him when he was born and it was of German descent. What a nice thing to do!

Irony of it all

2011-10-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

Today I took my firstborn to take placement tests for enrolling in the welding program at a local vo-tech. It was an enjoyable day with him. We went to eat lunch at our favorite fast food place, Chik-fil-la. During lunch a lady on the playground caught his eye and he asked me to look at her. I did and asked why. He said, "Well can't you tell that she only has 2 kids?". And this is the list of reasons that he gave me.
-the little boy has matching shoes and socks
-the little boy's hair was brushed twice while he was on the playground
-the stroller was VERY clean
-the diaper bag was packed with everything that you would need.
-the mom had a huge bottle of sanitizer
-the mom wiped down the baby completely when she sneezed
-she was watching the little boy like a hawk. Don't they call those helicopter parents?
-the boy had on clean clothes
I thought this was hysterical! I asked him if he wanted me to do that all that and he said no, except maybe make sure the kids had matching socks. hehe The irony of this? I was one of those moms for about 10 minutes when Brown Bear was small. Then I found him drinking out of the toilet and I figured if that didn't kill him nothing would. (you know all you moms with large families are nodding and the moms with 2 kids are horrified that some people let their kids go out in public like that!)

Another irony that I saw today and this is by far my favorite. The below picture. Can you read the words on the call box? It says ???? wine and spirits (you know like the kind you drink, not the creepy kind.).

Yep! You can order your liquor while you pump gas in your car. No need to even go into the store. Drinking and driving was never easier! What irony have you ran into this week?

Daybook Oct 2, 2011

2011-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well another week beginning. Another week gone. I recently read a sign that said "Things you cannot back are stones after the throw, words after they are spoken, and time after it is gone". I really felt that this week. So many times I wanted those words back or that time I just lost to re-do the moment over.

I am thinking...that back-to-back long runs were not a good idea for me. I am hobbling around like an old lady. Amazingly it isn't my knees or ankles that hurt. It is my back. I really wanted to run with both of these sweet ladies because I enjoy their company so much, but next time I will beg to walk the entire time. I suppose a little bit of pride might have motivated me too because both of these ladies are faster than me and I wanted to think I could even half-way keep up.

I am thankful for....fun time with family this weekend. The town my parents live in allow fireworks to be set off in the city limits, which makes for a HUGE block party. Well it was canceled this year because of the severe lack of water. We finally received some rain and the city decided to let them set off fireworks yesterday. SO much better in October. I am thinking we need to start celebrating October 1. Anyone with me? It is cool, the sun goes down sooner, and no mosquitoes. Need I say more. Anyways back to the family time. We had a cook-out, played something that sort of resembled volleyball, drank lots of cider and watched everyone else set off fireworks. A really nice, relaxing time.

From the learning room....to relinquish some of my desires. I actually feel like they are more like rights. You know the ones. The right to have a clean house, the right to some peace and quiet, the right to time alone with the hubby where we talk about more than changing diapers and discipline, the right to go to the bathroom without being bothered. I have come to realize that while I feel like I need (more like deserve!) those things, the Bible doesn't promise me that. I does promise that I won't get more than I can handle. So if those things help handle the rest of life, then they will come. If they don't? Then look for me in a straight jacket! ha!

I am creating....order in the backyard. It seems it is a never ending chore that we have. We cleaned something out and the kids drag more stuff back there. We make room to stack stuff and bikes get put there. Branches fall out of the trees and the trailer is full of stuff to haul off. Order is necessary in the backyard so we don't look like the rednecks of the neighborhood.

I am reading....short articles on how to clean better, be more organized, and keep my sanity. Way to many articles to link to.

I am hoping....that it doesn't rain this weekend so we can go to our friend's for the big birthday celebration and the fun fly-in the next day. I am also hoping she decides to have the baby while I am there. Kinda selfish huh? But see she would have about 100 people there that would get to cheer her on and see this precious little guy. Don't all of you want hundreds of people at your house while you are in labor? No? Whatever!

Plans for the rest of the week...Lots of running to make up for all the junk I am going to eat this weekend. Taking Brown Bear to tour a vo-tech on his list and the 8-th grade reading proficiency test so he can get his learner's permit. Can I just say the thought of having a child drive is making me nervous and making me feel old. Trying to practice hair-dos for a wedding I am helping with. I am very excited about that. She is a sweet girl who has been very kind to my kids in karate and I kinda like her momma too so this is awesome for me!

Picture thought of the week....seeing cousins at the zoo for Calendra's birthday. We haven't seen them in quite awhile. Aside from dead bees in the ice chest and birds biting Lion Cub, we had a blast! I held the new baby cousin, but she hasn't warmed up to me yet so I think I need to see her more. (hint, hint to her mommy!)

My Running Favs

2011-09-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

The above picture is why I will probably never post pictures of me running. Especially when I can see my shadow while running and it isn't pretty. Let's just say that in my mind I run like an ultra-marathoner. hahahaha! Then I come back to reality.

I have started collecting things that have helped my run. Whether it is to improve my running time, to make the run more enjoyable, or to keep track of my workouts these are all apps that I greatly enjoy and thought that I would share them with you. Now just remember that you can use all of these, except possibly Couch Potato to 5k, with walking too.

The program that got me moving and that I used to train for the Cops and Robbers 5k run was Couch Potato to 5k. I like the program to get previously inactive people up off the couch and moving. There are 2 cons to this program that I found and I think this greatly based on personal preference. First he tells you how to long run/walk each week, but unless you have a fantastic watch that you are constantly checking or one that would beep after certain intervals, it is hard to keep track of your time. Second, when we started running longer lengths it was hard to start and stop so much. Running for 15 minutes and then walking for 5 minutes and then running again was hard for me. I decided it was just easier to gut it out and finish the full-time.

I found Robert Ullrey's website from a comment left on the Couch Potato to 5k website. I really enjoyed the pod casts he had set up that worked perfectly for this program. The fact that they are free helped tremendously in my decision to use it. Again there are 2 drawbacks to this. One was I didn't really like the music. It isn't objectionable, just boring to me. The other was that he would say things like "You are almost there", "You are doing so good", "Only 2 minutes left". Now there isn't anything wrong with this, but the first few times I would go through them I would think that he was going to say I was done and start walking to find out that I still had 5 minutes left! Very small things considering all the effort he put into these pod casts and that they are free.

I think this is probably my favorite find because I use it just about every morning. Map My Run lets you map out your runs/walks/hikes and then you can save them if it is one that you run often. I use it to find different ways to run, in the neighborhood, so that my runs aren't predictable and some ax-murderer won't be able to get me! I can also change my route if there are dogs, etc. on a particular run that really need to be eliminated and I want to avoid that temptation. It gives elevation and a few other notes for your route.

Jog Fm is a fairly new app for me. You can put in what pace you would like to run and it will suggest songs for that have that tempo. You can sort by genre, which really tickled me pink because I didn't want 20 lady ga-ga songs. I was very happy to find that several of the songs it suggested, for my 12 minute pace, were some that I already had. You can purchase the songs from them or, of course, through itunes.

The last app is my favorite find, but one that I can't use right now. boo! Run Keeper tracks your runs WHILE YOU ARE RUNNING!! It does almost all the same things that the Garmin watch does, but for free. If you have a smartphone you need to download this app right away. It tells you how fast you are running, how far you have ran, and how long you have ran. It also saves all the info and then you can check to see where you were the fastest, how fast you were on that killer hill, or if you were able to speed up on the flat surfaces. You can also check each day/week to see if you are progressing or regressing!

I hope you try some of these apps and let me know what you think. Let me know what your favorite apps, running or not, are in the comment section.

Climb on the rollercoaster with me

2011-09-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride. The highs and lows. The wild twist and turns. The abrupt stops. The standing in line to get on and then to find out it is broken. Yep, those pretty much sum up our life recently.

My grandma was having some issues that I knew indicated some internal problems that we couldn't see. So I took her to her regular doc. They said we had 2 choices and one was to take her to the ER by ambulance or take her home and contact hospice. I opted for the first choice. After spending 5 hours in this stellar hospital, they sent us home and let me know that it was all in my head (ok they didn't say it quite like that, but it was close.) The next morning the Doc called and asked how it went. The first doc to do this mind you! I told they didn't do anything. Her labs showed she was severely dehydrated. How did they miss that?Fast forward to Monday morning and they (I am not going to say who they are) call to tell me that she has a UTI that needs to be treated. This was the culprit for most of the problems.

So now she is feeling better, but this means no hospice. So what emotion should I be feeling? I have no idea! I can say that anger seems to be the one that rises to the surface every day, all day. I am angry at the insurance company, I am mad at the state, I am mad at the hospital, I am mad at my grandma (which is completely irrational and stupid I know), I am mad at my kids, I am mad at the dog, I am mad at my neighbors, I am mad at the brats that live down the street, I am mostly mad at myself that I am not stronger emotionally and mentally to control these feelings and keep them in their proper corner.

You want to know the real reason I took up running? It wasn't because I would lose weight, seem extremely motivated, to show-up J, get a svelte bod, to run races, get praise, or be able to out run the Zookeeper. It was so I had an hour in the morning to myself. So that I could get my thoughts in order and hopefully be able to have some kind of schedule and order when I returned. I run for about an hour now. You know I am working up to running all day! hehe

After all this my SIL left. She packed her stuff in her truck and left. Her husband found a job in another state and so off they went. They didn't bother to ask my opinion or I would have told him that he could be a clown in any state, but they didn't. I even tried to bribe him with chocolate chip cookies, but he just told me to talk to the hand, the one that was shoving cookies in his mouth. I am very close to my SIL and we laugh about the same dumb things (who else would laugh at Plumpus Rumpus at 11pm), share the same love for chocolate and Red Robin, and could just lean out our window to talk to each other. That doesn't work now and I am NOT happy!

Our cousin's little baby got very, very sick the same week as the rest of this stuff. We, of course, dropped everything and went to the hospital. She is beautiful! So precious and the thought of her not making it was ripping me apart. She is doing better now. Combine this with my grandma and SIL and I was teetering on the edge. An edge that I was seriously considering jumping off of.

The one thing that keeps coming back to me everywhere I turn? "He will not give us more than we can bear." Does it change my behavior at that moment? Not usually. Does it make me shut my mouth instead of spewing? Not always. Does it make me get up in the morning and keep trying? Absolutely! Does it make me go back and apologize to those I have hurt? Most definitely. Does it keep me away from the chocolate as an emotional crutch? NEVER!!!
P.S. My BIL isn't a clown for a living, but it is close! hehe

Daybook: September 25, 2011

2011-09-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Another long week. One with so many ups and downs that I couldn't even keep track of everything.

I am thinking....that I had a great chance to sleep in this morning and I still woke up at 6:30 am. If I could just get a really good night's rest I know that I would remember what my name is again.

I am thankful for....friends! I know I say this so much, but they are the glue that holds my life together right. As I type this our bachelor friend is over playing Taboo with the rest of the family and they are laughing so hard they are crying. What a wonderful sound!

From the learning room...that life goes on no matter what we want and I need to be more gracious and patient with this. My temper is VERY short these days and I just begging for a few minutes to just be and it doesn't happen. I want some things to stay the same and it keeps changing. I want the Backyardigans to go away and yet I keep hearing it play in the family room. Ok moving on!

I am wearing....black knit shirt with lace, jeans that actually need to belt to keep them up now (yeah for this!), and my brown flip-flops that I spilled 5 lbs of cottage cheese on this morning.

I am creating....some kind of schedule that will let my brain rest. A schedule that we can actually stick too. A schedule that everyone can see and easily understand. A schedule that allows for no excuses. Well this exists please let me know. Otherwise I am just making a schedule that at least helps organize my thoughts so I can function.

I am reading....I am not sure that this will change for a LONG time. I haven't even finished the other book I started. Honestly the only thing I read for myself is Blue Letter Bible daily Bible reading and Pinterest. Does that even count for reading?

I am hoping....that we get really good neighbors since my SIL thought she needed to leave me. I don't think that anyone can be as good as her or that I can eat enough chocolate to make up for her moving, but I am going to try!

Plans for the rest of the week....running, sleeping, eating, repeat. Then throw in school, karate, soccer practice, goalie practice, soccer games, and church. Sounds glamorous doesn't it. These are the weeks I like honestly. The ones where things are planned and I know what is coming. Days were we get things done and have time to just hang out or do things together.

Picture thought of the week...I couldn't decide if you wanted to see a picture of me at the wedding in my somewhat slimmer body or Brown Sugar at her first soccer game in 6 years. She enjoyed it. She wasn't, however, prepared for how snarky teen girls can be ( not sure how since her mom is slightly on the sarcastic side ;p). So you get both pictures. She is the one with the pink cleats on.

Daybook for September 15, 2011

2011-09-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have so many things to write about but can't quite figure out how to make them into meaningful sentences so I am going to use the Daybook format again.

I am thinking.....that hospitals make me run the gamut of emotions no matter what I go there for. And that sometimes there are just no easy answers to the questions in life, even though I waited 3 1/2 hours for one!(for my grandma, not me)

I am thankful for.....hoodies! Especially warm fuzzy ones that keep you warm in the freezing hospital room and the chilly, rainy weather outside. They also stretch to fit pregnant bellies! ( I wore one my entire last pregnancy and it always zipped which made me feel skinny!) They come in a rainbow of colors and designs, even though I am currently attached to my yellow one from Old Navy since I have worn out the one with this group on it. (I adore one of the band members, but not really their music. He is the sweetest young man I know, except for my son :))

From the learning room....that I can be wrong. So I don't think I have ever actually typed that or said that out loud. I judge before I know the entire story. I yell before I listen carefully. I punish before thinking. I am learning to parent, not to just react. Really, really hard!

I am wearing....super comfy jeans, Adidas tennis shoes and Soul Surfer t-shirt. Perfect for this chilly day. The t-shirt actually gets comments every time I wear it. If you haven't seen Soul Surfer please do so! It is an excellent movie.

I am creating....Calm out of chaos! Or trying anyway. ha! I am also re-purposing zippers to make these cute clutches.

I am reading....the same stuff. But throw in 4 math books, a phonics book, and our dictation books and you have the gist of my reading these days. Someday I will get through all the books on my list!

I am hoping.... that things settle down and we can just enjoy being together. But since it is almost the holiday season and we still have 4 birthdays and our 16th wedding anniversary this month I don't think that it will. I am also hoping that I get to see my new little cousin tomorrow even if it means I have to skip the running.

Plans for the rest of the week...soccer practice, a sad going away dinner with my SIL and her family who are moving far away, helping them load their moving truck (even though I secretly want to lock them in their house so they can't leave EVER!), and run,run,run. Maybe I can run away from it all?

Photo thought of the week....my brother got married this past weekend and I dressed up for the occasion. My favorite cousins ( I love all my cousins the same but don't tell! ;0P) showed up and we got a great family picture!

Enjoy this weekend! Revel in God's beauty! Breathe in the freshness of the cool air! Embrace life and RUN!

Daybook for September 8, 2011

2011-09-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

A fellow blogger does a Daybook that has various thought starters. I thought I might use a variation of her version to get me blogging again and to help organize my thoughts. So without further adieu!

I am thinking...that it is so gorgeous outside that I should be out there soaking up the sun's rays. This break from the heat has really improved the moods around here because the kids actually want to go outside and play.

I am thankful for...thoughtful friends who are willing to run to the post office and overnight a tux for my Lion cub. Or who are perfectly fine with taking me shopping for a dress for my brother's wedding. And then give me her 30% off coupon too. (You know I will be posting a picture of me in this dress!) For the those that pray for me and go out to eat with me even when I publicly humiliate them. (it was originally unintentional but grew from there. Now you know what you might get if you go with me.)

From the learning room...We just started back to school and it has been going very well. I attended a lecture on dictation and waiting longer to start spelling with my kiddos and it has made a HUGE difference in the attitudes of my girls. They are not good spellers and this has helped so much. Now if we could just find something to make math easier and I would be rocking!

I am wearing...(I debated on this one, but it would encourage me to actually get dressed, right?) my new favorite running pants that I scored at a garage sale for 50 cents. And if you must know they are maternity pants, which I didn't realize until I went to put them on this morning and saw the brand. They are super soft and comfy and the perfect weight for running and no one is going to know. Oh and my Harley-Davidson shirt that a kind soul bought for me.

I am creating...this one is super easy. The girls are trying to make things to sell for the Christmas holidays and we have several things going. They really want to make money and want some regular income. Lioness is working on her version of these pens.(she puts these on the pens and some other things.) Monkey is making her version of these bookmarks and Parrot is making hair jewels, which we kinda dreamed up ( I will be putting up pics when they get some more made.)

I am reading...Chi Running. I really like the book and it has help my running game! I also want to read Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World.

I am hoping...that my friend J (sometimes known as my sister) would spend more time with me, but she thinks she needs to be all loyal to her job and actually show up on time and junk.

Plans for the rest of the week...running with Lala at Southlakes (which IMHO is the best park around right now.), wedding for my one and only brother and then chilaxin' with the fam.

Picture thought of the week...after seeing this picture I know why my grandma asked me how my grand kids were doing! Anyone know a good plastic surgeon? anyone? I think I need some serious help!Or just aviator glasses like my teen girl. That might cover those bags better!

Run, Forest, Run

2011-09-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am finally ready to reveal my secret that I have been hiding for about 3 months now. It was the kind of secret, that if you share before the time is right, can just de-rail everything. You have to share it after you have persevered. Do you want to know the secret? It involves pain, early mornings and tears. So do you still want to know? Didn't I just say it was painful? OK fine I will tell you. I run. That is it. You thought I was going to say I was pregnant right? Eight years ago I had a friend that trained for the Memorial Half-marathon. I thought that he was crazy, but inwardly I was slightly jealous that he had it in him to run 13 miles without stopping. I decided then that someday I was going to start running and that I would run the half-marathon with him (he has since moved far away and he never knew of my goal). Then I might this crazy lady who could run it in two and half hours or less. She had lots going on in her life and yet she still made time to run. Then she lost weight and looked amazing and ran in the rain and still finished!

I decided that the someday was now! I pulled out my Zune, downloaded the Couch Potato to 5K, and started randomly one night in a church parking lot, while the boys were inside kicking it with their karate peeps. It went so well that I actually did it again 2 days later. At the end of the first week the Zookeeper decided to join me. After running for 8 weeks, the Zookeeper moved to the bike and I continued to run. It was so exhilarating and exciting that I actually couldn't wait for run day each week. I thought I was doing pretty good at 2.5 miles each day. Enter the BOSS! She is a beast and can run circles around me. I invited her to run with me one morning and I haven't been the same since. She pushed me to run faster and longer. Trying to kill me at each and every turn. At the end of 16 weeks, I was averaging 3.5 miles in about 40 minutes. Not super fast, but it used to kill me to run to my next door neighbor's house. Thanks to my friend, I felt like I was ready to run my first 5k.

Another friend invited me to run the Cops and Robbers 5k with her. Of course I signed up right away because what could be more fun than running in the 100+ weather with a sweet friend? It was fun and I was running on adrenaline the rest of the night. I finished the race in 43 minutes. I had some groupies at the finish line too!I started this running journey without any expectations really. I just wanted to get in shape and with something that was low-cost and readily available. So of course running fit that perfectly. I also started this journey weighing 178 and right now I weigh 161. I was afraid if I started telling about my running then when I quit it would look bad. But it has become something that I really enjoy and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

Camping is always food for blogging!

2011-07-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a short vacation to Branson, MO. We camped at Table Rock Lake State Park. The park was very nice, the tent sites nice, the trail, 5 ft from our site, that I ran on at 6:30 am with a nice breeze off the lake was nice. The bathrooms in which you had to bathe, if you didn't have an rv of course, NOT SO MUCH!!! I will leave it at that!

While casually observing nearby campers and the hundreds of other parents that we were around at Silver Dollar City (which btw had a wonderful show in the evening that featured several praise songs and mentioned pointing people to the truth of Jesus!) made me realize that there are 2 distinct styles of parenting. I know you want me to share this revelation to you.

Parent A- has child firmly strapped in stroller and stroller strapped to wrist, because we all know that run away strollers are a serious risk!

Parent B- figures that if the toddler can jump out of the moving stroller without getting hurt then kudos to them and there might be a job as an acrobat in their future (which means that you can retire early and tour the world with them!)

Parent A- has not one but TWO forms of ID on the child and ten ways to contact the parent should the child actually escape the restraints of the stroller. (And yes this was on an older child too with no physical or mental limitations according to what the parent told the attendant.)

Parent B- figures that if the child is old enough to get lost then that child can probably find you again and/or be found climbing something that they should not be.

Parent A- slathers the child in sunscreen, puts on hats, and uv protecting clothes. This parent also remembers to re-apply every 2 hours and after every water ride. The upside to this is the child will be able to slide right out of previously mentioned restraints.

Parent B- does apply sunscreen at the beginning of the day, but is having so much fun with them that they forget to re-apply. However child comes out just as pale as before.

Parent A- allows child to enter public restrooms barefoot!!!!! (And socks DO NOT count as shoes)

Parent B- NEVER lets their child enter public restroom barefoot and will barely let them use a public restroom and then nearly is committed to closest insane asylum when they are told that the 6 yo went into the camp restroom barefoot!

Parent A- carefully explains to screaming toddler why they need to leave and repeatedly and patiently tells the reason over and over again.

Parent B- is already in the car and out of the parking lot before screaming toddler has time to take another breathe.

Parent A- buys every single stupid toy in sight at theme park to make sure that the child gets a better childhood than theirs.

Parent B- refills their cups with free ice water and talks, laughs and makes awesome memories that will last FAR longer than the toy. Although this parent may or may not have been suckered into buying of picture of the kids with the saloon girls because it was SO stinkin' cute!

I know every parent is different and lots of situations are different, but we watched a lot of spoiled kids throwing fits because they weren't getting their way and parents fighting because one parent was being far more protective than the other. It was very interesting to see the parenting styles side by side. There were several families that were not sporting crazy hats or fancy hair, bands but were laughing and clearly enjoying their time together.

Just in case you were wondering I definitely fall more into the Parent B category. And the stroller thing was an interesting scenario played out mostly by older first time parents and more affluent younger first time parents. So was the kid ID thing. It seemed that those parents that fell in the middle of that seemed more laid-back. Not that they didn't protect their children but just that they were there to hang out with their kids and they didn't lose sight of that.

And like last time we went camping, I still hold to the view that little dogs should never be allowed near campsites and might disappear into the lake.

Life, undocumented

2011-04-07T06:08:00.001-07:00

I was so ready to come and post about our life and all the craziness that goes along with that. Soccer games out of town. Flying with my friend's husband (my favorite by far!). Spending an awesome day away. 5 hours in the ER to find out nothing was wrong with one child. Things growing in the garden. The boy learning to ride the motorcycle.
All these things happening and not ONE single picture.

So you want to know why? Sure you do. I dropped our one and only camera on the concrete, at a soccer game, and it didn't survive. Imagine that!

Hopefully we shall resume more normal posting (and not all this heavy stuff that I have been dishing out lately) because I got a new camera and it is guaranteed to be Me-proof! Thanks to my sweet friend who came with me to pick it out and tell me it was worth it and to buy the warranty because she has 8 kids and knows how things can get destroyed.

Being more intentional needs to be my goal!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Control of Nothing

2011-03-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

Webster's dictionary describes control as "Power; authority; government; command. Children should be under the control of their parents. The events of life are not always under our control." I want control of everything in my life. The authority to give commands and they be obeyed in an instant. The power to change what doesn't fit into my well-planned and properly executed life. And when things don't go according to planned? Not pretty!

Today I had a moment where reality sat down with me and had a conversation that went a little like this. Reality: You have a child that needs to go slower than the others. Me: Well that won't work because that child needs to be done with this by x time. Reality: You are going to leave this child behind if you don't. Me:That doesn't fit into my school schedule that I have planned for this week. Reality: Do you want to lose the heart of this child too and watch this child's spirit be ripped away from them? Me: No. But.... Reality: Then give this child the time that they need to learn. Let go of the control. Me: crying to hard to answer.

For me to have control of a situation is what gives me peace. To have things follow a schedule (that I planned of course) is what gives me the strength to go forward. I love being put into a chaotic scenario and being able to bring calm to it. Type A is me! But that can also put a lot of un-needed stress on my family and friends.

The Bible points out that God is in control. If He is controlling my life, with His very best for me as the ultimate outcome, why would I want to take over that? And yet I do. every. single. day. To relinquish control means that I no longer guide my own course, dictate my own fate.

My child needs to me to let go of this plan that I had for their life and let the Lord's plan become apparent, the shining star that he intends for them to be. I realized that to really let go, means to have peace. Constantly fighting against the One who created me isn't going to make me happy in the long run. To be broken and humbled before Him will. To seek His will every day and strive to live in that will give me the peace I so desire and a child that will know that their momma loves more than a pre-set schedule.

Lesson: I have control of nothing. He has control of everything and it is so much better that way!

Food Starvers?

2011-03-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last summer my husband embarked on a weight loss journey that isn't finished yet. He stared at (undisclosed amount) and is now almost 70 pounds lighter than (undisclosed amount). Needless to say he is starting to look like a Rock star! Then another friend and my SIL jumped on the wagon with him and now they look like supermodels! Can you hear a hint of jealousy in the typed words?

Well when everyone around you is ready for their bikinis what is a girl to do? Eat more chocolate. I tried that and it didn't help with the whole supermodel thing. So I decided to do what my friend did. (please note that my husband and SIL did the hcg drops and lived to tell about it.) I joined Food Starvers Anonymous, aka Weight Watchers.

The first week was crazy hard. But then the earthquake in Japan happened and I saw pictures of kids from Haiti and realized that I was overfed anyway. That shifted my perspective some and the next 2 weeks were easier. Letting go of the carbs is SO hard. Bread, potatoes, pasta and rice are staples for a large family. I have been cleaning out the cupboards and looking for new places on the web that have yummy recipes that will feed large families on tight budgets. I have been slowly switching us to brown rice and whole grain pastas. The veggies have increased and so have fruits.

My mantra has become better habits means a better me. I started riding my bike again. Last Saturday I rode to the park with the younger ones. I was very sore by the time we got back, but it felt so good to be out in the fresh air and hanging out with my little guys. Note to self: bigger bike seat! I want to commit to this long term so that I feel better, look better and can ride to the park without needing oxygen!

Now that I am getting used to the mechanics of eating better (and lots of covert texts to my aforementioned friend to get me through the rough spots.) I would highly recommend Weight Watchers. It gave me that boost that I needed to eat right and have confidence in good choices. I still have those moments when I cave and eat more than I should of something, usually sweets. The weight is dropping though and I am extremely excited about it!

disclaimer: I am not paid to recommend weight watchers. thanks and that is all.

edited to add: these are some of my favorite sites right now.
Good Cheap Eats Mama Says Premeditated Leftovers

A Letter to my Husband

2011-03-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Zookeeper,

I have long known that you were the hottest, kindest, sweetest man on the face of the planet. But this last year has proven that be the truest statement ever spoken.

You suggested that we move my grandma in with us. You saw how the situation was deteriorating and you wanted to make it better for everyone involved. Moving her in was no small matter and would be a very intrusive move into the ~~calm~~ chaotic lifestyle that you already enjoyed. However you moved forward with this and had many good ideas on how to fit her stuff in our small house and make her comfortable.

As her health slowly declined over the next few months, you were always there to help (even if it meant pretending to be the ambulance driver that lived in the basement). You listened to me as I whined, moaned, and cried by turns about how bad she was getting.

You always offered to stay with her, so I could get out for a little while, even when your plans were put on hold. She was never treated like she was a burden, but instead made to feel like the world truly did revolve around her.

The past few weeks have been the hardest yet as she is living in her last days. I have seen you pick her up and carry her like she is a precious life that deserves the most dignity that we can give her until the end. Not a burden that should be sent away because it takes too much of our time. You sat with me for hours in the middle of the night, as we watched her struggle to breathe during her coughing episodes and did what you could to help her. Then you got up the next morning and went to work and never complained.

You have been a rock for us all. That calm spirit that reminds us to put one foot in front of the other and enjoy what time we have left with her. You teased her and loved on her like she was your own grandma.

For this I cannot thank you enough, nor express truly and completely my love for you. Thank you for giving me a glimpse of our Heavenly Father's love here on earth!

I love you!

What I am and am not

2011-03-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

What I am:
1. mother to many
2. wife to an amazing husband
3. human, oh so human
4. slightly sarcastic
5. learning compassion
6. counting my blessings
7. very pudgy and slightly jiggly
8. working to affirm those around me more
9. fantastic driver
10. mediocre housekeeper

What I am not:
1. good at making clothes from other clothes
2. sticking to a schedule for more than about 6 minutes
3. good at feeling sorry for others who bring it on themselves
4. model for Calvin Klein
5. calm, cool and collected
6. perfect
7. always a good example of Christ's love
8. uber organized
9. coordinated
10. giving up on finishing well

I had another post prepared, but in light of the recent tragedies across the globe I decided to post this instead. I took a step back and realized that I have far more to be grateful for than I knew or took the time to acknowledge. I will be praying for the people affected by these disasters and hope that you will too.

Say What?

2011-02-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since I posted and you guys are all eagerly awaiting another post! rrrrrrrright! Things have been crazy lately and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

Do you guys think that large families have these crazy dynamics that are unique to them? I do. The things that happen inside our four walls have my friends with small families shaking their heads and running for the hills. Occasionally those same runners come back just to see if they have missed anything. Yep that is our life. Wanna join?

So in no particular order are some of the things that have happened recently.

10. forks in the dog kennel. I was trying to tidy before the nurse came and found them. Still not sure about that one, but I was going to let the nurse try and figure it out either.

9. Piles of bloody wipes behind the sewing machine. (sorry if this is grossing you out). I wasn't at all sure I even wanted to find the source, but persevered and found that one child had lost a tooth and another child had helped them clean up. hmm.... going to work on the cleaning thing

8. 5 pairs of shoes, 4 jackets, 3 shirts, 6 socks (not pairs of course) and some shorts in the backyard. I am absolutely certain that they go out completely dressed. Not sure what happens after that.

7. Chopsticks in the shower? Don't ask. I didn't.

6. Band-aids stuck all over grandma's bed. I can explain this one. They were trying to help her keep her oxygen in place. I did inform them that they should come ask for help next time. Especially before 200 band-aids were stuck everywhere.

5. Springs coming off the trampoline. Maybe because the load limit has been ~~exceeded~~ carefully adhered too and has seen almost daily use for the last 4 years.

4. Random notes that say I wuv my seester or Mommy can I hav mor razins? or U r the best mom ever! (too much texting in this house!)

3. 5 gallons of milk, 5 dozen eggs, 4 whole chickens, 4 pounds of cheese, 5 loaves of bread and 20 pounds of ground beef. All consumed in a 2 week period or less. Not including fruits, veggies, grains and small insects that we also consume in that time period.

2. The noise level that requires us to wear earplugs per OSHA standards. I promise that it is often louder than a baseball game in the spring.

1. The never ending sticky kisses, quick hugs, night-time chats, laughter, lively meals and living life to it's fullest!

I am certain that if I had only one child life would be easier but not as much fun!

T.R.A.I.N.

2011-02-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

I don't know about your house, but sometimes my house sounds like a broken record. It goes something like this. "That's mine, I don't want to share, I had it first, Why?" Does that sound familiar? We become so wrapped up in our needs, desires and wants that nobody else matters.

I have been thinking about this for awhile now and trying to think of ways that we could work together to eliminate the ME syndrome. It seems to be the hardest to get rid of. Yesterday a thought came to me and I thought that I would share it with you guys.

T- teach them to
R- respect
A- and
I- intercede for the
N- needs of others

Yesterday was the last session, at church, on dealing with anger. Chip spoke quite extensively on praying about our attitudes. That led me to think about the amount of time that I spend in prayer. It was very small when compared with the time I spend eating or playing or wasting time. If I spent even a fraction of that time focused on the needs of others, wouldn't that change my world view from me to them? Them being the term for family, strangers, close friends, etc. If we kept a prayer log and could see God actively working in our lives wouldn't that direct our attention upward and not inward?

I want to implement this in our family for the next 30 days and see how it might change our perspective of things. Would you join us? If you do leave a comment and let us know how it changes your family. If you already do this let me know how you do it with small children thrown in the mix.

Have a blessed Monday!

Got Sick?

2011-01-28T06:04:00.001-08:00

I must say that I was brought down about 1500 notches last weekend. I had been ~~bragging,~~ casually mentioning to someone that we haven't been sick, with fevers and vomiting, in about 2 years. So guess what came to visit us right after that? THE SICKNESS
We have had at least one child sick since last Saturday. Right now there 3. Shoot me now! We have had LOTS of lazy days and not a lot of school. Today I assured them that there would be a substantial amount of Netflix.

With all of this going on, it has given me time to reflect on my behaviour and given me time to catch up on the laundry. And even sneak in an evening with 2 of my good friends. That resulted in more reflection on my OCDness. I was lamenting about not getting school done and how were my kids were ever going to turn out ok because we hadn't had 5.2 days of school this week. You know what she said? Go ahead . Guess! She said trust God. Oh the nerve of that lady. Isn't God going to do what he says he is going to do? OF COURSE. Do I always remember this? no. So that is the plan. To remember it always.

With all this free time on my hands I plan on making 3 dresses for Koala today. It will involve lots of ruffles I am sure.
Here are the 3 styles I am looking at.
1.re-tee dress
2.Roses and Ruffles
3.Ruffles Behind dress

What do you think? Which one is your favorite?

Maximizing Your Relationship with God

2011-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

This week, at our small group, the lesson was on maximizing your relationship with God. He give six steps to do this effectively. His point was as you draw closer to God that you will see your problems more clearly through the lens of the cross and not through the worldly lens. It will not diminish the size of the problem, but let you have perspective in it.

I didn't take notes as Chip was going through the 6 steps. I thought that I had a great memory (haha) and I would write them down when I got home. At the end of the message he asked us to pick which one we thought we needed the most work on and then discuss it in our small group. As I sat there, I realized that I could only remember one of them. It was the one that I knew that I needed the most work on anyway.

4. Practice Mercy.

Yikes! Mercy is defined as "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment". hmm.... I let some spiders live, I don't kick the dog when she has an accident and I occasionally let someone share my chocolate. Isn't that enough? Not according to this definition. The teacher said it was letting someone off the hook who never apologized, letting an offense go intended or not and several other things that I can't remember now.

I started trying to think of how that could apply to my life, like right now. It meant not giving the kids a trip to the moon, when they deserved it, but rather responding with calmness. It meant forgiving a friend who intentionally hurt me. It meant loving my husband even when I felt like he was being unreasonable (probably imagined on my part). And this was the hardest of all (especially since I was extremely unkind mentally this morning). It means that I needed to forgive the trash man for being lazy and pathetic when he knocks over the trashcans and leave the trash scattered, the trashcan broken on the curb, and intentionally skipping my trashcans after city hall and I went round and round over him. (can you tell I may or may not have anger fantasies about him).

Mercy came running to me, like a prisoner set free. Past all of my failures, to the point of my need. when that I carried was I could see. And when I could not reach Mercy, Mercy came running to me. (lyrics from Phillips, Craig, and Dean. Mercy came running)

Ruthlessly Eliminating Hurry

2011-01-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

We are going through a life-changing small-group study at church. It has weighed heavily on my mind since the very beginning of the study. The farther we progress through the study the more it tugs at my heart and whispers to me that I can change, but it WILL be painful. I can become more of the person that God planned, but oh the hurt it will bring to my pride.

What is this study you ask? Overcoming Emotions that Destroy by Chip Ingram. Specifically targeting anger. Why it happens, Is it ever good, Is there a secondary emotion behind the anger, and Eliminating things that trigger our anger more quickly than others. Can you see why this has been so hard?

Right from the very start, I felt like he was talking to me and no one else in that room. I discovered that I am a spewer (not too surprising to people who know me IRL), which translates into lots of hurtful words and subsequent apologies. I realized that counting to ten and seeing what the true cause of my anger was is so much harder than it seems. And then came last week's lesson which about did it for me.

Ruthlessly eliminating hurry from your life. I know that to lots of people, the path my life is taking right now seems very hectic and crazy. It really isn't, but I let it become this way by not managing my time better. I have most of the day to accomplish so much. I have a list in my head and try to go just from that. Then I get distracted (read facebook) and an hour or 4 slips by and I realize that I still have so much to do. So I get in a hurry and start getting frustrated with the kids because they have been playing while I wasn't watching and that means no school done and so it is 4pm and we need to have some dinner in a hour, before soccer practice, and grandma is getting restless and the anger reaches the boiling point. Things go downhill from there and my anger becomes their anger which destroys everyone within a 20 ft radius. Do you see the oh-so-slippery-slope?

I can give you a wonderful example of how this played out in our home recently. I needed some things to add more shelves in our laundry room. I drove to Home Depot and then couldn't remember why I came. Of course the kids couldn't understand why I wasn't getting out and started to get antsy. I told them I changed my mind and we would go home. One child dared to ask why did we come in the first place then. I, being perfectly calm right then, let them have it for questioning me. I arrived home to find another child not at all done with what had been assigned them. But ready and willing to go help with the shed next door, where they get the highest of praises. I tore into that child for not finishing and yelled at that child to just go and never mind that they would never graduate from high school and would live with me forever. Grandma decided that someone was dying and we weren't doing enough to take care of them (this was all imagined mind you!) and rather than yell at her, I found someone else to take the brunt of the frustration out on. Did I mention that I hadn't started dinner and that another child needed to leave in 30 minutes and ZK likes to take some dinner with him so he isn't eating so late in the evening?

Had I admitted my mistake in the first place I know that all the anger and meaness that came after wouldn't have happened. I didn't mind the boy going to work on the shed, but I should have let him know of the consequences of not finishing what was assigned him. I shouldn't have transferred that anger to another child when grandma was in la-la land.

Eliminating hurry would have prevented so much of that very painful afternoon. To me that means having a concrete plan for school days and sticking to it as much as possible. It means having meal plans ready for 2 weeks so that I can plan the night before and not resort to sandwiches again. It means staying off the computer and supervising school(mainly the little ones) until it is all done. It does mean counting to ten and thinking about the words that are going to come out of my mouth and trying to change them to lead and guide, instead of seek and destroy. It means making a list of things that I would like to accomplish, things I need to buy,etc. and have it in a prominent place so that my memory is constantly jarred and so I can mark things off as I accomplish them.

I have to admit that since I have started doing this, things don't seem too different. I even told someone that it was less stressful to just go back to the yelling and such, than try this. On the other hand, I have gotten more done in the day and have marked a LOT off of my list that had been nagging at me for awhile that I kept forgetting about. I think this is harder because you have to admit that you aren't perfect and that you alone are responsible for how you react to situations. Oh to have the mind of Christ and be able to follow his will perfectly.

Someday!Someday!!

2011-01-05T05:56:00.001-08:00

I do feel the need to explain why Monkey's face looks kinda distraught in the new header picture. We are at the top of a cliff?, at the very edge looking back down at the Zookeeper. She doesn't like standing on the edge of anything and was not too happy to be there. I don't know how he zoomed in so close and was able to hold the camera steady. It was taken in Colorado during a visit to my in-laws in November.

The New Year

2011-01-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

Every year I start the new year with all these resolutions and things that I want to accomplish. Most of them look the same from year to year. Be a better mom, be a better wife, read my Bible (and actually practice what I preach),lose weight, be more organized. Blah, blah, blah.

Do you notice how generic those resolutions are? They don't contain any specific plan. No step-by-step instructions to get from point A to point B. So how are you ever going to accomplish all that if you can't even wrap your mind around all that? My goal this year is to break those down and work on one thing at a time on each of those.

For example: Reading my Bible more. I have used Blue Letter Bible in the past to read the Bible in a year. I am going to be using that again along with The Bible in a Year for kids the challenge edition. As for putting into practice what I read, well I haven't gotten that far. Hopefully the Holy Spirit will really work in my heart and bring it to mind.

I really want to change my actions and attitudes in such a way that people will ask me about the hope and peace that I have. That doesn't happen very often and I would like it to happen more!

So what are your New Year's Resolutions? Do you even make them?

BTW can anyone else talk about being resolute or resolutions without seeing Nicholas Cage standing on a bridge in France talking with the police officers about resolute and then discovering that it was a ship made into twin desks and are at Windsor Castle in England and so now he must go there and get the next clue? Or is it just our family and our wierdness that makes us repeat movie lines for our life experiences and with the exact voices? Don't answer that! I don't want to know the extent of our wierdness!

Christmas 2010 in review

2011-01-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

I so can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone. All that hard work and preparation and it is gone. All the wrapping paper ripped to shreds, tree taken down, decorations put away and presents found their new home. It is almost like it didn't happen. Kinda surreal. Does anyone else ever have that?

We had a fantastic Christmas. I finished all the gifts that I had planned and even finished a few extras when we needed some last minute gifts. We didn't need to travel far and that is definitely a stress-reducer. ZK's brother and his family came here for Christmas eve. The kids built gingerbread houses that promptly fell apart as soon as we got ready to take pictures. But it gave them something to do for a couple of hours that encouraged them to work together and made memories. (my favorite kind of activity). We spent Christmas day at my parents, went to the movies with them and got to hang out with my cousins.

Favorite Christmas presents you ask? (so glad that you did) The ring that my sweet hubby surprised me with. (remember I lost my original ring in the ocean). Gift card to the local movie place. All the handmade stuff we made for the kids. Teacake pan from Williams-Sonoma. (SO FUN!). The best present of all was time. Time with the kids, time with extended family we very seldom see, time without the kids and grandma (thanks to my awesome parents), time with out-of-town friends. Everything rushes by so fast that this was above all my most precious gift.

What was your most precious or favorite gift this season?

Are you ready to take on 2011? or do you feel like there are some things that you didn't wrap up from 2010?

I forgot to mention that we added to the family in the form of a sweet little canine that ZK has been wanting for forever! Thanks to the extended fam for making it happen!

Handmade Holidays week ?

2010-12-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

I miss-numbered the weeks and I don't really know what week I am on and I am a day late too. Oh well. As long as it is finished by Christmas, right?

I have been working on a rag t-shirt quilt for Brown Bear. I have had the hardest time thinking of something for him and this seemed perfect. He is building new beds for his room and what better to go with that then a new blanket for his bed. ( i mean all he has asked for is a fedora. what?) I had someone help me get started and then I finished on my own. It turned out nicely, but not quite how I had pictured it at first. I wanted it to be a little bigger and with a flannel edge. The fabric store didn't have any nice flannel (unless I wanted Thomas the Train) so I went with a fleece back with brown bears on it. (appropriate, right? Yeah, I didn't even get the connection until my friend pointed it out to me.)(I don't have a picture of the quilt and it is wrapped so I will take one after Christmas. and please ignore the dirty socks!)

I also have been working on pettiskirts for the little girls. I don't think that I would EVER do it again. Ruffling 1080 inches of chiffon wasn't fun. I finished Koala's today. She wasn't happy about it at first, then kept saying "Pretty!Pretty!". It helped that we bribed her with cherry sours too. :)

Only one and half weeks left. 2 projects left to finish up and another gift to pick out. We are just about done and I am SO happy!

What are you working on this week?

Handmade Christmas week 8

2010-12-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

I know I didn't get around to posting last week, but we are still trying to tie up so many loose ends on several projects. So please forgive for that. I know how many of you were waiting on Tuesday morning to see just what I would put up. hehe

This was our most ambitious project yet. Again thanks to Ana White who posts so many wonderful plans for people like us. This plan was actually from Pieces for Reese via Ana White. So simple and turned out super cute. What is it you ask? A bunk bed/ changing table for 18" dolls (like American Girl dolls). Brown Bear did a fantastic job on it using mostly scrap wood and cardboard. We also made a mattress, pillow, and quilt with fabric that we had on hand. The project cost us $2 total. Lioness is making some clothes to go with it too. We also plan on making some small boxes(similar to these) to go on the bottom to hold the clothes and other necessities.

We still have so many projects in the works that we need to finish up very quickly. I have really enjoyed working with the kids on the projects, but there have been a few times that I was ready to burn them and just buy something. Not because the kids were driving my crazy, but because I didn't plan well or things didn't fit like they were suppose to or it was taking too long. I think that this has been a very good plan for us to increase our frugalness in seeing what is already on hand that we could use and to keep us working together as teams to finish each project. I can't wait to show you the rest of them.

P.S. I have a couple of suggestions for your husband that are very frugal if you are at a loss as I am. However I am going to leave the link in the comments of my fb so if you aren't me friend you can let me know in the comments and I will send you the links if you are interested.

Handmade Christmas week 6

2010-11-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

This week you get 3 for the price of one. My friend and I have still been busily crafting away and I wanted to share her gifts because some of you may actually like animals and these gifts might interest you.

She made some neckwarmers too. Hers are made to curve more to the neck. Unfortunately I don't have a link to this one. She found it in a Christmas book. The next one is a doggie cape (it is the red fleece). Then the dog bone made from fleece with a squeeker inside. She designed them to all go together. You give the present to the dog and in the note it says "You can give the neckwarmer to your owner if you want." She also made some healthy dog treats to finish off the gift. Very creative if you have an animal lover on your gift list!

Then she made these creative little gifts to give to her grandkids. It is snowman soup with their own mug. For her autistic grandson, she gave him a mug that you can draw your own illustrations on because he loves hands on stuff like that. She is making the little felt bags to put them in. We are going to make these for our SOS parties that we are hosting this holiday season.

I was browsing another person's blog and saw that she is making notecards as gifts. We also did this for the kid's great-grandmother in Colorado. We also made sure they all had envelopes and stamps on them. I think that is a great idea for older people. Thoughtful cards to send, stamps already on them. Saves them trying to find someone to go buy it for them.

As always I am linking up to Handmade Holidays at Proverbs 31 Living.

Sidenote: My friend has cancer and we took this week off because she had to have a procedure done. She is doing better, but please remember her in your prayers this holiday season.

Handmade Christmas week 4

2010-11-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

This gift was a little more involved. It actually required making sure that I followed directions well and took advice from others. We (like the 2 older girls and I) are making pillow buddies. My younger ones have been asking for Pillow Pets for awhile now. I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 a piece for something I thought would be tossed in about 20 minutes. But then I felt them and they are so soft and cuddly and wonderful.

So I found this tutorial and off we went to the local fabric store. I am making 4 pillows for the price of 2. I am NOT an artist so one of the animals looks a little crooked. Since they kinda look like roadkill anyway, then it is fitting that they are a little sideways. haha!!

Bookstore Date

2010-11-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

Recently ZK and I were able to go on a REAL date. Like leave the house without kids, go somewhere, one with adult stuff and just hang out. Although it seems like a lot of other people had the same idea. We still had a great time. Kudos to our friend for watching 2 of the kids that night and then having 2 more for a smores sleepover the next night. We had a very relaxing weekend. (even with a tetanus shot and refusing stitches because I am a BIG baby.hehe)

So onto the date. I know I have mentioned this site before but Darlin' Dating Divas have lots of great ideas for date nights and cute free printables to go along with them. The bookstore date was one of them. So all I had to do was print them, cut them and then give them. Easy-peasy!

It was fun to browse the books and look at ones that we might have skipped otherwise. There were 6 challenges to this date. You can go together to do them or separately. We choose together. I think that kept us on track because we might have gotten busy looking and forgot what else we were looking for.

Challenge 1: new recipe

I don't have pics of these, but he choose an apple cider that was grown-up and I choose Huevos Rancheros from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook. Oh the pictures of the food!

Challenge 2: a quiz from a magazine. We couldn't find one, so we opted for tips and tricks.

Challenge 3: a joke. That was fun.

Challenge 4: book from your childhood. ZK read it to me, complete with sounds and motions. Super sweet.

Challenge 5: A place you would like to travel. ZK chose Japan (although his first choice was Ireland and they didn't have a good book for that one). I think because the pictures of the gorgeous landscape appeal to his artistic side. I chose a route 66 book. I have always wanted to take a trip down the entire road, just stopping whenever we wanted too.

Challenge 6: find a poem. YIKES!! This was hard. They were either way over my head, extremely erotic or really stupid. ZK finally found a decent one and I went with erotic, but we ended up laughing because they were so weird. Should have used them for the joke part. HA!

Two tips for this kind of date. Don't' go on the weekend and pick a bookstore that you really like and that has lots of seating. The one we went to had taken out some seating to make room for games and toys. Disappointing! It was super crowded and this very nice gentleman gave us his chair so we could have 2 together. Also the Starbucks was crazy crowded with elderly people playing chess and students doing their homework. I wanted to knock a couple out of their chairs, but I refrained. Because of the crowd our order was wrong and we didn't realize it until we left. But all in all we had a great time. I would highly recommend it. It was a very inexpensive date with lots of appeal. We left a books in a stack by our chairs and our list of challenges on top for someone else to enjoy.

Handmade Christmas week 4

2010-11-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

So here it is just a couple of weeks from Thanksgiving, which means that Christmas is right around the corner. Which also means that I better start wrapping up all the loose ends. We have several of our handmade gifts started, but finding the time to work on them without that certain child around is SO tricky.

So this week I am going to feature the food stuff that we make for lots of our friends every year. This year my friend, Dee, is coming over once a week and doing crafts with us. This has really encouraged me to keep focused and keep on track with the projects.

Yesterday we dipped pretzel rods in vanilla almond bark and then let the littles drown, I mean, sprinkle them with different goodies. We only got about 25 done so hopefully we will get the rest done today. We also have made pumpkin pie spice creamer, malted chocolate pancake mix, molten lava cake in a mug (we bought the mugs super cheap at various places)and bubble bath. I have saved all of the glass jars that we have emptied for the last couple of months. One of them is perfect for the bubble bath. The kids have really enjoyed making the tags for them too.

My mom works in a cafeteria so I had her save about a dozen of the big metal cans. We spray painted them and have been decorating them with Christmas stickers. They are really pretty and a frugal way to present our food gifts.

Handmade Christmas week 3

2010-11-02T07:35:00.001-07:00

edited: A certain person found the link and sent it to me. So now I have it linked. YEAH!
updated: I can't find the correct link now. So basically you cut the squares out. Draw on them. Put right sides together and sew. Leaving an opening. Then turn right side out and topstitch to close opening.

Week 3! Woohoo! I can't believe that I have kept up with it this far. This week's gift is cloth napkins. I found this link a long time ago and thought what a great idea for the kid's art that would also make it usable. My mom loves cloth napkins and kept saying that she was going to need to get some more because hers were wearing out. I don't know if it was a subtle hint or not, but I took it as one.

We followed the tutorial fairly closely. Except that I went ahead and cut them into the squares. I bought a white sheet at wal-mart for about $3 and it made about 24 napkins that were 14x14. The kids loved this and they were so easy to do.

What are you making this week?

Someday I will have an fancy pants camera that can take good pictures without me needing to know how to work it. hehe

Zoo Day

2010-10-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

We were able to visit the zoo a few days ago. We haven't been in a LONG time and they had changed a lot. We were so excited to go and hang out with some sweet friends. OK so we were just excited to get out of the house. I am surprised that our friends even associated with us. hehe

The Zimms Zoo met the Fab B's about 10 am in the parking lot of a nearby building and then proceeded to walk about 5 miles to the entrance of the zoo. It was fall break and it was packed! But we didn't let that deter us. And I am so glad! Wading through the throngs of people can't even compare to the laughter and smiles of all of the kids using a photo booth for the first time. Waiting in line for hours to see the animals couldn't dim the cuteness of the 2 littles peering under the bridge and jabbering to each other. The noise level of crowd couldn't drown out the happy shouts of the kids calling to each other as they excitedly showed each other their new finds. Corralling 9 kids didn't stop my friend and I from having some sweet conversation that was so needed.

So I show some pics of the fun day and pray that we get to do many more in the future.

Handmade Christmas pt 2

2010-10-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Time for another Handmade Christmas. I am excited about this because it is keeping me accountable to keep on pressing forward to finish all the gifts.

I don't have pictures for this one. We are making rice warmers for all the mature members on our list. Although after giving them a trial run, the kids are asking for one too. In place of the muslin I used tea towels. I bought a big pack at Sam's for about $8. I had enough to make 10 of them, share with a friend who is crafting with me, and still have some leftover for other things. I am using the scraps for another christmas project.

Several of the tutorials that I looked at mentioned feed corn. I choose to go with the rice because I had been given about 20 pounds already. It also seems to conform to arthritic knees and tiny necks better.

The rice keeps the heat for about 3 hours and stays warm for about another 3. My grandma loves hers. Not sure what I am going to make her now though since she already has her gift. :0)

What are you making this Christmas season?

Handmade Christmas pt 1 (and a little sidenote)

2010-10-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

As you can see I finally cleaned up my blog. I miss blogging so much that I have decided to come back and start doing it again about once a week.

I originally planned to start a sew along for girls (mostly our homeschool friends), but sadly life got in the way and I never posted the tutorials. But I (and the girls) have been working on them anyway. I pack a little bag when we go to soccer practice and work on cutting out, hand sewing, etc.

So each week I will try to link to the tutorial we used for whatever present it is and tell you what we did different. I am also going to link each week to Proverbs 31 Living: handmade Christmas.

So on to this week's gift. We were given a LOT of fleece. I could hardly wait to start making somethings with it and this earwarmer thing fit the bill perfectly. I followed it to the letter the first time. However turning the fleece out, to give it a finished look proved almost to much for the sewing machine to handle. So the next time, I just stitched around it and left it like that. Since fleece doesn't ravel, I wasn't worried about the raw edges. We have also embellished them with fabric flowers. Monkey made the flower that is in the picture. We have used several different ones. I would highly suggest going to One Pretty Thing and type fabric flowers in the search box. There are so many to choose from. We are also making slippers to go with the earwarmers for my older nieces. And lots of hair goodies.

another guest post

2010-08-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

I guest posted for my new blogger friend again. It is always so much and a lot less stress.

Guest Post

2010-06-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

I just guest posted over here! Take a look around her blog. She is fun and creative and she lives in the country!! I will probably do it again, so be sure to check on a regular basis.

This is Good-bye

2010-04-14T14:04:00.001-07:00

From the moment I started this blog I knew that this is what I needed to get all those crazy thoughts out of my head that would roll around in there. I needed a creative outlet that I could say what I wanted too and not feel bad about it. To brag about my family, to share our pain, to triumph over life's troubles. I wanted to share it and wanted others to read it.

Our lives have changed so drastically in the last 6 months. I feel like my head is constantly spinning and I am on a roller coaster ride I can't get off of. Ever feel like that?

I am So type A, that to have this blog and not write is tearing me up. I can't just let things go (I can hurts but not things I feel like I am suppose to be doing). So I need to say goodbye. I need to clear my schedule of things that are not letting me clear my head. Oh how I hate to let this go, but I must.

Thank you to all of you who have read and commented and let me feel like I have friends all over the country now. I will continue to read your blogs. After all they got me started blogging. If you haven't friended me on FB please do so. At least then I can still see quickly what you guys are up too.

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not much blogging lately

2010-03-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in like forever. (love the way my pre-teen daughter influences my speaking). Yeah whatever! The reason I haven't blogged is because, well, because I haven't had anything nice to say. Every time I would sit down to write I wanted to complain and whine and try to garner sympathy I seriously don't deserve or really want. OK maybe I want it a little.

One day a couple of weeks ago was one of those days that goes down in the history books as the day-you -wanted- to -say- a- bad- word-- outloud -but- you -didn't- days. Grandma was having some serious stomach issues. I had to work. I had to clean her up BEFORE I left for work. This involved lots of deep breathes of fresh air from the window that was WIDE open. Maybe some tears and possibly some not good words in my head. Did I mention that I drove off and left the ice that I really needed at the store. Or that I helped one of the girls mess up a cake that was needed like yesterday.

But wait I can top that with the day I had at work last week. They even have a name for it now. It's the Christy kind of day. Oh yeah. It was that bad. Broken things, spilled tea (like 5 gallons spilled) taking someone's cake before they were through.

So in case you were wondering if I was superwoman I am most definitely not. But I think that I might look really hot in the suit, don't you? Just imagine me about 20 pounds lighter. Oh and built and tone and with a shower.

So how has your month been?

The Five Senses of Life

2010-02-10T10:11:00.001-08:00

When we were first married, our house smelled so flowery. I had candles everywhere that smelled like vanilla, gardenia, and some other sickening flower smell. The house was clean and neat. Maybe not beautiful, because we were trying to buy things we could afford, but it was happy. It sounded quiet and restful. Just the 2 of us in that townhouse. There was also love there. We could see our future and it was filled with promise and joy and hope. It seemed so close that we could touch it. The happiness of 2 people in love!

With the birth of our son and all the children that followed, our house began to change. It became a home. It smelled like poopy diapers, dinner burning on the stove, and dirty kids. It was loud and crazy. Kids running in and out. Dogs barking and cats meowing and babies crying. The love was still there, but so was the stress of raising this growing family and making sure that we were doing everything right. Sometimes you could feel the tension in the air. The furniture, that we had once been so proud of, was faded and worn. A layer of dirt seem to cover everything and the smell of the candles had changed to fresh linen, trying desperately to cover up the smell of dirty boy. BTW you can't cover up that smell no matter how hard you try, and some girls can smell just as bad, especially the soccer playing ones. If you were to visit you would see toys strewn everywhere and fun chaos. The joy of 8 people sharing their lives together.

Since grandma moved in, our house dynamics have changed dramatically. But the love is still there! Our house smells of Icy Hot and denture cream. The sounds though, are what warms my heart now. The sounds of Brown Bear telling me how awesome it is to have great-grandma here for good. The sound of Lion Cub "reading" to grandma. Lioness gently crooning to Koala as she changes her, feeds her and lays her down for a nap. Parrot putting on a play and telling stories. The sound of Monkey skating through the house. Of the kids yelling when dad comes home. You can still toys on the floor and a trail of crumbs from the baby (in fact that might end up being our snack!). But these days you can feel the easiness that comes from having lived together for so long and knowing what makes each other tick. What makes them happy and sad. As I touch the wrinkled skin of my grandmother and then the soft skin of my baby I know that I am experiencing life as not many other people will. The beginning of one life and the ending of another. And all that comes in between.

We still have days when I am only feeling stress and hearing whining. But I am slowly learning not to focus on those. That live life fully is to engage all the senses and focus them on the joy that is ours, bestowed on us by our Heavenly Father who wants to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the beauty of life. Go enjoy that today!

Gone Nutty

2010-02-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

I have totally gone crazy over sewing and crafting blogs. I know, I know. Where are the pictures of all the things we have made? Weeellllll......on the camera. So they are nice and safe! Right? What they aren't safe there either? Fine! I will try to post them soon. (ps if you are on FB then some are posted on there, if not then you might be waiting awhile).

Anyways back to the whole nutty over sewing thing. I just added a button on my sidebar for a month-long boy party. Lots of tutorials on sewing boy things, boy give-aways (not the child just stuff for boys. hehe), and lots of other BOY THINGS. I find tutorials all day long on girl stuff, so this really has my blood pumping. I am already looking through ZK's shirts to see if I can sacrifice some to make this shirt. Oh the sweet joy of making something with something you already have. And making your little guy look so manly!

Also you should check out U-create. She has some awesome tutes on appliques and making baby gowns out of old t-shirts. Totally trying that for one of my precious friends that is having a baby VERY soon. (like a couple of weeks soon!). Did I mention One Pretty Thing? But don't check out that one unless you have lots of time on your hands and lots of scraps lying around to make some of those things right away.

So I am off to check out some more blogs. Please send intervention soon!

Happy Birthday Koala!!

2010-01-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

One year ago today we met an angel (incidentally these are the only ones we still have from her birth). She was so perfect. Everyone fell under her charm. The sweet, sweet smiles. The little chubby hands that wave to all of her favorite people. The little teeth poking out. The dimpled feet. The cherubic voice that hollers "Hi dadee" the minute he walks in the door.

One year later, we are learning that the baby gets what the baby wants or everyone in hearing is subjected to shrieks of horrific pitches. It has been known to shatter glass. Now the fun of breaking her will so that as she grows she will desire to follow the will of the One who knows her best and wants the very best for her. The One who knew her before the foundations of the earth.

Six kids later, we are still so wonderfully and deliciously blessed with each of her milestones. It may not get written down in a baby book, but it is written on my heart. I know she will not stay a cuddly baby for long and I cherish all the time spent with her. As I also look forward to what the Lord will do in her life, as she grows in Him.

My prayer for her, now and what I felt the Lord put on my heart through my pregnancy with her, is that Koala is prepared to stand for things that right, even when she is the only one. That she will be strong in the face of severe persecution. She will never waver, never look to the right or left, but only on the face of her Precious Saviour!

We love you Koala!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankful Thursday

2010-01-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't done this in so long that I thought while I had a minute I better do it.

1. That the hail from last night didn't do any more damage to my suburban.

2. That we were able to hang out with our friends yesterday. We had such a wonderful time!

3. That we are still cozy and dry in our house, even with all the ice, snow, and rain.

4. That Koala's party is coming together nicely and I haven't spent hardly anything on it.

5. That I have wise friends who are willing to share their stories with me so that I can learn from their mistakes.

6. That Koala will be a year old next week. Good grief can you believe it has been that long already? I need to update her picture don't I?

7. That is so faithful to provide everything that we need, even if it isn't quite what I was hoping for, like a cow maybe.

8. A sweet friend to help me make the snowflakes and ones for Koala's cupcakes after I messed up the icing. I know you should be able to mess up royal icing, but I did. But now I know what I did wrong and it won't happen again. (hopefully). She even had the sanding sugar to make the snowflakes all glittery. Swwweeeeetttt!

9. New kitchen cabinets on the way! So is a total kitchen makeover. So exciting. I am trying to mentally prepare for what is going to take place. Like no water and doing dishes in the tub and a frig in the living room. But it will so be worth it!

10. Art lessons for the kids. Something we have always wanted to do but never in the budget. A nice lady offers them at a local library (have I mentioned my love for libraries?) and so now they fit in that budget. If they would just not have anymore earthquakes while we are there that would be so awesome.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Resolutions installment 1

2010-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

1. frugal living- we went through the girls clothes and took out shirts that were too small, stained, sleeves were floppy (stretched out terribly) and re-cycled them into some of these. I also took out jeans that were ripped and we started cutting out these for the cousins for birthdays.

2. I have been reading in the Psalms almost daily and recording in my journal. I just received an email from my friend that our Ladies' Bible Study will be starting up again. And guess what? It will be in the Psalms. Interesting right? Oh and Marty kinda led the Bible Study last week at church and I thought he did a great job.

3. This one is kinda getting me. I guess we aren't having as much sweets, but we are still eating about the same. This does mean that I make most of it and we don't eat a lot of processed foods. Also I am cooking from the pantry. So far only about $50 on groceries this month. I am going to the store today and I think it will probably bring it up some. Got a sweet birthday girl this month.

4. Well Marty has been exercising more. Does that count for me too? I have done the stairs a few times too. I will keep working on it.

5. The words of my mouth. Nuff said.

I have a sweet little girl that has a first birthday this month. I have been thinking on how to have a party without spending a lot of money. I will post all the link after her birthday. But here are the basic plans. Snowflakes are the theme. The kids have cut out lots of snowflakes for a snowflake garland. The goodie bags are going to contain (for the younger kids) homemade playdough (blue of course), snowflakes that Parrot and Lion Cub made into stickers (the lick-em kind), pens wrapped in snowflake paper, and peppermint hot cocoa mix (using marked down candy canes and recycled baby food containers). The big kids are getting Oreo pops and peppermint hot cocoa mix. Any ideas for the 3 really little kids (1 yo)?
I already have most of the cupcakes made and frozen. Just some punch and we will be ready. Lioness is making cupcake collars. So cute! I found an idea for a very inexpensive cupcake stand.

How are you guys doing?

Intentional Living

2010-01-10T13:02:00.001-08:00

As New Year's Day has come and gone this post is a little late. But I am going to post it all the same (since I haven't posted in I don't know when). Every year most of us post new goals, resolutions, or what-ever-you-want-to-call-its. At the end of that year most of us have forgotten why we even made them, let alone what we decided.

I plan on changing all of that this year. I am going to make them and keep them. (don't laugh you haven't read it all the yet!). OK so that may be a little ambitious, but I have felt defeated this past year. Run over by a truck, tossed to the curb and left to rot. Do get the mental image I am trying to convey? hehe

I have a dear friend that has been educating me in the art of living intentionally. Now when I complain about things or want to do something I have this little voice in my head saying "Should this be in my thought closet and what one thing can I do now to start on that road to change?". Sounds fairly simple, right? Not for me. But I want this year to be one of victory. One that says I came, I saw, I conquered with God's help!

So I have been think about what things I could do to start on this road of intentionalness. What things could I do to help me achieve the goals that I have set for myself and my family(as in my management of the family, not goals that I am going to force them to meet).

So without further adieu here they are. Well in just a sec. I want to write a little more first. Now that I have your attention why not? I am going to try and post once a week as to how I am road-tripping (get it? on the road of intentionalness? oh fine it isn't funny!). I miss my blog and really want to write more. My personality is suited to lots of talking (what you are surprised? I am usually so quiet. Now you know the truth!) and this is a creative outlet for that and I miss it.

OK now for the list. For reals.

1. Become more frugal in my spending. Examples: cut back on money spent on birthday parties, presents, and clothes. Do more pantry cooking and less on-a-whim cooking. Try these so I don't have to waste money on more of these.

2. Spend more time in the Word. This is the most important on my list. I have downloaded quite a few podcasts from this site. What a great way to get some extra time in the Word during the day.

3. Make food changes that will help us all. My sil has done this and she is my hero. Actually anyone who can turn down Ghiradelli double chocolate brownies straight from the oven that are gooey and warm is my HERO!!

4. Exercise more. I want to get a bike. I prefer riding and now that the river has some awesome trails I really want to do this. I think that is one of the reasons I felt so beaten this year. I spent so much time inside taking care of my grandma. SUNSHINE and EXERCISE!!

5. Focus on making the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart more acceptable in His sight. Our Bible study this morning shouted this to me. Speak the truth in love so that those that hear are edified. I am pretty sure that screaming about how I am losing my mind isn't on the list of "Edifying to the Listener".

Now that you know you can hold me accountable. Each week I plan on posting how I took intentional steps toward this. It is the power of one thing. Refusing that brownie (this will be the last to go just so you know), biting my tongue and speaking in love, putting back the new shirt when I know that I could find one at a garage sale cheaper, and making dinner when pizza would be easier.

BTW the make-it-Monday should go on this list. The kids are proud of the things that they made for Christmas and I want to show it off.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!!