Lego Man

Sam loves his Lego's - this is where I will find him most days - sitting on the floor creating something. He's the chief mechanic and I'm on standby - ready with my longer (unchewed) nails to pry apart little blocks. The trick will be when sweet baby girl gets on the move and all these tiny toys must be kept out of her reach!!! Until then the floor is all his!!!
His latest creations - maybe he'll work on real airplanes someday (that industry is practically in our backyard)

Until he grows up this is the perfect occupation for a 9 year old!!!

NOT a Hit!!

Won't be making this casserole again!! :0)

Yummy!!!

So, Esther is blowing bubbles with her nose - really gross I know, but hey, I got that award that says I tell the good and the bad, so there it is - yuck :0)!!! Anyway, that means next to no sleep for Mommy and Daddy last night. I was really dragging today so sweet Ruthie decided to take over in the snack department. She made the BEST oatmeal cookies!!!
Don't they look yummy?!! (BTW there is snow on the ground again - you can just see it in the window)

Everyone loved them - especially this little man who kept insisting "Just one more Mommy - it'll be my last one!"

I knew they would go fast - she did such a good job.


Yep, good cookies!!

This sweetie also helped lots and lots today holding a fussy, drooly, sorta slimy - but still very cute baby girl while I folded lots laundry (yay!! Thanks to her I'm caught back up!!).

A Fun Game

So I'm stealing an idea from my friend Cinnamon over at Knights and Maidens Gathering. She put up this game - it's fun - so I decided to borrow her idea tonight. It's been a crazy day here and something lighthearted was in order (we've been running nonstop all day!!). So here goes:

100 Things RULES: There are 100 statements and you bold the ones you have done. Grab it and play for yourself!!*

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disney world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Had stitches

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - on the beach, at least

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept in an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse (solar)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chicken pox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a lawsuit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

Daybook Time

A day late cause I had birthday business to put up yesterday!!

FOR TODAY January 20, 2009...

Outside my window... bright sunshine on frosty grass - very sparkly and pretty!!!

I am thinking...about chickens and the new chicken coop we're planning - brainstorming about where we can get some recycled building materials

I am thankful for...a God who is in charge in spite of big changes that are out of the control of ordinary people

From the learning rooms...continuing our unit on the War of 1812 and amphibians - we're reading Justin Morgan had a Horse

From the kitchen...smoothies with homemade yogurt, strawberries picked last summer, bananas, spinach and orange juice

I am wearing...Skirt and warm stretchy green shirt and newer slippers

I am creating...crocheting my first thread doily!! Really fun!

I am going...to take one of my boys to church for Bible study with his youth pastor

I am reading...a library book - can't remember the name of it - it's okay - clean - just something to read before I sleep at night

I am hoping...the change in the White House doesn't cause too much change :0) I'm not one for change - I like things to stay the same

I am hearing...Baby girl fussing - she's waking up from her nap

Around the house...There are toys all over the living room - the little ones are playing kitchen - I have eaten tons of play food this morning :0)!!

One of my favorite things...the kids all playing pretend together - I love listening in - they say the funniest things and I just LOVE kid giggles!!

A few plans for the rest of the week...just a regular week - with the regular running around - I like regular weeks

Here is picture thought I am sharing: The kids got out their paints and spent the afternoon painting up a storm - my refrigerator is decorated with new pictures and Daddy's office has new artwork adorning the walls

To see more fun Day book entries you can go to http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday!!!

This week marks my oldest child's 19th birthday. I guess I should no longer say child - his is a young man - and a fine one at that. I am so proud of him. He is a Godly young person with a great heart. I don't see much of him right now - he works over 40 hours a week and also is taking a full load of college credits. He is one busy person - but I wouldn't have it any other way - he is single minded in pursuit of his goals and dreams - he contributes to our family and our church and most of all he loves God.

Tim accomplished his Eagle Scout rank right before he graduated from high school - here are a few of his Eagle Court of Honor pictures:

His Eagle medal:

Court of Honor Ceremony

Snuggling baby sister (and doing school work - multi-tasking at it's best!)

Happy Birthday -Timothy. We love you and are incredibly proud of you!! May God bless you on your journey into independence.

Catalogs

I love seed catalogs!! I hate seed catalogs!! Actually, I really love them but they start arriving in my mailbox right after Christmas. And they are so beautiful with their colorful pictures of veggies and flowers. This is the problem - if I read them too soon then winter seems way too long - so I hang on to them until the gray rainy weather is just about to make me bananas. Then I dig in and read about Kentucky Wonder vs. Blue Lake Pole beans, Cherry Belle radishes and Amish Paste Tomatoes. I get out my graph paper and draw diagrams and make lists and in my dreams my garden provides all our needs for a family of ten for an entire year. I love it!! Oh the temptation!!! I can't read them yet. Spring is still too far off - and my favorite catalog came this week! Well, I did give in and read a little bit of my favorite. I didn't read the seed part - just the chicken part. My sweetie has said that we are fixing up our chicken coop which has sadly been empty for a time after a very naughty raccoon demolished our flock. So I have been reading about Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds and Jersey Giants and dreaming about chickens and ducks the last few days!! A little while longer and I can read all the rest.

Do you think she might be teething? :0) Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Christine

Award!

I guess I got an award - from my friend Simply over at Simply Stork. She gave me the "Marie Antoinette Keeping it Real Award":

So this award is given to bloggers who tell the good and the bad and everything in-between. Thank you my friend. So I am supposed to pass this award along (I had to ask Simply what a blogger is supposed to do with something like this :0). I am passing it along to my new friend over at Knights and Maidens Gathering and to my friend over at Ross Country Cottage.

In the spirit of telling to good and the bad I'm going to show you what my dining room looked like earlier today:

Yuck!! The laundry pile is simply out of control!!!!

So after a lot of time and work and Esther willing to spend part of her day sitting in her play toy:
I finally got my house looking like this
And this is my reward - playing with chubby baby girl who has found that toes make very good toys:0) hee hee hee
This is my tip for the day - not that I'm an authority on much - but ten people in a home can generate a lot of laundry especially people of the infant sort and the teen sort!!! So after reading tons on laundry organization and creating schedules etc. I discovered something: those are all great and I do like keeping to a schedule but the real key to laundry success is one thing - JUST DO IT!! :0) (I'm preaching to myself here, by the way :0)

Blessings (I'm off to reload the washer),

Christine

Simple Woman

FOR TODAY January 12, 2009...

Outside my window... gray skies, drizzle, the bare brown branches of my little maple

I am thinking...about my menus for the week

I am thankful for...my husband and his hard work - two jobs so I can stay home with the kids

From the learning rooms...starting our unit on the War of 1812 and amphibians

From the kitchen... homemade vanilla yogurt culturing - 4 quarts this time since we ran out last week

I am wearing...soft corduroys and soft green sweater, beat-up slippers (I think there's a hole in the toe - one feels funny)

I am creating...just working on my blanket

I am going...to Costco with my hubby for a date - and the fill up the pantry

I am reading...Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - really cute book - a relaxing read

I am hoping...to get back to exercising this week

I am hearing...A Mr. Monk dvd playing in the living room - my son gave me a series for Christmas. It's a fun show.

Around the house...Still working on that laundry pile - I'm thinking that I need to get some new houseplants - maybe a flowering violet to cheer up the place on these gray days

One of my favorite things...Squealing babies!!! Esther has discovered her voice!

A few plans for the rest of the week...the big guys have a snow retreat with church this weekend - I'm sure that will involve several errands with me as the taxi driver.

Here is picture thought I am sharing: Sam wasn't to sure about the lavender smell when we picked from this field this summer - but I can say I sure enjoy the scent now in my room from my dried flowers. :0)
For more Simple Woman Daybook entries you can go to: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Christine

What a mess!!!

Our neighborhood looked like this just a little while ago. Then the jet stream changed practically overnight and brought our winter storms from Hawaii instead of Alaska. So we went from this:


To this in hours - it was weird!!


But that means that rivers that looked like this:


Now look like this (and very much worse - we just didn't want to get in a place where we were stuck!!) BTW the bridge we took that first picture from is now completely under water!! Could not even get close to it there was so much water!!!


And local farmlands that looked like this:

Now look like this (the picture can't show how far that water reaches!! As far as the eye can see)
Whole towns are dealing with water where it isn't supposed to be. Everyone to some degree has been affected - whether it is dealing with limited transportation, extended company (as we had) because people couldn't get home due to quickly rising rivers (our niece just was able to get home yesterday) or homes filled with water. What a mess!! The joys of living in a beautiful area filled with lots of rivers streams and creeks does have its problems at times! This also shows that we are really at the mercy of things far more powerful that us even if we like to think we are in charge. I'm so glad our family knows the One who is Most Powerful - the One who created water and weather and all things. The Amazing thing is - He knows me!!!!

Blessings,
Christine

P.S. We are in prayer for those who lost much in these storms - and will help any way we can!!!

Music Galore!!

After a nice break music lessons have begun again. So the instruments are out and kids are madly practicing (catching up :0).

The guitars are out - the big boys play these:

The drumming has resumed
The fiddling has started

All beautiful music - I enjoy all the music that is always going on in our house. Not being particularly musically talented myself I do truly enjoy listening. When Esther is bigger I will start my music lessons again as well. I am painfully learning to play the fiddle also. My fiddle is taking a short rest while Esther grows but then I will be back at it.

Irish Dance lessons have also restarted: Ruthie is doing so well!!

There are a lot of lessons going on in this house!! We have managed to combine fiddle, dance and guitar lessons with other homeschool activities to keep the running around to a minimum (which I'm glad for). Music is so worthwhile to learn!! I wonder what instruments will catch the fancy of the younger crowd?

Blessings,

Christine

FOR TODAY January 5, 2009...

Outside my window... Rain dripping - snow sliding off the trees

I am thinking...about Esther being five months today - it doesn't seem like she could be five months yet - maybe I miscounted

I am thankful for...routine

From the learning rooms...getting back in the groove

From the kitchen...vegetable chicken soup, homemade Italian dinner rolls, and applesauce. Also homemade vanilla yogurt culturing.

I am wearing...the standard denim skirt and thermal pink top.

I am creating...a tiny felted pocketbook type bag for my crochet hooks - making up the pattern - I hope it works

I am going...to finish getting my house back in order after all the guests etc. The last one left yesterday

I am reading...I am NOT going to read my seed catalogs yet - I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!!!

I am hoping...my sore neck goes away quick

I am hearing...Daddy telling the little ones to slow down the game of tag they've got going on - lots of laughing and shouting.

Around the house...Things are getting back to normal - must get caught back up with the laundry (does that ever really happen or is it just a dream?)

One of my favorite things...Seed catalogs in January (I'm not going to read them yet!!!)

A few plans for the rest of the week...just enjoying the regular routine

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

I do enjoy a routine and I'm glad to begin again trying to keep one together. For more Simple Woman Daybook entries you can go to: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Christine

Again!!!

Another snow storm has once again hit us. One snowflake is beautiful - thousands upon thousands covering everything with marshmallow cream is magical!!

It's supposed to turn to rain so I am going to watch it fall as much as possible tonight!!

Blessings,

Christine

Drawing To An End

We have had so very much fun the last couple of weeks. Playing in the snow, eating way too much, enjoying family and just general festivity. Today was really the last hurrah of the holiday season for us. My sister and her hubby who have been visiting from Washington DC spent their last day with us. She and I bummed around a local antique store and had lunch together. It was nice to spend some time alone with her!!!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with my brother and his family. They live nearby but with our busy lives we don't spend much time together although they are counted as some of our most favorite people :0)!!! My brother and sis-in-law adopted 5 beautiful children - some of them with many difficulties. They have been presented with some awesome challenges in raising these kids but are doing an amazing job!!! God's grace carries them daily!! We often have the pleasure of their oldest daughter spending time with us. She is a delight!! She has spent a good portion of this week with us which has been great fun!!

This evening we needed some wind down time so my sweet hubby fixed dinner while I dozed on the couch (I was intending to work on my blanket but sorta fell asleep instead :0) Then we ate dinner watching the movie Wall-e. Cute movie. Just a fun quiet evening sitting together.

Tomorrow the Christmas pretties will be wrapped carefully and put away until next year. Since my computer was sick for a while I didn't get to post a picture of my favorite Christmas decoration in my home so I will now before I take them all down:

This gives me the most pleasure of all to see at Christmas time - EIGHT stockings hung by the fire - what a gift God has blessed me with - Eight wonderful children to raise for Him~~
This is my newest addition to my snowman collection. I rescued her from my favorite thrift store for only $1.48!! I am crazy about her. My daughter said it was because she is just like me - and the more I though about it I agree. She's short, soft and round and so am I! She likes skirts and so do I. She always has a baby in her arms and so do I! My nose isn't quite so orange but all in all we could be twins :0)!!

Just a picture of my beautiful niece and handsome son watching the movie this evening. I just love it when we have a few extras hanging around - just adds to the fun!!

So very soon life will be settling down to the slightly less busy routine we have. I'm looking forward to regular bedtimes some quieter evenings but the joy of spending time with family that we don't get to see very often is a delight that I wouldn't trade for anything!!

Blessings

Mom of lots