Can You Make Me a Button?

I see all of these cute button's on people's blogs and I have wanted to have one that people can just "grab". I have tried and tried to do it and can't figure it out. I've decided to ask for help! Can anyone just make me one and send it to me? I know you are all busy, but if someone has a talent or gift for this, will you email me at sbfirefighter@centurylink.net ?

We are all gifted by God in many ways. Computers are not my forte! I have been blessed to get this far with my blog! LOL!

Life has been so full lately! I am taking the kids to a VBS at The Salvation Army and I consider that part of my homeschooling. Socialization, crafts, music, drama, and lots of fun, is a homeschooling dream!

God continues to teach me, challenge me and grow me in the area of my tongue. I have been given lots of practice since I have developed a bad case of larengitis and that just can't seem to shake. It is forcing me to resort to other measures such as actually going to the child when I need them to do something instead of yelling across the house to get their attention. I can't believe how lazy I have become!

The Old Mission Mill Field Trip

We traveled to Steve's folks on Wednesday and did a few field trips. The first field trip I don't have any pictures of because it was just too crazy with all the kids. We took them to the capitol of Oregon. It was beautiful, big and had lots of information. We were all enthralled with the golden pioneer on top of the dome. The circle of our state flags was fascinating, too. I talked to them a little about the government, but pretty much they were too excited to listen much.

The second field trip was at the Old Mission Mill in Salem. The first part was a place were the kids could play old-fashioned games. They had a blast!

These were really fun blocks that the little ones loved them. Andrew took one home though, so I made him give it back and apologize to the lady.

Three-legged races were a hit with the older ones!

And of course the sack races!

After the races we went on the tour and learned all about how to turn sheep's wool into woolen blankets and clothes back in the old days. What a fascinating process!

Lily's Birthday

I took an impromptu photo shoot in the yard with the flowers that are starting to bloom.

This is the little shirt/dress that Jess and I picked out for her on her birthday. She loves the feel of grass under her feet.

I love this shot of the back of her with the old wheelbarrow in the background.

And here she is with the shirt after it shrunk! It's not longer quite looking as much like a dress. I can't believe she is one! I am looking forward to celebrating her birthday on Easter with the rest of the fam. I still need to order a cake!

Poop Party and a Poem

 

I know this is kind of a strange title for a post, but it was the best I could come up with! On the day of Lily's dedication our three-year old, Jacob, FINALLY pooped in the toilet!!! In our family the day your first poop in the toilet is a big deal. Our tradition is to let the child go to the store and pick out a cake. They come home and we sing "Happy Poopday To You". It is so fun to watch all of the older siblings encourage their younger one.

We also believe in bribery! Jacob had the Buzz Light Year wing pack, but didn't know about the lasers. I found them online and ordered them. When they came, I put them up on top of the TV where he could see them. I told him whenever he pooped in the toilet he could wear them. The trick to this bribery is that when they do earn the toy, you take it away immediately if they have an accident. Again, put it where they can see it so they can earn it back. This is how I have potty trained all of my children. It takes the stress out of it and puts the responsibility back on the child where it belongs.

Here is our Lily Pie. Boy is she getting into everything. Her favorite thing is to go into the movie cupboard and take all the movies out of the cases when we aren't looking! I am going to buy a lock to go on it SOON!

I had the priviledge of singing to my little girl at her dedication. I have managed to sing at all of my children's dedications. It is a special gift to them that I hope they will cherish when they get older. They will know their mama's dreams and hopes for them. This time I sang, Serene and Pearl's "Mother's Prayer". It was probably the most choked up I have ever been while singing at their dedications. I think knowing that she is probably my last (due to health issues) made me even more emotional then usual.

I love this picture! All of these parents dedicating their children to the Lord is precious indeed! Next to Steve and I is my brother and SIL, Jerry and Sonya. Their little Noah was born just three weeks after Lily. How special to be able to dedicate two cousins at the same time!

I've working on a new Bible study called "Embracing Your Strengths" by Women of Faith. It challenged me to worship God in a different way that I would normally do. It suggested poetry, which in my mind is not my thing. I almost skipped it, but felt the Holy Spirit tell me He would help me. What came to my mind could only come from Him. I thought I would share it with you. It shows you where I am at right now in my journey.

Lord, You are good to me!
You make me the person I long to be.

Your words keep me afloat,
Even when I feel You are far away and remote.

Rescue me with Your loving hand.
Help me to know when to take a stand.

I long to be loving and content.
But I know that anger is my natural bent.

Change me, make me a new creation!
Everyday, give me new revelation.

Lily Turns One!

My baby turned one today. I can hardly believe it. I know every mother says that, but I just kept help myself. A year, a whole year has gone by since we welcomed our sixth blessing into this world!

As a tradition, I write a letter to my children each time they have a birthday. I then rewrite by hand and put it into their scrapbook.

Dearest Lily Pie,

You are now one years old! This year has been an absolute blur. Even though I have been busy mothering and homeschooling all your brothers and sisters, I have not wasted one precious moment with you. I have enjoyed you thoroughly, my sweet little girl. I have treasured every kiss and nursing session. I'm surprised you are not bald from all the smooches you have received on your cute little head! You have been a joy and delight to us. We have enjoyed watching you accomplish all your "firsts". Your brothers and sisters have been your little cheerleaders! They get so excited when you do something new!

I am so blessed that God gave me another daughter. I honestly didn't think it would happen again. You are the icing on our family cake. You even have blue eyes! Definitely a novelty in our family! I can look at you and see each one of your brothers and sisters in you.

Lily means "innocence, beauty and purity". My prayer is that you would live up to your name as your grow up into adulthood. I pray that you would be pure and innocent, saving all of yourself for the husband that God might give to you. I pray that you would not only be beautiful on the outside, but even more lovely on the inside. I long for you to have a heart that is set on fire for Jesus!

Love Him, my precious one. I can only teach you and show you how, but you, my child, must find your own way eventually. You must make your faith your own one day. I will always be praying that for you.

Love,

Your Mommy

What is Your Goal?

What is Your Goal?

Dear Mothers,

I had an interesting question presented to me about a month ago. A lady was trying to get me to start a home-based business. She knew I was a SAHM and asked me, “What do you want to do with your life? What are your goals?” I don’t know where this answer came from, but without missing a beat, I replied, “To raise my children to love the Lord with all of their heart, soul and mind.” I think she was shocked. She was taken aback and didn’t know what to say! I don’t think she had ever heard that answer before. She then told me that those were very high and lofty goals. I wanted to tell her, “you ain’t a’kiddin’!”

After this question was brought up, the Lord has reminded me continually that this truly is my highest goal. Yes, it would be nice to travel to some exotic land! Yes, it would be nice to perhaps go on a short-term missionary trip. Yes, it would be nice to be able to scrapbook anytime I felt like it! It would be a lot easier for me to send my children to public school instead of homeschooling them. But this is a relatively short season in my life. God says we are to learn to “love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind”. That is no small task! In order for me to be teaching my children to do so, I have to be living that as well. I need to be on my knees praying for myself and my family! I need to continue to follow in the convictions that God has placed in my heart no matter what the cost.

In order to attain goals, things must be sacrificed. That is true with any type of goal. For example, some people want more money or toys, in which you work harder and spend less time with family. What kind of sacrifices will you be making to give your children a godly heritage? You will have less toys because you will learn to be content. You will have to sacrifice your flesh daily as you seek to develop Christ-like qualities in your heart. You will have to stop giving into anger and instead be controlled by the Spirit (a big one for me). You will have to let go of back-biting, gossip, bitterness, and unforgiveness. Children can sniff out a hypocrite a mile away! They will know whether you are the real thing or not. You cannot teach those godly qualities in your children, if you, yourself, are not willing to change.

The other day, I decided to share my struggle with anger with my children. I had just blown up at them and as I was tucking them in that night I felt the Lord prompt me to ask their forgiveness. I do this often, but this time I told them, “Mommy has a really hard time not being angry when you disobey. I am working on this and I would appreciate your prayers.” They prayed for me right then and there. I have actually done better since then! I want my children to know that we all struggle with certain sins. When we blow it, we need to confess to those we’ve hurt and to God. Teaching them repentance is the key! Was that a sacrifice? You bet it was! I had to swallow my pride and allow my children to see my own struggles with sin.

So be thinking about what your goals are. How are you going to attain your goals? What sacrifices are you going to have to make? Are they godly goals or fleshly goals?

I pray that with God’s help and after all is said and done, that my children would follow my example and “love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, and mind”, even MORE than their mother did!

From One Mom to Another,

A Newfound Contentment

Lately, I have just felt so "motherly". I have always been into being a mother, but there is a whole new contentedness that has fallen on me that I just can't explain. I love my role as "wife and mother". I love being home with them and teaching them the ways of God. I love watching my baby grow and cheering her on for each new accomplishment.

I love it when my hubby does silly things like put his reading glasses on Jacob! He looks so cute "reading" Steve's Bible. I love that Jacob is now in the potty-training process. Normally, I detest this part of parenting, but it has actually been way more relaxing this time around. He is starting to figure it out little by little and wearing his underwear more and more. I will post pictures of our family's traditional "poop party" we have for each kid the first time they poop in the toilet! Exciting stuff! LOL!

I love dressing up my little Lily Pie. She is not only walking, but starting to climb into and onto everything! She gets stuck a lot in the diaper basket!

I love that my kids have great relationships with their all their grandparents. We are blessed to have my dad and stepmom living near us. I love it when they get so excited when they see their Nanas and Papas coming through the door. Even Lily is starting to screech when she sees them. It's just adorable!

Yes, mothering six children is hard work. When I had two children, I never felt this content. I was so miserable. I think I spent most of my time dreaming about how I was going to get away and have my next break. I was overwhelmed and not a very nice person to be around. God has changed me so much in this area. I do enjoy having breaks now and then, but I don't long for them and count the days until they occur. I try to enjoy each day as it comes.

I love all the different stages that my children are in. From growing boys to babies, I get to experience the whole gammet at once! It is challenging, but I have found so much reward in this new found contentedness. I am one blessed lady! I have peace and joy most of the time instead of every once in awhile. I have a good life and I want to praise God for it!

Andrew's Foot Update

Most of you know that our little Andrew (almost 5 year old) has had an ongoing problem with his turned in foot. We noticed it as he started walking, but it got way worse after his bunk bed accident. It was a terrifying experience and it traumatized something in either his brain or his foot. We have been to at least four doctors that have agreed that it is a mild form of cerebral palsy. We tried massage, stretching and a brace, but to no avial. We just had a follow up and they have decided to lengthen his tendon. It's exciting to think that Andrew will be able to walk like a normal kid without being on his tippy toes, but at the same time scary to think that I am going to have to let him go "under" for surgery. It's the mama in me, I guess.

They had mentioned this was a possibility as he grew older, but have decided to do it now because they are worried about arthritis setting in his turned ankle. I'm so glad there are wise doctors out there that know what to do! Thank you, Lord!

I need to pick a date and line someone up to watch the kiddos so we can do this. Pray that everything will work out as it should. Thanks!

Dedicating Lily/Yellow Belt for Steve

We had a very busy weekend. Before my mom came and got the three older children, Jessica begged me to make Grandma Kricket the soap we had been promising her for months. So we made some pretty cucumber melon and lavender soaps for her.

On Saturday, I was able to watch Steve (thanks to my sis for watching the kiddos) do his first Tae Kwon Do belt test. He did really good even though he was a little nervous. He skipped the orange belt and went to yellow! We were very proud of him. We need to get a new uniform for him. As you can see in this picture, he is absolutely swimming in it! We call it his dress. I also got to see the yellow belts break boards. They were so nervous, but they all managed to do it, including the instructer's nine-year old daughter. There was a lot of love and support in the room as we cheered them on.

I had so much fun dressing Lily up. This was my old "poncho" and hat that someone crocheted when for me when I was a baby. The hat barely fit her. Jessica was just thrilled to dress her up again and again.

Here is Lily and I at her baby dedication. Again, Jessica picked out the dress! We both think she looks adorable in it. She was so good during her dedication. I will post more pictures of it later. I wanted to sing her "A Mother's Prayer" by Serene and Pearl, but I got scared when I woke up in the middle of the night with a very sore throat. I kept praying and gargling and somehow God helped me through it. I was able to sing to my Little Lily. It was very emotional for me, but I managed to keep it mostly together. The dedication was very special because Pastor Steve was able to do it. I know he was in pain, but was relying on God's strength to get him through. I so appreciate him! He has been battling cancer for over a year now.

After the dedication, I invited family and friends to our house for a soup/salad/rolls. It was so nice to be able to relax and talk with everyone instead of going to a restaurant where we can't hear each other and the children go crazy! It was pleasant and I appreciate all who were able to make it. Thank you!

The "Wailing Woman"

My sister just went on a field trip to Baker City Interpretive Center. She asked me to post my "Wailing Woman" story. It's a little long, but so worth it!

The “Wailing Woman” Story
(October, 2003)


This year, Steve got a chance to go to an EMS conference in Baker City, Oregon. He thought it would be nice to have the whole family go. On Sunday, while Steve was in class, I thought I would take all three kids to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center by myself. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Here’s the story…

At the start of the museum there is a wonderful set up of a pretend wagon train. It is very realistic and has speakers that “talk” for some of the characters. The boys were really fascinated with a woman who was kneeling beside a grave crying for her baby who got ran over by a wagon. At first, I was hoping they wouldn’t find out why she was crying, so I simply told them that someone she loved had died. Well, as she was weeping, she went on to say that her child had been run over by a wagon. So I ended up having to go into the whole death conversation after all (something that takes forever to cover when you are talking to a three-year old and a five-year old).

We finally got past the “wailing woman” and were a third way through the museum when Marcus (the three-year old) announces that he has to go poop! Mind you, we are a LOOOONG ways from the bathroom, so I PANIC! I managed to drag two children and push a baby in the stroller as I race to the restroom. We got slowed us as we went by the “wailing woman, but managed to get them past her. We got to the restroom and Marcus said it was a false alarm. I make everyone go pee while we are there, though.

We went past the “wailing woman” yet again and manage to get to the exact SAME spot when Marcus said he has to go poop AGAIN! I panic (again), and started to race them all back to the restroom for the second time. Meanwhile, Josh was flat disgusted that we had to go back on account of Marcus. We went past the “wailing woman” again and Marcus goes poop in the restroom.

We go past the “wailing woman” as we headed back into the depths of the museum for the third time! We got a little farther into the museum (about half way through) when Josh got a panicked look on his face and said that he need to go poop! I couldn’t believe it, after the fuss he made about Marcus inconveniencing him!

As we ran back to the restroom, Josh said that he actually had popped his pants and that it was going down his pant leg into his boot!!! I couldn’t believe that all of this was happening! We streaked back into the restroom (past the “wailing woman”) where I proceeded to take off Josh’s pants, socks and boots. Guess what? There wasn’t any poop to be found!

I knew there was a piece of poo lying on the museum floor somewhere that some un-suspecting museum patron might step in! So after I finished cleaning up Josh, we started to go through the museum once again. This time I am scanning the floor carefully to find the nasty object that my child left behind. Right by the information desk, I spotted it! I quickly went and got a paper towel and cleaned it up. I didn’t think anyone saw me! Whew! How embarrassing!

After all that, we had to go past the “wailing woman” for the sixth time! Each time we’ve passed it, the boys had to stop and discuss why she’s crying. This time, as going past, I look back and catch Marcus looking under her skirt! I was dying of humiliation!

We finally got through the whole thing, but I decided that I would never again do this with three small children by myself. It was so stressful! I’m glad I can look back on it now and laugh. It is one of our favorite stories! Jessica was about six months old at the time. I can still see her little cheeks bouncing as we were running back and forth to the restroom.

So if you ever go the Baker City Interpretive Center, remember me when you walk by the “wailing woman"...

A Victory!

The other day I had a huge victory in the area of controlling my tongue. I thought I might share it with you. Hopefully it will encourage you in your own walk with the Lord.

Here's the story...

I had made an appointment to go to the chiropracter on Friday. I made the it on Steve's day off so the could watch the kiddos. He decided he wanted to go jogging beforehand and told me that he would meet me at my appointment five minutes before it was to start and then he would take the kids to the park while I was getting cracked. No problem, that kills two birds with one stone.

I arrived at my appointment and I waited and waited for Steve to show up. I went in and and told the lady my circumstances all the while my tempature is rising. I was getting mad thinking how inconsiderate he was being for being late. I was stuck, though, I had all the children with me and I needed to lie on a table and get worked on. I looked around the office and saw a few toy-like items. Whew! I thought to myself, "I can do this. It is what it is." I got the older kids situated watching the younger ones and took the baby in with me. The Doc was totally cool and fell in love with Lily. Thank the Lord nobody else was in the waiting area because I could hear my four-year old and six-year old fighting from my room. As I was listening, I was starting to stress even more. So my doc, who is totally New Age, looked at me and said, "Don't stress, every thought is a prayer." Hmmm, God used her to totally convict me. I told myself, he must have a good excuse, I know his intentions aren't evil. I also knew that when we figured out whatever miscommunication this was, that he would feel terrible!

He called me on my cell at the end of my appointment and profusely apologized. He finally figured out that I was going the chiro instead of my massage therapist. He was waiting at the wrong building, so he had to walk to the fire station to call me after jogging 7 miles because he didn't have his phone with him. Poor guy!

Here is my victory. Six months ago I would have been LIVID! I would have let him have both barrels, without even waiting to hear his side of the story. This time, I could feel the Spirit actually holding my tongue. It was amazing. Keeping my husband's motives in mind was huge. The only thing I said was, "I hope you can give grace to me if I ever mess up in this type of a situation." I don't think there was anything wrong with saying that, because we have always lacked  grace towards each other. We are both working on it.

Praise the Lord! Only He could so completely change me. I couldn't have done that without some serious Bible study and prayer. I feel that God is completely changing the soil in my heart. The peace that is invading my heart is so worth it.

Thanks for letting me share.

Snippets

Here are just a few quick snippets of what is going on in my life. Jacob (my three year old) took this picture of Lily, Jess and I before church yesterday. I love any picture with just us girls. It felt great to be at church again. Lily is still fighting her ear infection. I took her to the doctor today and they are going to give her some stronger antibiotics for a few more days. I hope it helps. It is like having a newborn at night. She is getting up crying 5-6 times a night. This is after she spoiled me for two weeks and slept through the night! Don't you just hate it when they switch on ya like that? LOL!

This is the new thing that my children like to do to Lily. Rub her head! Yep, it's silly, but she just goes crazy when they do it! She closes her eyes and just soaks it up.

I'm so excited that my little Lily is finally walking! That means I get to put her in dresses more often! She would get so frustrated when she tried to crawl with her dresses, so I gave up and put her in pants everyday. I have all these cute dresses that are finally going to get worn. Love it!

Here is a picture of my twin sis, Jackie and I two weekends ago when she came for a visit. We have been able to see each other quite a bit lately and it has been just heavenly! She lives three hours away, so we talk on the phone several times a day, but seeing each other is such a treat!

My house cleaner, Cassie, came over today and cleaned away! It was wonderful to watch my house being transformed as I did my regular chores. It felt like we were working as a team. We discovered that Jackie's non-toxic cleaners are amazing! My bathroom floor is absolutely shining from using the laundry soap and "409".

I have a frozen lasagna (my fast food) in the oven and am planning on homeschooling my older boys when they get home from their Nana and Papa's.

I'm looking forward to going for a walk once my hubby comes home from overtime.

Something I am working on is taking my thoughts captive. Every time I think a thought that is out of line with God's truth, I am asking Him to help me grab hold of that thought and put it back in place-under the belt of truth. Transformed speech is the result of a mind that is renewed with truth. I am trying to continue to fill my mind with godly things, Scripture, songs of praise and such. This is leaving no room for me to think ugly and sinful thoughts towards people. It is working. I am finding that it is getting easier to not judge people's motives when I feel like I've been wronged. I am getting angry LESS with my husband and children.

Have a blessed day!

My Musings

I have done really good staying off the computer this week. I am feeling such a peace about this decision. My life is changing for the better as I am more intentional about my Bible study, homeschooling, and ministering to those in my home. I didn't realize how things were so out of whack around here. The picture above is of Lily sitting on my lap while I do my Bible study. I don't think I could get a better combination (baby in lap and Bible in front of me!). I finished my "Conversation Peace" Bible study by Mary Kassian. I don't think I have ever been so challenged! I have lots to work on, but I am up for it. I want a teachable spirit. I long to be more like Christ, especially in my speech patterns. I know I would get myself in a lot less trouble if I "tended" to my tongue more. I want to be a "doer" of the Word and not just a "hearer".

I decided two weeks ago to redo my consequence chart. My sister and I pretty much use the same method, but after much discussion, we decided that it would be best to not take their snack away, but break up the level on electronics. This is going much better, because the kids are not using the "no snack" as a gimme. It is straight to no TV or computer, which is like a slow, painful death around here! Jessica was very excited that we were making a new chart and wanted to help. She was very proud of her hearts! Mama means business now. They are better behaved and it is an easy way to keep track of where all the kids are on the different levels.

Here is Jessica's version. It was so cute, the three little ones freaked out when I went to throw the old one away. They wanted to put it in their room so they could "play" with it. Even though they don't like the chart, they know it is necessary and perhaps even comforting to them when they do step out of line. They know exactly what the consequence will be and generally do a lot better the next day.

Lily is still on the mend. She is getting over her ear infection. I am fighting getting sick. Everyone in the house got sick, but me. I am going to try to cut out more sugar out of my diet and go to completely raw or evaporated sugar when I do use it. I'm even thinking about putting sucanat in my tea. Anyone ever tried it? I'm not a huge honey fan, I usually use sugar cubes.

I surprised Jessica on Thursday with a little mother/daughter date. I knew she would be mad at me for getting her hair cut, so I thought I would build our relationship a little. We went to tea house and then went shopping at a few thrift stores. She found a pair of dress up shoes and bought them with her own money. They broke within 4 hours of being home. I took her back today and bought her another cheap pair. It was a fine day and she didn't complain too much about her short hair.

I have been exercising way more. Walking is now high on my agenda. I also am trying to strengthen my weak muscles in my back (I broke my back when I was 15). I walked today for the first time without pain in my lower back! I am going a little farther each day.

I went to the chiropractor today (with all six kids) and she said she could tell a difference. I'm trying to take care of myself a little more. I am a work in progress! Thank you Lord!

Good Communication

Dear Mothers,

There has been a proverbial theme running through my life lately. God wants to refine my communication skills with my husband, children, family and friends. That pretty much sums up everyone in my life! My Bible study is called, “Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech” by Mary Kassian. I am finding treasures untold in this study!

I’m going to dive right in here. What does communication really mean? It comes from the Greek word “koinnia” which means, “to share, partake, have fellowship with, to join together.” It is used in Hebrews 13:15-16 “Through Jesus therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share (communicate) with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” According to this verse, I “share” when I give to others. It is a “sacrifice” because the focus is not on myself but on the other person. In true communication, I am more interested in understanding than being understood, in listening than being listened to, and in giving than getting. I am less interested in ME and more interested in YOU.

I am very guilty of not listening to my husband and children long enough to hear their WHOLE story. I think I know what they are going to say, stop listening and instead I am thinking of what I am going to say (if I haven’t interrupted them already). This is not showing honor or love to my family. Instead, I need to let them FINISH, PAUSE, then SAY back to them what I think they have said. That is called “decoding the message”.

For example: My son starts to argue with me because I find the toilet hasn’t been cleaned properly. Instead of freaking out at him and start my accusations (which in turn causes defensiveness and sometimes an automatic lie), I need to bring him in to the bathroom, show him the toilet and ask him if he thought that this job was well done. If he starts to give his excuses, I need to listen, let him finish his thought, and then say, “What I hear you saying is this…” So much conflict can be resolved this way. Don’t stop giving consequences, instead listen more!

I have found that arguing happens when a person in our family thinks they haven’t been heard. We are working on listening better and not assuming the other person’s motives are evil. Yes, I said WORKING, because this takes a lot of work. It is a process and it starts with me, because I can only change me. Even though I think I’m a “mind-reader”, God is assuring me that I am not. Ouch!!!

So my challenge to you ladies is to speak less, listen more, try to remain calm and pray for lots of wisdom from our Heavenly Father! He promises to give it abundantly.

From One Mom to Another,

Cuke kid, Cleaners and Comments

I have recently discovered Jacob's love for cucumbers. He kept begging for a cucumber, so I got one out, peeled it and started to cut it. He freaked! He kept saying, "No, not like that. I want the whole cucumber." So I handed it to him thinking, I better watch where he is going to dump the other half when he gets full.

I kept taking pictures, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Going, Going....

Going some more....

Gone!!! End and all. Ugh! When Andrew saw Jacob got his own cuke, he wanted well. He ate his entire cucumber in about two minutes flat! Talk about about a cheap, healthy and easy snack!

Steve got his Lasik surgery done on Thursday and is LOVING it! I think I might even try to do it in a few years. We will start saving and I need to be able to have the tests done to see if I am a candidate. I'm scared, but would love to be able to do something like that. It has been a dream come true for Steve. It's so much safer on fire calls.

I just spent the weekend with my twin sis. It was great to see her new place with all the changes that her and her hubby have made. We got to watch a BBC period piece and made a bunch of non-toxic cleaners (laundry soap, comet, 409, and dishwasher soap). We didn't get around to her showing me how easy it is to make my own chocolate. Maybe next time! Here is a link to her blog if you are interested in her non-toxic recipe series at http://www.homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com/

The bad part was I was thoroughly exhausted because of Lily having an ear infection. I took her to the ER on Saturday morning and paid $100 for a doctor to tell me he won't give her antibiotics. So when I got home Sunday evening, I took her to our ER in town and they gave her some no problem. Talk about frustrating! She is finally feeling a bit better and acting more like herself.

I've done good staying off my blog. It will be a treat to take sometime to catch up on all of yours, but that will have to wait a bit more. Thanks for all your sweet comments and prayers lifted up on my behalf. I can't even tell you what a reliefe it has been to come to grips with this and to find balance. Things are getting done around here and children's hearts are being tended to.

I'm going to start doing what my sister (Cheesemaking' Mama) is doing. This blog thing has gotten to big and I have so many people that are following that if you leave a comment, I will do my best to go to your blog and comment on yours. I am all about relationships, so I think this will be a good balance for me.

Baby is fussin' gotta go!