Thursday, January 29, 2009

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!!!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

NOT a Hit!!

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

Monday, January 26, 2009

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!!).



Thursday, January 22, 2009

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

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

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/

Sunday, January 18, 2009

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.




Friday, January 16, 2009

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

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

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


Monday, January 12, 2009

Simple Woman

Add Image 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!!!





















Wednesday, January 7, 2009

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





Monday, January 5, 2009

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

Sunday, January 4, 2009

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




Friday, January 2, 2009

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