rain puddles, steps and the chicken dance

So this time around in parenting (remember my husband and I have a 26, almost 12 and a 9 year-old and now a 16 month-old too), I am stopping a bit more to enjoy little moments that to others might seem insignificant but to me it’s a gift.

The other day she unceremoniously stepped off a small cement step all by herself.  She usually turns around and scoots safely backwards off the step or holds my hand while I help her carefully step down. I nudged my husband to look at our little girl and we praised her new skill. A list that continues to grow each day. I feel so blessed to be a part of her life and that I can be home to raise her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This girl is such a joy in our lives. She makes us laugh, grow, smile, hug more, sing more and dance more! She loves music and knows the sign for music. We taught her to sign music because she kept going over to the computer keyboard and trying to turn the music on herself. Her favorite song is Greater by Mercy Me! It has great words and is a great dancing song too! She also loves The Chicken Dance, as well, which her grandmother introduced her to!

She keeps us busy but a good busy and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Here is a picture of her running in rain puddles for the first time! She was thrilled and fascinated! She did this continually for fifteen minutes. She didn’t want to go inside. What a blessing!

twenty-three weeks and counting

I can’t believe I am already twenty-three weeks pregnant, starting the sixth month, passed the halfway mark! I told a friend the other day that it’s seems too short of a time period to make a human being; nine quick months, that’s it! Not that I want to be pregnant any longer than I need to be but, wow, time is flying by.

Thankfully, things are going smoothly! I am getting bigger each day, feeling the baby kick and I am officially wearing maternity clothes now. All three of the boys are very excited. This pregnancy has produced a lot of questions from my two younger ones. “Can the baby taste what you are eating?” “How does the baby breath?” “Wear does the baby’s pee go?” It’s quite entertaining!

So my husband and I went for the sonogram at eighteen weeks and found out what we are having!!!!

Yes, we can’t believe it!

After three boys it will be quite a shock to have pink in our house!!! We are thrilled and all three boys wanted a sister so we are all so, so excited!!!

All three of my previous pregnancies I craved something and this time is no different. Cranberries!! I can’t seem to get enough of them. Cranberry juice, cranberry cereal, dried cranberries in my salads, etc. There is something crazy about cranberries this time…at least it is healthy.

So the last time I was pregnant was seven years ago and I realized I had forgotten a lot. Here are some of the things I forgot:

~ Taking three naps a day in the first trimester is needed most days
~ Nothing, and I mean nothing, looks good to eat when you are nauseous
~ Drinking lots of water makes you get up in the middle of the night to use the little girls room
~ Not drinking lots of water makes you get up in the middle of the night to get something to drink because you’re parched
~ When you are pregnant you start to notice pregnant woman everywhere
~ I am hungry means = I need to eat something in the next five seconds
~ In the second trimester, food never tasted soooo good
~ There comes a time when you can’t cross your legs like a lady while sitting upright…there simply isn’t any room
~ That awesome feeling when you start to feel your baby moving inside you
~ Maternity clothes are so expensive
~ How generous people are in giving away their baby items…Yay!!!!
~ Sleeping positions get limited and less and less comfortable
~ My sense of smell is out of this world, I feel like I have a super power or something
~ Oh, those crazy, whacky, pregnancy dreams

Some nesting has kicked in and I am thinking about making a quilt for the baby. I have never made one before but I think it will be a fun and creative challenge. Here are a couple quilts that are inspiring me at the moment!

this darling, happy, sunshine quilt

cute, tiny, detailed quilt

vintage sheet quilt

Well see, I’ll keep you posted!

pumpkin bread, introverts and kindness

New neighbors are moving on our street this week. So I decided to make some pumpkin bread and bring it over to them as a welcome gift. As I pulled out a can of pureed pumpkin, my middle son anxiously asked me what I was going to make. I told him I was going to make pumpkin bread and the recipe makes ‘three’ loaves. Before I could tell him who the loaves were for, he excitedly said, “Oh, we can give one to the new neighbors!”

I was taken back a bit by his response as that is not his usual inclination: being neighborly with the neighbors. In fact, he is guarded toward our friendly neighbors and their intrusion on ‘his alone time’ or ‘our family time.’ Granted, we had a rough year a while ago where we had a parade of people knocking on our door at all hours of the day. All lovely people, just a little too much. And at that point in time, I was still floundering at trying to create healthy boundaries and hadn’t quite learned how to say, “Sorry, we are busy right now!”  We all got worn out.

He is still scarred.

All in all, he is a sensitive introvert who needs more alone time then the rest of us. Since then, I have learned how to create boundaries and how to respect his need for space.

God made us all different.

So, I was very surprised at his response and yet very pleased.

I praised him for his thoughtfulness and told him that was exactly what I was planning to do: make pumpkin bread for the neighbors. As he skipped away, I was trying to connect the dots of how he came up with that idea on his own. Then I remembered, about three years ago, when a new couple moved on our street, I bought an apple pie from a local bakery and the boys and I walked over and brought the new neighbors the pie. He remembered that.

We also have memorized Galatians 5:22-23,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

This verse comes up in our daily conversations as we go over behavior we are working on.

I believe those two things helped lay the groundwork for his response today.

I was again reminded of the simple truth; Our children are watching us and they remember how we treat people.

I am not a perfect neighbor or parent but, I try to do the best I can with the skills I have at this time. I also know that actions speak louder than words and living out our values in front of our kids has a far greater impact on them then we realize.

Keep going strong, mammas!

It’s not an easy job, but it is SO worth it!


Here is the recipe, it's so delicious! (I cut out some of the sugar) Enjoy!

upgraded

Upgraded: I love taking pictures. I take a lot of pictures. In fact, we needed to get an external hard drive for our computer just to hold my plethora of pictures. I tease my husband that taking pictures is cheaper than therapy.

I have been limited to working with my faithful, point-and-shoot Canon camera the last five years. I really like how small it is and I can take it anywhere. But it can only do so much and I was ready for an upgrade. For my birthday this year, I asked for money towards getting a better camera. Friends and family helped out and I finally got my new camera! It is a Canon EOS Rebel T2i. I love it!! I am thrilled and can’t wait to dive in and practice with the different settings. I think I have a decent eye for picture taking but I still have a lot to learn about the camera.


Here are a couple pictures I took with my new camera!

my lovely niece



the 4th



rain

my heart glitters

Our house might not have much pink glitter in it,

but when my boys bring me a leaf

in the shape of a heart,

my heart glitters!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

This message is one I can’t repeat enough.

Choose to bring in this New Year with a blast but please do it responsibly!

You never know whose life you will save!

I hope you all have grown a bunch over the last year and plan to use your new knowledge to make yourself another great year!

Mistakes and all, bumps and all...they help us grow into who we are meant to be!

Cheers to a New Year!!!!

a little pink

a little pink

I just found out that my friend who has five boys,

yes, Five,

is pregnant with a girl!!!!!

Congratulations, Amanda!

Your little girl will have the best five body guards around

when she starts dating!

Wow! I am so excited for her!

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and speaking of boys...I need one of these!!!

But for now...

Little vases are lined up on my counter again.

Little, muddy fingers bring in their colorful contents.

Little, beaming faces of love that one day.....their wife will enjoy.

But for now....they are mine to enjoy.

Little gifts of love from above!

ants

Attention!!!

If you don’t like insects, skip this post!!

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We have ants in our kitchen!

I know it is early for our area,

but here they are!

Below are the responses I have received so far:

A. Oh, Gross!!!

B. What?

C. Cool!!!!

My curious boys shift between “B” and “C” and

I checked off “A” right away, but I am faking a “C” on most days!

Over the 2009 holidays, my middle son received an ant farm as a gift from some friends of ours. I thought maybe we could order the ants over the next several months. Well, the last year was not the best year for ordering ants.

Unfortunately, we had our own free, insect collection sneaking in here and there driving me batty.

We had our usual tiny, brown ants starting in April, the occasional cave crickets, my arch nemesis (which forced my husband to do all the laundry for six months, more about that later) in the basement mid-April, mud dauber wasps in May, a delightful hoard of box-wood beetles in a flower bed in June, a random spurt of horse flies in July, and let me not forget the stinkbugs in August.

I was in no mood to order any insects. Also, I am a big wimp when it comes to creepy, crawly things. On top of that, my sister and I were born with Bionic, Bug Vision; we can spot a spider a mile away. I am not joking! Needless to say, I was exhausted, come September, when we started up home school again.

So, I shoved the ant farm up on a high shelf praying my son would forget all about it. Then, in July, he got another ant farm for his birthday! Yay! Then every month I heard, “When can we order the ants?”

I broke down and must have repressed the entire last year and ordered the ants last month from Uncle Milton!

Last Thursday, they came in a tiny plastic tube, in an envelope, in the mail.

The boys were thrilled.

Their cousins liked them too

I got some books out of the library about ants and did some research online and the boys have enjoyed learning some interesting facts about these amazing insects.

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Things I have learned so far:

I still don’t like ants even if they are contained.

Ants are all type “A” personalities; they never stop working.

They bury their dead.

They communicate through chemicals and their antennas.

Some still have six legs….yuck!

and....

Having an ant farm on your kitchen table

is a great way to lose weight;

you lose your appetite as soon as you see them!!!

Maybe, I’ll keep them through the swim suit season?

money

A friend of mine mentioned she was saving up for a new camera

(her last camera lost a battle with h2o)

and she just needed cold, hard cash for Christmas!

That is what I gave her!

Merry Christmas, Caity!

I love you!