Our Weekend

Oh my goodness.

It was one of those weekends. The kind that is filled from top to bottom with wonderfulness.

First of all was ANOTHER mercy ruled football game with my boy kicking 6 points on the board. And y'all, it was cold. But Lane graciously offered to stay with the younger kids and they were happier at home.

Now a small part of the fun of Friday nights has been meeting the people we sit by. LB's friend Jenni sat with us but other than that we didn't meet anybody fun. But we did sit on the 50 yard line and were in the direct line of fire for free t-shirts that the cheerleaders were throwing. I've been wanting one of those shirts for a long time and we scored 2 of them!

I was so surprised to see some our friends that came all the way out here (!) to help us cheer on our boy. Is that love or what? 

And then there was Greg.  He's my man's most favorite person on the earth besides us.  And while Honey gets to see him every week, the rest of us haven't seen him in a long time.  So Greg came for the game then came over after that to watch part of the Greenwood game and talk and talk and talk.  

It was a late night.  And it was perfect. 

Saturday was a cookout with neighbors, family, and friends.  It started small and grew to more people than I expected when I bought supplies.  So a trip to town was in order except that it meant an hour minimum plus extra gas money.  Now we have a little grocery store around the corner but they tend to be a little pricey so I usually just use it for emergencies and sale items.  But we decided to give it a try, just buying what we needed, to see if it would really be worth the trip to town.  

And here's what I learned.  

1. The prices were higher but not ridiculous.  I might've spent about $3 more than I would've at Aldi. 

2.  I saved an hour in my day plus miles on my car. 

3.  I saved gas. 

4.  I didn't buy anything else I didn't need.  And this is probably the biggest saver since it's so easy just to grab an extra gallon of milk or an unexpected end-cap purchase.  

So I'll be a little quicker to consider that as a good option and slower to make the big trip to town.  

Plus...my daughter just got a job there so how easy is that!!!  

Well the cookout was a lot of fun and we got to get to know some friends and neighbors better.  And there was chocolate involved so it was an especially good night.  

Sunday was church.  And I got to wear a new outfit plus the shoes I wore to Meg's wedding.  

HATE those shoes.  But they matched so what could I do?  I wore them all the way to church and back then threw them into the girls' room because I will never wear them again.  Too bad because they are soooo cute!  

Date night!  And it was my turn.  So I made Super Bowl Chicken with stuffed mushrooms and salad.  My man must've thanked me like 5 times then he mentioned it again this morning.  I guess it was a hit.  We watched some movie about monsters on earth trying to kill the guy making his way to the plane to fetch the rescue beacon.  And it was surprisingly pretty good and this comes from a girl that usually can't stay awake through a whole movie. 

And that was it.  A fantastic weekend!!  

Birthday Surprises In The Works

 

Mally's birthday is coming up next month.  A fact that she likes to mention every day. 

Her sisters have been saving old clothes in order to use the fabric to make some dolly clothes for a birthday present. 

 

Problem is.  We can't sew. 

 

Other problem is.  It's hard to pull out so much mess when you live together in the same house all the time and keep it a secret. 

 

But it just so happened that Mally was down for a nap and Grandma stopped by for a visit and to bring some snacks.  Now Grandma is a FANTASTIC seamstress.  So they pulled out the machine, the scraps, the doll, and the snacks. 

 

Grandma helped them make patterns.  Did you get that?  MAKE patterns.  Not like go buy them from the store patterns.  Then they got busy cutting, measuring, and stitching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this little doll will have a whole new wardrobe.

And the other little doll will be so surprised!

Thursday

We had a home game for Josh tonight and it was Christian's turn for chain duty. Which meant that he was in charge of that big orange marker that looks like an upside down exclamation mark with the bulls eye on top. I don't know whose idea it was to put him in charge of that but it was a good one. That way I could cheer on 2 kids at the same time.

But for some reason Christian wasn't big on that and told me the story of how the water girls told him that at every game they look for his family because every time there is a field goal we are a whole other show just by ourselves.

I had no idea.

Well today was a long day with a certain child that won herself an early bedtime.  So at 8:00 I am firmly tucked in bed with my new book, a podcast that I've been wanting to hear, and my planner. Done.

And before I could really enjoy my new book I knew I'd have to work on tomorrows plan and have it written out. Because I'm crazy that way. And I can barely make supper without writing it down first. And the most pressing items of the day turned out to be...

1. Finish the clothes exchange because I'm tired of looking at it.
2. Figure out what to do with the watermelon that nobody likes.

And the only reason I really care about this watermelon is because its tying up my favorite pot in the fridge and I've had to go with my alternate choice when making soup. So the watermelon needs to go. Which is fine since I told you that nobody even likes this particular watermelon.

Oh and guess what else? We had to buy a new fridge when we moved here and even though it was a pricey fridge it's been nothing but a piece of junk. I've lost count of how many times the repair man has come out on warranty work but he told me if we were paying out-of-pocket it would've added up to somewhere around a thousand dollars.

So he was back today and on the phone with Whirlpool trying to talk them into replacing it. Now it might surprise you to know that they were not so keen on this idea. So they are sending out another guy for a second opinion. In the meantime, it's still busted.

The way of the repair man is this.... "We will send someone out sometime between the hours of 8am and 5pm."

 This put a kink in my afternoon since I was hoping to go to football practice. Thursday is Special Teams day and I've only seen it from a distance and I wanted to go so I could cheer him on and all.

Obviously that didn't get to happen, but Christian was not as disappointed as you might expect.

What I'm Loving This Week

~So remember we talked about the clothes exchange?  Yesterday I finished another box and unpacked a bunch of boys' clothes that will make my guys look simply dashing.  It's almost like Christmas... unpacking and remembering the clothes that they wore to this or that last year.  And then seeing what they've outgrown that their brother can wear this year.  That's the part of it that I love.

And I am blown away at the abundance.  Just the other day I got a familiar big family comment.  It alluded to the fact that we must be rich since we can afford so many kids.   But as I sort through clothes, it's always a reminder of God's provision.  People are very generous when they learn you have a big family and many of those clothes are hand-me-downs.  The rest were bought at the thrift store on 50% off day.  Rarely would any of my kids wear a complete outfit that cost more than $10.  And they just keep getting passed down until they are outgrown and I can share them with someone else.

For the most part my boys are very gentle on their clothes.  It's my youngest daughter that's the problem!  No one will want her clothes when she's finished with them!

~Have we talked about kale?  Not only is it a super food that's packed with nutrients, but it's super easy to grow and very hardy.  We planted kale back in April and it is still going strong even after a transplant.  I'm the only one that's a huge fan of kale around here but my family is tolerant as long as it's not the feature presentation.  I put it in smoothies and salads mostly but I'm wanting to try more ways of cooking it too.

~I can not believe there are only a few more games of football.  This has been an outstanding experience and I am so grateful for the school and this town that have made us feel so welcome.  I'm still having strangers tell me what a great kicker we have and still people introducing themselves to me around town.  My boys are happy and meeting some neat friends and getting a ton of exercise!
LOVE.

~One of the things I'm looking forward to these days is Leslie's series on BALANCE.  She is posting every day on how she is able to stay balanced as a homeschool mom of 3 little girls.   Leslie is super organized and inspires me to look around and figure out what I can label.  It's been fun to see how she is balancing her first year of homeschooling with her oldest.  Even if you don't homeschool, I think you'll like her beautiful pictures of her family and home.

~Do you need a fun book to read with your kids?  Hank The Cow Dog is our fave.  I don't think our little girls would've fallen in love with Hank without the influence of their brothers.  But something about a house full of boys makes things funnier.  Right now we are reading Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.
So far it's my favorite, but I think I say that about every one of them.

~Jess and Birdy and I picked about 15 pounds of apples from our neighbor's tree.  Then my Azure Standard order came in and I got 20 more pounds.  LOVE apple season!  So this week we will be appling everything.

~And speaking of love.  I've been reviewing 1 Cor 13:4-8.  God has been talking to me about the words of my mouth lately and it all starts from the heart.  Francis Chan suggests that you read through that list and insert your name in the place of love.  Like ______ is patient, ________ is kind.   And it's not long before you feel like a liar.  So this passage plus Philippians 4 is what I'm loving right now.
Loving God and loving others with my thoughts, and words, and attitudes.

October Blessings

~This means only one thing.  The weather is perfect and it's time for the clothes exchange.

I hate this. And I love this.

I hate the work. And the decisions.

I love the organization and the cleanliness and the opportunity to share with my friends all the stuff my little people have outgrown. Every season I feel like I am able to organize it better than before.

Jes and I worked on his clothes. Summer clothes out. Fall clothes in. Orphan socks trashed. Holey undies a thing of the past. The boys' shoes have been a reckoning force since we moved here. We have one of those hang-on-the-back-of-the-door deals but no way will my guys actually put it to use. Instead they throw them in a box inside their door and it becomes a huge pile of mess. So this season I am separating their shoes into laundry baskets that slide under the bed and throwing away that box.

~I haven't seen my bees in a few weeks.  I'm itching to get in there and see what's going on in the hive. But the rain makes grumpy bees so I'll wait for the sunshine!

~This month we've had all 3 cars broken.  The kids' car was in the shop twice.  The van just got out today.   And this morning we went to use the blue car just to find out the battery was totally dead.   So we were down to one car which meant I had to take Honey to work at 6:30 and hit Walmart for another battery.

And let me tell you something.  When you shop Walmart in the early hours of the morning you have the whole store all to yourself.

 I took one look at the car batteries and decided they all looked just alike.  So I asked for help and I was sure to tell him the car was blue in case it mattered.   Apparently it worked because my son was able to install it and now we are back on the road.

~Look what was in our yard!!   Apparently this guy is lost because the only water feature on our property is the dog's bowl.  

~This month marks 2 important dates in our family.  The one year anniversary of moving into our house AND Meg and Ethan's wedding anniversary.  We are blessed! 

What's For Dinner?

We have 3 different mission opportunities at church this month...

1.  Dixie Jackson
2.  Clearing House
3.  World Hunger...love those little bread box banks!

We had a wonderful guest preacher on Sunday talking about Matt 28 and about how Jesus commanded us to be involved in missions.  I was praying this morning and felt like I needed to impress this point on my kids individually and not just count them in on our family contribution.   My younger kids don't have much money so I have offered them a weekly job for $5 to give to the mission of their choice.

And the only thing this has to do with my menu for the week is that Jess will be making breakfast all week and ZBoy will be making lunch.

Sooo I've come up with some simple stuff that I can help them do.  It's a big way to contribute to our family this week while at the same time "working unto the Lord" in a different kind of way.

Jess' Breakfasts...

Cereal.  He hates making this but did it tonight with a good attitude for us to have tomorrow.
Cinnamon toast
Eggs.  He loves making eggs but makes a HUGE mess so my kitchen cleaner was protesting this one!
Apple muffins
Blueberry muffins

ZBoy's lunches.....

Tuna and crackers with carrot sticks and dip
Nachos
Peanut butter rice cakes
Bean burritos
Grilled Cheese

Mally and I worked on our dinner menu for the next 2 weeks.

Date night (x2)
1. Honey's turn.
2. My turn...superbowl chicken and creamed spinach

So Mally said, since we bought tooth picks can we have sandwiches?  My kids love sticking an olive and toothpick in a sandwich and it's immediately elevated to the Super Shaggy sandwich from Scooby Doo.  That's what they'll be having for date night.  And they will eat quite a bit just to be able to do the whole olive and tooth pick thing.

French Toast and bacon (my man's special request)
Enchiladas and spanish rice
Artichoke Ravioli and summer salad
Burgers (x2) ...every Saturday night thanks to G'pa and Nana!
Pizza (x2)
Farmhouse Chicken and green beans
Tuna Melts (for a TKD night) and potato salad
Spaghetti and salad and banana pudding (for a Sunday lunch I think)
Chicken and dumplings

Freezer cooking... morning glory muffins and maybe some apple dumplings.   We robbed our neighbor's apple tree this weekend so I should probably make her some apple dumplings too!

Of Birthdays And Fancy Folks

This was a special week over here.  We spent 2 days celebrating this guy.

Jess turned the big eleven.  Monday was the real celebration with no school and presents and no school and lunch out and no school.  Then he wanted Grandma to cook him dinner so that was a good night of steak and ninja cartoons.  What could be better?  

Wednesday was the actual birthday so even though we already officially celebrated, everyone knows you still can't do school on the real day.

Look here.  New Awana boys for meeeee!!  Notice the Duck Dynasty shirt?  I could tell right off the bat this was a kid with exquisite taste for the finer things in life.

I had 2 helpers this week which meant everyone got a little extra one-on-one and we got a lot accomplished.  LOVE my 5th graders.  Truth be known, I just love working with unchurched kiddos.  They are my unreached people group.

Take a good look. 

This is what Joshua wore to bee club.  And this is after I sent him back to change out of his John Deere "Can You Dig It?' shirt.

When we got home he said, "I didn't see anyone else dressed up in nice church clothes tonight.  Just me."

And Meg said this would happen if we moved to the country.

So I guess wearing this fine t-shirt and tennis shoes instead of crocs made him feel rather dressy.  And it stands to reason that since you might find me in my favorite green t-shirt from Thrift Town on any given day that we are some very fancy people.

Bedtime Weirdness

It was a lazy rainy Saturday that included a bath and a nap that lasted over 2 hours. Oh and some DD thrown in for good measure.

Perfection really.

And after all that hard work it was time for bed.
Have you ever looked over a recipe and been disappointed that you didn't think of that first? Well that's how all the discontentment started. Recipe creation envy. Because I could totally have done that.
It was a Pinterest recipe named something like dreamy bedtime drink and the pictures were cute.

I even got out of bed to try it. Except that the recipe said to heat the milk to almost boiling (on the stove I assume) and I decided there was no reason to do that. So here's my lazy version. And if you're in bed I suggest you hop up and give it a try because its completely worth it. I promise.

Get out your favorite coffee cup and pour some almond milk into it. I suppose you can use whatever milk you have but almond milk is perfect for this. Except I don't think you should use rice because its too thin... Just my opinion. Then eyeball about a tsp of honey or maple syrup into that with a splash of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Stir it up and microwave it.

So there. I tweaked it and renamed it to Creamy Dreamy.  And now it's mine.

I was immediately in love with this and carried it back to bed to settle into some reading time.

But there was nothing I wanted to read except that I wanted to read something.

My book on Ps 23 wasn't what I had in mind.

Great Expectations has complicated vocab and after such a tiring day I didn't feel up to it.

The Jordan Rubin book is at a boring part

And the new Crazy Busy book my man and I are reading was not what I had in mind since my activities of the day would indicate that I'm doing good on that front.

I was kinda in a fiction mood except that I don't have much in that genre. Then I remembered Lucille and decided to see what kinda kindle freebies I had stored up.

I have a fiction category with a whole 4 books to choose from. Stupid ones too like something about 13th century England with Scottish names. Who cares about that? And then there was the complete Sherlock Holmes treasury which makes me think that Lucille was hijacked by my daughter for a certain time and none of those 4 books were my doing.

So there I was.

I pulled out my phone and started checking my blog friends and stumbled on the perfect thing. Better than fiction... A whole blog series on cleaning house that I'd never read. So even though I laid around all day I could live vicariously through someone who was actually productive and who can take pretty pictures of organized pantries.

I love those kind of people.

The Day My Pride Took A Nose Dive

I was out for my morning walk and ran into my neighbor, Ellen.  I petted her tiny dog, Gracie, and we talked about her pecan trees.

As I was leaving I was looking at the pecan tree and not paying a bit of attention to anything else.  And here's where it all went south.  Literally.

I stepped off the part where the street meets the grass in a drop off of about 6 inches and bit the dust.  My pants didn't have pockets so I had my phone in one hand which meant I didn't even catch myself right because apparently I place more value on my precious phone than on my body parts!  So y'all, I went all the way down ON MY FACE!!!   So when I say I bit the dust, I mean it in the most literal sense.

And my only thought was "I hope Ellen went in the house and didn't see this!"

But no.

And here's what you need to know.

She didn't even laugh.

Which explains 2 things.
1. The excellency of my neighbors.
2. The reason we could never be close friends.  Because it was funny!

But instead of laughing, I hear her shout,  "BLESS YOUR HEART!!  Are you ok?"
Which might be something I might've said if I saw that happen, but you can be sure I would've had a hard time getting the words out between the fits of laughter.   My grandmother tripped and rolled down a hill about 20 years ago and we are still laughing about it today.  Because nothing is funnier than seeing your grandmother rolling down a hill.  And she gets it.

Anyway.

Other than some minor road rash and damaged pride, all is well.  And I took my embarrassing moments to a whole new level.  

Why I Don't Mop And Go To The Library

~Here's how the day started.  I slept in.    Maybe b/c of what I ate yesterday, maybe hormones, maybe weather, maybe getting up in the night with a sick kid.  Who knows.  And it doesn't matter.  I slept in and made all the kids get their own breakfast.

But it turns out we had a terrific school day with good attitudes and hard workers even though our late start meant the loss of PE time.  Thank you kids!!  And grammar has been hilarious.  We use a program called Easy Grammar and I use it for 5 kids at the same time.  I write 10 -12 sentences on the white board and each kid gets to pick a sentence and label the parts of speech.  But if they get stuck someone else can steal it and get the next sentence as well.  It's fierce competition with lots of shouting, laughing,   and high fives.  And even my littlest is pretty preposition savvy because he desperately wants the steal.

~I tried and tried to think of a way to go grocery shopping.  First because it's pay day.  And second because we are down to a bag of grapes, 3 pickles, and a 1/2 jar of mustard.  It's time y'all.

Problem was that we were short a car because the kids' car was in the shop.  We are thankful for this car because it gets you (or them) where you're going.  But it hasn't been such a friendly ride.  Its one of those cars that has random warning lights pop on while the dash lights barely work at all, you have to keep a knife in the glove box in case the seat belt won't work, and you need to put it in neutral at red lights so it won't die.

So grocery shopping wouldn't work out and my kids got to practice patience in dealing with the lunch fare.  But the good news is that this fix was only $69 to hopefully stop the dying problem.  The lights and seat belt issue can wait.  And now we are back in business.

~I have a confession.  I haven't mopped my kitchen floor in a week.  It's all because the boys' potty overflowed all over the floor and we used the mop to clean it up.  So then I had to throw that mop head away because OF COURSE!  And  I couldn't go grocery shopping and get another one.  So tomorrow...well the list is getting longer.

~September was "Food For Fines" month at the Charleston library.
I haven't been able to show my face in there for some time due to this unreasonable rule they have about returning books when you check them out.  And I don't know exactly how much my fines were but my son was guessing in the $40 range.  Somehow I doubt it but I couldn't be sure.  So all month long I was planning to take in a bag of food and hand over my library card.  Or more like I was going to have my son do it because a part of me was worried that they'd just keep my card and revoke all my privileges because of the last Hank The Cowdog book.   All month long I forgot until last night about 5:30 and a few minutes before they closed.   I swung in at the last minute and I am proud to say that
my card is all clear and I can freely check out any of the 27 books lined up against the wall.   I'm guessing the library will consider canceling their Food For Fines program since I moved to town.