Pumpkin Muffins

These are quite moist and tasty. I like making them for breakfast or tea time.

3 C. ww flour

1/2 C. wheat germ

3/4 C. sucanat or brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

5 t. baking powder

2 3/4 t. cinnamon

2 1/2 t. nutmeg

Mix in big bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in wet ingredients.

1 1/2 c. pumpkin

2 t. vanilla

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. olive oil

Mix all together. I also threw in a handful of chocolate chips. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

April Pay Load

It's official. I'm a nerd. I've become the person I used to make fun of. Here I am taking pictures of my groceries when I said I never would.

But I am doing it for 2 reasons:

1) To show you that it really does work. I was sure only super-moms could pull it off.
2) Because I'm really excited about it all.

So here goes...

This is my favorite freebie. It's 2 Hallmark cards. Easy to do...just go here.
Samples in my mailbox are a nice change from the usual bills and junk mail.

I LOVE this! This was my big cereal sale of the week. I ended up getting 20 boxes of cereal and 10 boxes of granola bars for $12.50. What will we do with all of this? Save it for the Wing visit! With 17 of us eating it it'll be gone in no time. Plus I'll have more time out of the kitchen and visiting with our friends.
My very very favorite. All this stuff was FREE. As in free free. Not B1G1 free....cause I don't think it's really free if you have to buy something first. Most of this came from Walgreens or Rite Aid. The cereal was from Walmart combined with a sale and coupons.

It was so much fun to find the bargains and watch them accumulate. All of this was for the whole month of April. Now I'm starting over for May. I am well under budget for this month with only 2 days left to go. I think I'll make it!

This Weekend

These guys are all gone today... Doing this.....

And this...In a town called Greely.

While they were gone, I took these guys to the park.

Fun time.

Today

~Honey rode his bike to work. Nice.

~Story time! A new librarian and it was shorter than usual. I got a new cooking magazine to peruse. They raised the price to a quarter! The nerve. No story time for the whole month of May. Whatever will we do? I guess I'll come to AR. ;-)

~We hit the sales at KingSoopers. With my coupons I got 4 boxes of cereal and 4 boxes of granola bars for .5o each. I spent $10 and got 5 bags of food.

~School went pretty fast with no tears.

~Left overs for lunch.

~#1 made brownies for Bible Study.

~My 10yo daughter helped me work on the clothes exchange today. What a huge job. With everyone's help, it's going pretty smoothly.

~I took a nap. Haven't needed to do that for awhile.

~Beautiful weather. aaahhhh.....I love hearing boys play outside. They even broke out the water guns. A little premature I think but they had fun.

~Soccer practice and the boys left their room a mess. We'll visit about that later.

~We're almost finished painting our room! Doors and window sills left.

~Bible study tonight.

~One more sleep until Friday! I got Beauty and the Beast to watch after pizza.

Prenatal Vitamins Make Me Cry

Because I have no reason to take them. I'm not pregnant and Babyest is finished nursing as of today. It's been over 7 1/2 years. :(

Date Night

So I'm looking through pages and pages of pix to find just the right one...or any one really...of my Honey and me to put at the top of this post. This is it. Pathetic huh? We take lots of pictures of the kids but not so many of us. Honey we gotta do something about that!! (Guess which one is me)

On to my blabbings...

Last night was one of my favorite date nights.

~We had a B1G1 coupon to Chipotles and actually went *out*. We almost always spend date night at home..which is very cozy I think...but this time we went somewhere.

~After dinner we drove home, sat in the driveway (pretended that we were still gone) and talked and talked and talked. Ok well I talked and Honey listened. He's a good listener. We talked about church, the neighbors, our future re-model, and our friends at home.

~We spied on the kids b/c the blinds were cracked and watched them be silly. They finally saw the car and waved.

~We watched the moon rise. I've seen a sunrise but I don't think I've ever seen a moonrise until last night. It was full and bright and beautiful.

Sunday night has been date night for as long as I remember...even when we only had little kids. I look forward to it all week. It's a nice ending to a week full of busyness.

My Latest Deals

On the way to soccer tonight, Sticks and I made a quick trip to get some bargains. Little by little I am learning this whole sale/coupon/rebate game. It's quite the fun and my son loves helping me figure it all out. Today we took the calculator..a first for me..b/c I wasn't real sure about the Aveeno deal.

Here's how it went:
Walgreens

20% Aveeno + buy 4 get $10 back
So I found the smallest lotion (which I'll use for my purse) and bought four. I had coupons totalling $3.50. It came to $7 and I got $10 back. That is a $3 profit which I used to buy 2 dish soaps that were on sale and I really needed. So it all came out free with a .40 profit.

We then headed down the street to Rite Aid.
I got a free toothbrush after rebate
A free bag of chocolate after rebate
2 more toothbrushes for .25
2 Dawn dish soaps for .50 each

It was a good trip. I came home to find 3 more samples in my mailbox. I love my samples!

My total grocery bill this month is up to $705. I'm keeping my eye on it since I still have over a week to go and company coming over for dinner on Saturday. Considering we've had 3 birthdays this month, maybe it's not so bad though. Plus I haven't added up my rebates. Those will be fun to get in the mail!

My Latest Faves

Sweet!

My Right Arm

Mally looking all model-like

Deafing the ants. See Honey's blog??

Oompa laughing at the silly Frog

Mommy and Mally

Soccer Saturday

My son's soccer coach gave us 7 Rapids tickets for tonight! Fun Fun Fun!! Thank you Coach Dan!

3 Soccer games today = 2 wins and 1 tie. All my boys scored at least once in their game. My oldest son got an assist then tied up his game with a header goal! I cannot possibly come up with words to describe the excitement. It almost makes me cry when I re-play the noise of lots of people screaming for my son. Header goals are very hard to come by. He's been playing soccer for 8 years and this was his first header goal in a game. We celebrated with ice cream.

Sports can be so emotional. I did not grow up watching or liking sports. I never understood the hype. Now that I have a son that plays competitively, I do. It's either a ton of fun, or it is sad and frustrating. Rarely is it anything in the middle. It is never "just a game". There is always something more.

I bring it to the Lord every week. Just about every day. 3 boys playing soccer equals 6 practices a week and at least 3 games. That means the Lord and I have a lot to talk about!

I Did It Again!

2 days in a row! Honey didn't even believe me at first when I called him to bring keys. I am such a goof ball.

This time was more fun though cause we were at Dick's Sporting Goods getting new soccer balls for little boys. Dick's has an escalator! Oh yes, as much fun as a roller coaster but at a much better price.

The first couple of times up the boys were pretty nervous. By the 3rd time, they were pros. The ride down was a different story. Very scary! They would hold on to my hand then step on like they were catching a wave. Arms out for balance, swaying back and forth. Laughing the whole way down! By about the 9th time around they were a little more stable and it was more fun on each ride.

Honey showed up with more keys. He was the picture of grace with just a smirk on his face. I think I'll be hearing about this for years to come....

Where'd It Go?

I go to Sams. Right before I get out of the car I remember that I need to have my Sams card so I dig it out of my wallet. I show it to the lady and put it in the front part of my purse so it'll be easy to get to when I check out. The front part of my purse where I keep my keys. But wait a minute...my keys aren't there!! My keys aren't there! Lip gloss, but NO KEYS!!

I look all through my purse....in vain. I go back to the car and there they are right in the cup holder! Just right there...but so out of reach.

What to do? I could call Honey but I know he has a busy day at work. I call but he doesn't answer. Maybe cause I have his blackberry in the car too. Hmmm....I leave a generic message not willing to confess just yet. I know he'd feel an obligation to do something and I don't want to mess up his day. Also I'm on a tight schedule and need to get home for soccer practice and Bible study. Oh man! My mind is spinning. I guess I need a lock smith. Surely they don't cost too much.....

I go to the customer service to ask for a phone book. The lady says:

"Can I help you?"
"Probably not."
"What's wrong?"
"I locked my keys in my car.......And I'm trying not to cry."
"Don't cry. This has happened before."

This lady saves the day. She calls the Ford dealership and asked what could be done. He guy tells me to copy down my vin# and walk on over. The shuttle bus guy is out.

Lucky for me it's only about 3 blocks away and it's not snowing (wonder of wonders!). They cut me a new key for only $4. They shuttle guy is back and takes me to my car.

The key works! Yipee!! The shuttle guy gives me the thumbs up and is on his way. Now to get those keys. Wait....those aren't my keys! Those are some kind of keys my husband uses for work. If those aren't my keys, then where are my keys???

They aren't in my pockets. I scrounge through my purse looking in every little zipper part and pocket, pulling out things and really starting to panic.

Then, lo and behold there they were in the BACK zipper part! I know what you're thinking....BUT I LOOKED!!

Big sigh of relief.

Now where is that Sams card??

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

It's Kitchen Tip Tuesday on Tammy's blog and I thought I'd try to post my own.

I've been saving different food bags and using them for messy jobs instead of ziploc bags. Breading chicken can be done in a brown sugar bag and saving bones to cook for broth can be done in a bread bag. Since you have to throw away those yucky ones, it's nice to use a free one.

One Year Ago Today

The most beautiful baby was born.

Mommy and Daddy loved him.

His brothers were crazy about him

and his sisters thought he was beautiful.
He slept and ate and brought much joy to his family.

He grew and grew.
He smiled and laughed and did all sorts of sweet little baby things.

And now he is ONE!

He practices walking.

He likes to eat.

He is good at blanket time.

He doesn't talk much...the strong silent type.

He laughs and smiles and does all sorts of little "big boy" things.

He is a joy to his family.

He likes cake!

He's good at making a mess.

He is now the cutest little toddler babe that you've ever seen.

Happy Birthday Baby-est!!

Birthdays Again!

Scroll down a bit to see my new 4yo!

My Friend

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure at your right hand." Ps 16:11

Joy is how I feel right now after talking to my friend whose house was destroyed. I wish I could describe the cheerfulness and thanksgiving in her voice. Sweet.

So many people have been blessed to have been able to serve them this week. Lots of opportunities to share about the Lord...and let me tell you, she used every one of them to its fullest! Seeing her faith through this tragedy has made me appreciate and love her even more.

I've been blessed to see how the Lord has worked through our church and homeschool group to provide for everything. Everything! And even though I can't be there, I'm enjoying watching our Friend help our friends.

Spending Accountability

See the new thingy on the left of my blog? I saw this on another blog and thought it was a good idea.

I have a grocery budget of $900/mo for 11 of us. We came in at $868 for March and I'm trying to beat that for April. So far I think we're doing ok at $469 b/c we have a lot of food. But I do need to buy wheat and I know that will definitely hurt the budget. We'll see....

I've enjoyed bargain shopping so much. I'm finally learning how it works and it's been fun to see the deals add up. A friend asked me last night if I thought it was helping. Right now I have to say no b/c everything I've gotten free or on sale has been stuff I don't need right now. For instance, I don't need toothpaste but I've gotten 2 free ones this month. However, as time goes on and the bargains add up I think we'll certainly see the benefits. In the meantime I love showing my family what I find and they are a good audience to "oooohhh and awwwww" for me.

Guess Who's Four??

This guy!! Here he is on his first birthday.

Mayfee had a good day. G'ma and G'pa were here so of course it was a fun day! It snowed again so he stayed in and played. We went out for lunch with some friends from church. We invited the cousins over for dinner but they couldn't make it b/c of snow. Here's the meals he picked:

Breakfast...cake

Lunch........cake

Dinner.......cake

I modified the menu a bit but we did have cake for dessert. Here's what it looked like:

Here's some funny things about my boy:

~He hates long sleeves, long pants, and socks that are not skin tight. (Thanks G'pa and Nana for the small socks!)

~He has the most hilarious eye brows. Every emotion he has is expressed above those brown eyes. He's like a cartoon character...he can make them go down in a "V" when he's angry, raise one in a quizzical way, or almost take them right off his head when he's happy...just like on cartoons.

~He hates chocolate cake but never remembers it.

~He is his own little man. He does not follow the crowd or even his big brothers if it's not what he wants to do.

~He enjoys crying.

~He likes shoes that slip on. He's excited about getting summer sandals and hanging up the tennis shoes.

~He sleeps with his Spiderman blanket and likes me to "whoosh" it over his head.

~He likes sleeping somewhere else on Fridays....his sister's bed, the floor, under the coffee table, in the bathtub, wherever.

~He's jammin' to Bingo Was His Name O on his new music player.

~He's finally big enough to have chips! Family rule: no chips, nuts, or popcorn until you're four. We bought him special chips for his birthday.

And here he is now!

Mixed Emotions

I have this huge goofy smile all over my face.

Honey says, "What's so funny?"
I say, "You know."
He says, "Are you going to walk around like that till June 4th?"
I say, "Oh yeah!!"

Why????

Because THE WINGS ARE COMING!!!!!!

BUT...
I HATE not being in AR right now to help my friends. It has been sweet to hear how everyone is gathering around to help in every way. How I wish it could be ME! I wish I could just hug her neck and do her laundry or watch her baby or clean up the mess or something!

They were a great help to us during our move and now I can't help them.

Please Pray!

Huge storms hit Ft Smith last night. One of my very closest friends had 2 trees fall on her house and totally destroy it. They have 6 kids and no one was hurt. God is so good! Their family is safe but they have no house. They are in clean up stage now. Please pray for them if you will.

New Bread Update

I baked the new bread in 2 loaves instead of one. The size was better but still not exactly what I had in mind. One loaf is way too big, two loaves is just a little too small. Next time I'm going to try to double it in my bread machine and see if I can do 3 medium loaves.

Here's how to do it if you don't have a bread machine....

In a bowl add yeast, then warm water (must be warm to activate the yeast), then brown sugar. Whisk together and let sit until it's bubbly (sponge). Add oil, salt, and egg and mix. Add flours and mix well. Turn out on the counter and knead for 5-10 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. Shape into loaves and rise again and bake.

In The Kitchen Today

My in-laws are here visiting for a couple of days so my kitchen is extra busy right now.

~My mil was up bright and early making eggs and slicing bananas and apples for the early risers. The coffee pot is full.

~She made 2 dozen apple muffins which are in the oven right now.

~One of the things I love about my mil is how she makes herself perfectly comfortable in my kitchen. We enjoy each other's cooking.

~When that kitchen is cleared out then I will get in there for a bit while Baby is napping. I need to grind more wheat and try another loaf of sandwich bread. I wanta make an extra loaf to send to Emo's to see what they think. They LOVE bread.

~Leftover quiche and potatoes for lunch.

~Chicken thighs in the crockpot with a creamy white gravy with rice for dinner.

Tonight Honey and I are going to the Lincoln Brewster concert....a date!

New Bread Recipe

My clan prefers the texture of store bought wheat bread for sandwiches instead of homemade bread. Since it will soon be sandwich/lunch box weather, I wanted to try a new bread recipe to hopefully copy the texture of the cheap store bread. This is from Laine's Letters and is pretty close.

1 C. water
2 T. oil
3 T brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
1 C. WW flour
2 C. bread flour
2 1/2 t. yeast

Put all in bread machine and hit the dough cycle. Let rise in machine. Shape into loaf and rise again. Bake at 350 for 26 minutes.

This came out of the oven just in time for tea. My guys loved it. Way better than the GV bread with such a nice flavor. It rose huge and made a beautiful loaf but a little too big for sandwiches. Next time I'll divide it into 2 loaves to see if I can get a better size.

This Weekend

It was a fun filled weekend indeed. Here's some of the fun....

~We finally started painting our room! Our whole house is ugly flat white. Now our room is called Oat Straw. It's sort of tanish color with shiny white trim. The trim isn't done yet and the whole room is turned upside down with the mess. It already looks better though so I can just imagine when it's done.

~Almost all of the kids' bikes had flats from riding down the thorny sledding hill. (There's a lesson in that) Honey and CT spend a good amount of time changing tire after tire. CT learned to do it by himself!

~2 soccer games = 2 wins!

~We visited with G'ma, Emo, and Mangnay.

~The girls and I went to a fancy tea party at church. It was nice but not Lane's "cup of tea" if you know what I mean. When we left, the boys were playing football in the front yard. She commented "That would've been a lot more fun!" I agree, but it's good to stretch ourselves a bit.

~I had a little time to plan some things for this week. I re-assigned jurisdictions and issues a new kitchen cleaning policy. For this week I decided to give myself some challenges to try to meet.

1. Be "On Duty" whenever the babies are up. No computer distractions or phone calls.
2. Include the little kids in my kitchen duties more.

~I hit some bargains at Walgreens.

~Church

~Almost no cooking b/c we have so many leftovers. The frige looks better now.

~A couple of soccer games in the cul-de-sac.

~Date night! We ate frozen lasagna that my mother-in-law bought for us and watched I Am Legend. Weird show.

I just noticed that Honey also posted the weekend on his blog. Nice to read his perspective.

It was a good sunny couple of days. Just in case you're wondering...hot chocolate or popsicles? It's hot chocolate! Snow and cold. You just never know.

Popsicle Day!

It's nowhere near summer time here in CO. At this point you never know if you'll wake up to beautiful sunshine or beautiful white. No matter, it's good either way.

Right now though its nice and sunny. Bikes are busy and boys are digging in the dirt. And at least once a day somebody will say "Momma, do we have popsicles yet?"

Today is the day! Popsicle Day!
That's the first day of the year that I make popsicles. I've bought a box here or there when I've taken a little Tag to the store with me and they stare longingly while I'm picking out juice. But today is the first day I've pulled out the molds and made them.

Most of the year I use juice. Now and then I get creative and come up with something else. Today I blended some homemade yogurt with honey and blueberries. Oh they were so excited and can't wait until tomorrow when they will be ready.

I wonder what it'll be...popsicles or hot chocolate?

Happy Birthday!

It is that time again at our house! Now my firstborn son is 12!!

~He is tons of fun to have around.

~Soccer! Ok, I won't go there. But you know.

~He is going to be the romantic type. He likes things like b-day decorations and the way his room is arranged. He is picky about "special" things and everything has to be just so.

~He hates hot dogs.

~He collects coins and today after lunch we're going to hit the rare coin shop in town.

~He is Honey's shadow going anywhere and doing anything that Dad does.

~He is totally responsible for his soccer stuff. He plans ahead making sure whatever he needs is clean. His bag is packed with extra shoes and warm clothes if needed. He takes care of his own balls and water. He eats appropriately beforehand. He knows where he needs to be and reminds me when it's time to leave.

~This kid rarely ever gets mad about anything. He usually has a big smile for everyone.

~He is one of those exceptional individuals that is good at whatever he tries. He does not need to work hard, things just come to him easily.

His sister surprised him with his b-day decorations. We just bought new decorations for the March b-days but she didn't want to use the "same ol' things". We bought a grassy green plastic table cloth, soccer plates and napkins, and green balloons. They spent some time yesterday making black and white paper chains. The dining room looked great when they were done and he was quite surprised this morning.

His meals are easy for me this year.

Breakfast: Donuts. We went early this morning to pick out all the special ones he wanted. He got a pink star donut with sprinkles for his baby sister and lots of fun icing/sprinkles/cream filled stuff for everyone.

Lunch: Olive Garden

Dinner: Hot wings from Sams, Velveeta cheese dip, salad with cherry peppers.
I guess being health conscience isn't one of his strong points!!

Happy Birthday Son! I love you!

Good Deals

I have had such fun bargain shopping this week. It is one of the fun things I've discovered about living here. I am very much a student with the whole rebate/coupon thing but I wanted to share what I've learned and what bargains I've found in town for my CO friends.

Walgreens
free printer cartridge refill
free aquafresh with rebate (I also had a $2 coupon so it came out to a $2 overage)
free toothbrush w/rebate (With a $1 coupon I have a $1 overage)
Cascade $1.50...cheaper than Great Value at WM
free granola bar
deoderant $1.31 each

Rite Aid
free Colgate (on sale for $1.49. I had $1.50 coupon making it free with a .01 overage)
free conditioner or shampoo w/rebate
free shower gel w/rebate ($1.50 coupon overage)

Walmart
organic diced tomatoes (with coupon these will be .24 each)

Kroger (King Soopers) There are lots of deals here this week. Too much to type.

Here's what I've learned....

~Keep your coupons until they expire even if you don't normally use that product. You need a good coupon stash. And ya never know...

~Think outside the box when it comes to what you buy. For instance, I make my own baby wipes so I never buy them. However, if I'm ever able to buy them on sale/rebate/coupon (or with a possible overage) then I may be able to buy them cheaper than make them. Organic tomatoes is another thing that I'd never consider but at .24/can it's much better than the cheap brand. We don't normally use shower gel since bar soap is cheaper. But since I got it free, we will definitely enjoy it. I'm not at all brand sensitive so that helps. Also, some things may be given as gifts if it's not something you like for yourself.

~Not everyone can do this. It would not pay to drive all over the place to different stores if you don't live close. For me, these places are on the way to where I have to go anyway so it is no trouble or extra gas. I would not have been able to do this in AR b/c in my home town, we don't have some of these stores.

~Sams is wonderful but sometimes you can get the basics cheaper if the right deal comes along.

~The Money Saving Moms site is wonderful! Lots of good info there.

~It does not take much time but like everything else, it does help to be organized with it. I made my list, paper clipped my coupons for certain stores, and kept them all together in an envelope my purse. It's not a big deal.

Tomorrow I will go hit the KS deals since it's right there by the library (Story Time!). Then that will be all of my bargains for the week.

Check out the MSM site on my blog. Lots of coupons, freebies, and good info. Happy shopping!

Date Night Recipe

This is what I made for date night Sunday. I tried to copy something I had at Noodles once. It's pretty close. I don't have a name for it yet...ideas? It's kinda spicy so maybe kids wouldn't like it but my older ones got the leftovers and thought it was great.

1 lb linguine noodles cooked and drained

Sauce:

Saute whatever veggies you have in the frige in a little butter and oil. I used onions and zucchini.

When they are soft, sprinkle them liberally with flour. This will thicken your sauce.

1 can chicken broth

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1 T. crushed red pepper flakes

basil, oregano, s/p to taste. You may need to add a squirt of honey since canned tomatoes can have the canned tomato taste.

When the sauce is nice and bubbly and thick, stir in enough milk to give it a little blush. It should be a rosey color. Stir in mozzarella cheese. Pour over pasta and top with Parmesan. Yummy!

Next time I will leave the veggies out of the sauce and add them to the top instead topped with the Parmesan. This would be great with grilled chicken. We had it with garlic bread and salad.

Clean and Shiny

Today I taught my 7yo son how to clean his bathroom. Since he shares it with 3 other brothers it gets gross fast.

I took him in there to look and I asked him to show me what he thought needed to be done. I want him to have eyes to see without me having to baby him with a list.

We attacked the medicine cabinet and the vanity doors first. With each job I showed him what to do, got him started, and told him to come get me when he was done. In the meantime, I stayed close helping his brothers to clean up the basement.

I checked that job then we moved to the next one. In this way we cleaned the whole bathroom, including the floor. It looks soooo nice. When he was done I let him spray room freshener as a finishing touch. He was really proud of his job well done and said it was fun.

It took us over an hour to do it this way but I think it was time well invested. A couple of more weeks of this training and he should be able to do it on his own. I'm working my way out of another job!

Who's In Command?

My 7yo son was squabbling with his 10yo sister.
"You can't command me!"

She was helping him pick out his church clothes. Usually his brother helps him with that b/c they are buddies, but today she was doing it. This little boy definitely needs help when it comes to clothes. All weekend he has been wearing his little brother's pants that do not even go down to his socks. Instead of being thankful for her help, he was resenting the fact that she was telling him what to do.

Now sometimes my daughter does "lord it over" him and that could've been the case. I'm really not sure since I was upstairs. They both came into my room irritated with the other and seeking help. I needed some time to think so I sent them to wait on the couch.

Figuring this would be a good lesson for all, I called a meeting and we discussed "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ".

I confess that sometimes I "fear" getting out of bed and starting the day. You never do know what a day may bring, and there are times when I don't even like to think about all the possibilities. There are so many variables with so many people. I need wisdom and patience and to just walk. Walk and pray and do. Trust and don't over- think it all.

Selfishly, I sometimes wish I could do something different. I have friends that have kids in school, they have house keepers, they have the day to do *whatever*! I do not mean to sound jealous or unthankful...I'm not (really!). I'm so happy to have all these sweet kids and a husband who works so hard for me to stay home. And I know that God calls each of us to something different. It is just that there are times when I do wish that were me...just for a day. Not for forever.

But then I know that I would miss my kids terribly. I *am* rather fond of them you know and I'm used to having them around. I'm sure I'd get very bored spending my days doing whatever it is I'd do. And besides, who would give them the mini-sermons they've grown accustomed to?

Accomplishments

A good week for Mally and me...

I rode a bike for the first time in like 15 years...no training wheels thank you. 9 of us all rode to the park for some fun. I didn't crash and I didn't get run over. I forgot how much fun it was.


Tonight Mally pooped on the potty! Finally!! Happy happy joy joy!

Life is good.

Good Bye Pancakes

I had planned a simple supper of pancakes for tonight. And since I figured it would be so quick, I thought of adding cooked apples and whipped cream to top them off. Mmmm....

Ever make pancakes for 11 people? Now I remember why I stopped. I couldn't remember if I needed to double the recipe or if I already had it doubled in the directions. I made a huge mess. My electric skillet will only make 5 at a time. Do I drag out more pans or just wait it out? Standing, pouring, flipping, waiting. Since I need to make like 92 pancakes, it takes pretty much forever.

I wonder if Rachel Ray could do it in 30 minutes?

Daily Reading Gem

Hebrews 11:27
"...he persevered b/c he saw him who is invisible."

This was Moses. Poor guy had tons of hardships to endure, lots of people to govern, much opportunity to be discouraged. I wonder how many times he wanted to throw up his hands and throw in the towel. But he kept his eyes on God...and was able to persevere.

Today started out as a very irritating morning. I had relational problems all over the house, a cranky little baby, I forgot to start breakfast last night, and I found myself doing an unexpected errand when I was just sitting down to start school. I wished I could start the day over. I thought of Moses and his ability to persevere.

God, please give me the resolve, the discipline, and the energy to persevere. I don't want to lose heart when things don't go as I think they should. I want to trust and walk by faith in quiet confidence always looking to the One who is invisible.

Today

A good Saturday.

~Baby woke up at 5am! I nursed him and put him back to bed and Honey and I stayed up. We listened to a pod cast sermon and then our oldest son joined us for hot chocolate.

~Saturday morning eggs and a new RR recipe in the crockpot. Eggs were good, RR not so much.

~First soccer game of the spring season! Tied 2-2. A little too windy so Baby and I watched from the car. We had the best seat of all. Spring soccer is WAY busier than winter soccer. With 3 boys playing at 3 different parks this season, it's really bumped up a notch. I will enjoy every game of it!

~I took 4 kids out for ice cream.

~Honey and I took a nap.

~Honey cleaned the oven for me. It's self-cleaning BUT.....long story.

~#1 had a friend over for dinner.

~A few household repairs.

~We rented Enchanted. Quite the girly show.

~In order not to be a complete fuddy dud I changed the Easter menu. Chicken fried steak, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and coconut cream cake. Everyone likes this plan better. I think my in-laws and the cousins might come over.

Today

~I've invited anyone who wants to to meet me in the living room to read their Bibles at 6am and share my pot of whatever. Yesterday was the first day and I didn't make it. Today I did and was joined by 2 daughters. I'm hoping for some sons to join the mix.

~Bright and early 8:15 ortho appt with #2. All is good.

~I mixed up a french toast casserole last night to bake this morning. I was able to use up the left over cinnamon toast from my son's b-day.

~A good school day and we even played a Spiderman card game.

~Honey got a free lunch at Chipotles with everyone else at CCU.

~I painted the bathroom vanity but it doesn't look much better. That was disappointing.

~I dropped off 4 kids with Honey for soccer practice and took everyone else to Sams.

~Super windy today so I decided to make some hot chocolate with my little boys. I knew I was out of one ingredient that I needed for my go-to recipe so I looked up Alton's recipe. Rats! I didn't have all of that either. So we just made up our own and it was good.

~I finished reading Balto with the little boys and cried my eyes out. I hate it when dogs die.

~It's not Friday but since Honey is home tomorrow everyone is sleeping somewhere else. But tonight we made it clear that no one is sleeping in our bed!

Ramblings and Wonderings

I was visiting with a friend from church last night. She is the oldest of 5 in her family and now in her 50's. She said that she *always* had to babysit so much (as in watch her younger siblings) that she decided she wouldn't have kids til she was 30. And she didn't.

Don't we all have some sort of childhood baggage that we bring into our own families? "When I have kids I'm NEVER going to....".fill in the blank

One of my children was commenting on how many dishes we always have. Yes, we do have a lot and most days have to run our dishwasher 4x. It's made me wonder what they will choose to take into their own families. Will they remember the work involved instead of the love and fun?

My son's soccer team is made up mostly of 2 children/2 income families. I doubt they ever have many dishes. I know that most of them eat out a lot b/c they talk about which child refuses to eat at which place. They are even willing to go to more than one place! Eating out is very rarely an option for us.

And while I read about sweet memories of homemade food that so-n-so had, I wonder if my kids will consider it sweet or bothersome. I was planning a traditional type of Easter meal. You know...roast, mashed potatoes, whatever else. And while my kids will not verbally complain, I know that they really wish it was something "better". If I suggested McDonalds there would be a victory song sung throughout the house.

So I wonder......
Will my grandkids eat sliced white bread b/c my kids always *had* to eat homemade bread?
Will they only have 1 kid so nobody will have to babysit or share a room?
Will they eat Sonic on Thanksgiving?

Some Of Us

A Gentle Reminder

Here's a poem I'm teaching my boys. My next door neighbor in AR wrote it. It's most helpful sometimes!


If you grumble and push
Your day will be mush
And you may just end up
With a pop on the tush!

Clever huh?

Happy Birthday!!

My Sweetie is 7!

We've had a good day. We woke up to about 2 1/2 inches of snow. I put on a pot of hot water for hot chocolate. Surely we won't have too many more of these kind of days left.

He wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I got up early and got them going in the bread machine. When it was time to take them out...oh no!! Something went terribly wrong and the dough was just a bunch of crumbs. So I told him we'd make cinnamon toast instead and I'd make him some cinnamon rolls for tea. He was good with that. While making the cinnamon toast, LB asked to help. I should've watched her more closely cuz when I turned around she had covered everything with way too much cinnamon. Well, there was nothing to do but cook it anyway. Birthday Boy ate it graciously but said, "I don't think I ever want cinnamon toast again."

We opened presents at lunch time when Daddy came home. His big present was a ticket to the opening day Rapids game. Honey is taking him at the end of the month. They are going early and staying late and "doing it all". It's gonna be a ton of fun!! It's also CT's present too since his b-day is shortly after.

One of his favorite presents is a big blow up Spiderman punching thing. He's had fun with it all day.

We had cinnamon rolls for tea that turned out much better than the first batch. I forgot his special request for egg nog. I gotta make it in the morning.

Tonight we had pizza and french fries with choc ice cream cake. He helped his big sis make the cake and it was yummy. Frozen icing is the best! We all went around the table and told something we loved about him. Good time.

~He loves to laugh and can not possibly laugh quietly. He laughs out loud and makes everyone else laugh too.

~He loves soccer.

~He's a good reader and loves to learn something new in his lessons.

~He just learned to tie his shoes. Way to go Bud!

~He likes it when I climb in his bed and read our read-aloud book.

~He loves to raid Daddy's tool box and hammer 17 nails into a single piece of wood. He makes all sorts of good stuff.

~He says snow is boring.

~He is a coin collector just like his big brother. He loves all sorts of money.

~He is quick to apologize when wrong.

I love you Baby Boy! Happy Birthday!!

I'm Not Alone

My 3yo son is so weird about his clothes. During the spring/summer seasons all is well but when the fall hits we are in for a battle.

Socks, pants, and long sleeved shirts are clothes that bring despair. Actually the socks are ok to wear but they have to be just right. Snug around his whole foot, the heel part only on the heel, tight with nothing extra. His pants can not go all the way down to his foot. He has to roll them up. He rolls up the sleeves on shirts and jackets so that they won't go all the way to his hands.

Then he does the test. He puts his arms down by his side and shakes likes crazy. If the sleeves are still rolled up, he's good to go. Same with his bike helmet. He shakes his head all over the place to make sure it's nice and tight. Funny kid.

I had to buy socks for the boys yesterday. I pick out the older boys' socks first. Easy. Then I look for Mayfee's kind. NONE to be found!! I'm not giving up easily and I'm standing there searching and hoping.

Another mom was looking too. She says, "Do you see any small short socks?" Nope. So she grabs a different bag and bends down to her small son. "They don't have your socks. I'm going to have to buy the long ones and you are *not* going to cry about it. Do you hear me?"

Big smile. I can so relate!

What I Love About Sundays

~Church.

~Naps.

~The newspaper scattered all over the floor.

~Leftovers.

~Sports on TV

~Date night.

What I Love About Saturdays

~The freedom to get a lot of work done, or not.

~The fun of enjoying a beautiful day outside. Today was one of those. We had a family baseball game in the cul-de-sac, cleaned up the garage/yard, and played soccer. Baby fell backwards in the dirt and Mal just walked around and got into stuff. She even ate some old goldfish crackers that were spilled under a table on the garage floor. EWWWW.....

~The chance to catch up on whatever I didn't finish during the week.

~Looking ahead to get a jump on the next week. Next week: 1 birthday, church potluck, babysitting, lots of soccer practice, 1 game.

~Longer phone calls.

~Naps.

~Sleeping in.

~Honey's Saturday morning eggs and the noise that goes with it.

~The time to experiment in the kitchen.

~A bigger dinner with dessert. Tonight we had ziti in the crock pot with salad and bread. We had lots of leftover desserts from Bible study and birthday.

~Saturday night baths. Everyone clean at the same time.

~Quiet time after kids are in bed.

Happy Birthday #2

Today my second born is 14! Fourteen! We've had a super fun day today. It started off with dodge ball at gym day then Olive Garden for lunch and Horton Hears A Who.

She picked yummy foods for the day.
Breakfast...cinnamon rolls
Lunch...Olive Garden with Mom
Dinner...chicken spaghetti, asparagus, brownies, and homemade oreo ice cream.

I hadn't used the ice cream maker in a while and forgot I needed to freeze the bowl for 8 hours. It turned out more like oreo shakes.

My oldest son really gets into birthday decorating. I took him to the dollar store yesterday to pick out new stuff. The dining room looked great when she came upstairs this morning. She opened her presents first thing and have enjoyed them all day.

Here's some sweet things about my big girl....

~She loves comfy clothes.
~She has been read to since she was little bitty. Now she is reading aloud to her little sister every night.
~She told me that she feels like she is really growing up b/c she doesn't get so excited over little things. I told her to grow slow.
~She has a solid understanding of right/wrong.
~She loves Jesus and wants to be a missionary.
~Salad is her favorite food.
~She has a huge bright smile with sweet dancing eyes. When she is excited it shows all over her whole body.
~She loves loves loves animals.
~She doesn't like to babysit but would love to walk your dog.
~She says she likes school even though it's hard for her.

When I asked her what her hopes were for this year she said, "To put down anger and to not cry over school."

Happy Birthday Honey Girl. I love you so much!!

How Do You Spell That?

I was getting my grocery list ready and my 5yo wanted to help. He decided to write down everyone's favorite foods so I could get them at the store. It looked like this...

MAGURONEY AND CHES (macaroni and cheese)
SOOP (soup)
PEZU (pizza)
IS CEM (ice cream)

One of the great things about our church is the number of older people. Unfortunately we don't know them very well yet. They sit on the left and we sit on the right. Being Baptists we wouldn't dream of switching pews!

The girls and I are going to start going to their SS class and try to do some of the things they do. Tomorrow we're going to lunch at Red Lobster with them. I would like to try to bridge the gap a bit and enjoy the older generation. They have so much to offer and we have much to learn.

"...now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trial. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. " 1Pet 1:6-7

The more experienced generation has seen more, done more and been through more grief, therefore more refining. Maybe that's why they are usually described with such adjectives as sweet, kind, and cute.

After doing a go-through-the-Bible-in-a-year class at our old church my teen-aged daughter said, "I learned that I can have friends of all ages." Amen!

SCORE!

The victory picture after scoring his first CO goal!!

Vacation

Here's a few vacation happenings...

~I cleaned up the book room and did some scrapbooking. I played with my Cricut and made some cards. It's been so long since I've worked on my scrapbooks. It's something I want to do, but just never seem to have the time/energy. So I prayed about it and asked the Lord to show me the time and give me the desire/energy to at least finish what I've started.

~We had hot dogs! That never happens b/c Honey and CT doesn't like them.

~We took lunchboxes to the park. Beautiful day but a little chilly for Baby and me. We headed back early.

~I made lemon bread and carrot cake. Other than that, it's been laid back cooking.

~I went to church without Honey. Baby was good. The toddler was good. My 3yo? Not so good. Whispering, talking, dropping books, flopping around on the pew, rattling papers...you name it. I took him out for a visit in the bathroom then had him sit in the foyer with his hand clapped over his mouth until the service was over. At home he had to practice his church behavior on the couch. We discussed how his behavior is a distraction to others that want to hear about God. I expected it from Mally, not from him.

~I finished The Last Sin Eater. Good book! Looking forward to the movie.

~I chatted with some friends from home.

~I tweaked our school schedule.

~I bought some b-day presents for next week!!

~I got scared at night. It's so quiet. I wanted my MP3 but it was in the car. It was dark and I was too scared to go get it. Honey's on his way home and I'm sooo glad!

Vacation Musings

Our first vacation day with only six kids at home was SO quiet. The house was clean almost all day. It truly seemed like a real vacation.

So I thought... since the house has been quiet and clean it must be THEM that are noisy and messy! LOL.

I slept in, got some things done, and had a nice chat with a friend from home. The day was just so easy, so nice, so quiet, so clean, so deep sigh-ish.

My thoughts went toward, "Why can't everyday be like this?"

I learned something new about myself. If not checked, the peace of vacation can easily become an idol to me.

A Change of Plans

I just couldn't get it all together in time so we're not going to AZ with the boys. The hotel reservations were not working out, the CO Rush traveling rules were too hard to follow with all of us, and really I just don't have enough time to pull it off. It's funny to think that we'd actually have to take our trailer for only a weekend stay in a hotel! There's just so much.........

I hate not being able to go but the whole mess was definitely stealing my joy. It will be easier for them without all of us there anyway.

They leave Friday morning and will be home late Monday. I'm looking forward to some time off, some early bed times, and some organizational projects.

~I might paint the bedroom. Maybe.
~Plan school and menus for the following week.
~Clean up and move stuff around downstairs.
~Work in the book room.
~Watch The Last Sin Eater movie without my daughter...JUST KIDDING!!
~Finish my book.
~Cook some stuff for the freezer...or maybe not cook at all.

I will still have 6 kids at home, but even when one is missing it seems like the house is so empty. This will be the first time since we've moved here that someone has been away overnight...in this case 4 someones. It'll be weird.

The Dad Is Blogging!

Ever wonder what a guy with 9 kids thinks about? Honey has a new blog. Check it out...
www.taggdaddy.blogspot.com

Today

~I made cinnamon raisin bread last night to bake for breakfast this morning. Yum!



~Honey called this morning with a good idea...we're all going to AZ this weekend!! 2 sons have tournaments and instead of him just taking them, we're calling it a vacation and taking everyone!! A fun get away to warmer weather.



~I switched out the baby books in Z's room. I was getting tired of the same ol' ones.

~I had #1 make most of dinner. It was a new recipe that turned out ok. Sometimes it gets tricky when you double or triple certain things.

~I did some research to find out about testing my kids this year. CO is different than AR. School is hard for me this year. So many new things I've never had to do before. SAT/ACT, GPAs, transcripts, scholarships, CLEPs...preschool is easier.

~Last month I had some stale bread. Homemade bread gets moldy really fast. I didn't have time to make croutons or anything else with it so I just cubed it and stuck it in the freezer. Tonight I pulled it out to make stuffing to go with dinner. Glad it was in there. I love freezing foods for later. It's so convenient when later comes.

~I ran out of laundry soap with only 2 loads left to go. How could I let that happen??

~I read something neat in my Bible. As I read through the childrens' Bible I try to keep up at the same place in my own. We/I am reading about Abraham right now. Remember that part when Ishmael was teasing Isaac and Sarah make Abraham send them away? They are dying in the desert with no water. Then the angel comes to Hagar and it says "God opened her eyes to see" and there was a well! It didn't say that God just created the well right then. It was already there. I'm sure that Hagar looked all over everywhere for hope of living before she resigned to the fact that they were going to die. Yet she didn't see it until God opened her eyes.

I prayed that God would open my eyes to see what I need to see. Imagine all that is before me that I don't even know. I'm praying for b-day gift ideas, wisdom for travel preparations, family relationships, and even grocery shopping tomorrow......I gotta get more laundry soap!

A Warm and Nice Saturday

We walked to the park to play with friends. Honey likes this pic b/c all 9 kids (and the dog) are in it. CT's wearing Baby in the new Ergo.

Honey and Bird

Me and my new friend. Notice her cute baby belly!

Smiles.

Meg shooting baskets in her new Peyton Manning jersey.

CT swinging with Baby Boy in the Ergo.

Look at this guy go! At only 3years old Mayfee Boy can ride a 2 wheeler!














It was a beautiful Saturday and the perfect day to learn to ride a bike.






A couple of crashes.







A few tears.
Way to go Baby!!

Teaching Littles

Teaching little kids is so much fun. They are eager to learn and everything is new. I just re-did our little boys' school schedule. It helped me to see just where we were spending time and on what. Here's what it looks like....



After chore time we do our morning meeting and the littles participate. That includes Bible. I dismiss the older ones and put the baby down for a morning nap. That leaves me with a 2, 3, 5, and 6 yo. We gather around the living room coffee table, one on each side, and get busy.



I don't use a lot of store bought curriculum at this age. I just work with what we have. Their school supplies are simply a 3 ring binder with a zipper pouch for pencils and crayons with lots of paper.



A math lesson.

I have a tupperware container full of all kinds of money...real money. I give each one a little bit and they try to count. We identify the coins, their value, my 6yo makes substitutions, and we see who ended up with the most. Then we put all of their money together and count it and substitute for bigger coins and dollars. They love money.



We look at the calendar and name the months, the days, what day it is today. Is it an even number or odd number day? What's tomorrow? What was yesterday? How many more days in the month?



Cuisinaire rods. Lots of fun.



100 chart. Skip counting. Evens and odds.



The clock.

No, I can't do all this every morning. We pick one or two and I just go with their moods. Having a choice of things to do keeps it fun.



~I read aloud from an easy chapter book with pictures.



~5 and 6yo work on Bible copy work. I give 2 and 3yo a page from a coloring book or a preschool worksheet. It does not matter if they don't like to color. They don't have a choice. The point is to accept an assignment and to work on it happily and diligently.



~6yo goes into the next room to do flash cards with the 2 and 3yo while I do a reading lesson with 5yo.



~I dismiss the 2 and 3yo to play quietly downstairs. Their school is done for the day. They MUST play quietly downstairs. If they fight or cry they have to come back upstairs and sit on chairs with their hands clapped over their mouths until we are finished.



~5yo works on his math worksheet while I do a reading lesson with 6yo.



~5yo is done and cleans up his folder.



~6yo does his math and cleans up his folder.



All Done!!