our evening alone

I love that Lexi is big enough to play with Lily

and toys...

(oooh - those cheeks!)

these girls are already such good friends

the boys made the best of not being able

to swim in the pool

TJ dropped in

and scared the bejeebers out of me

(he always loved startling me when he lived here

now he doesn't get as much pleasure out of it)

Lexi sure was glad to see him!

She's really getting sick

of being stuck with Momma all the time.
Shoot

I'm getting sick of being stuck with me all the time

~

I'm thinking about just popping in a movie

but that seems awfully irresponsible;

the house is still an absolute wreck.

I could clean it

but it will still be an absolute wreck again tomorrow.

I should save myself the trouble.

~ sigh ~

can I get a 'hallelujah'?

I had to use the wagon!

that there

is

forty-four lbs of organic produce

The cantaloupe alone weighed 10 lbs!

~

When Jeremiah saw the eggplant

he said, "We can have ratatouille tonight!"

I haven't been able to find skinny eggplant at the store,

so we have been waiting for over a year for this eggplant!

I had hoped we'd be able to get everything for the dish

from our garden.

maybe next year...

see how orange the juice is?

(there on the left - that's a dried up drip of cantaloupe juice)

oh my

I can hardly wait to eat it.

I wasn't going to pick it just yet
as it's still a bit green,
but when I picked it up to check the bottom
to make sure it wasn't rotting
it snapped a bit.

holes

A young friend of Tyler’s is getting married this weekend.

His bride-to-be is a sweet little thing from a close-knit family.

She’ll be leaving several younger siblings.

If I were in a position to give Ms. Abigail Sawyer

(isn’t that a lovely name?!)

advice,

I would tell her,

“Your siblings will miss you terribly.

Oh

your parents will miss you, too; they’ll be fine.

But the kids.

They just might feel abandoned.

Sure
they like Taylor.
And they’re excited to have a big brother
but they don’t really know what they’re in for.
When you leave
and don’t come back after a few days
there will be a hole.







I know you are anxious to be one with your new husband
and all that s*x
and cooking and cleaning
and s*x
will keep you pretty occupied.
May I encourage you, though,
to take the time to let your siblings know
that you still value them
and love them.






Send them a note
with a drawing - if you’re so inclined.
Visit once a month.
Help smooth the edges of that jaggedy hole.





Because
there will be a jaggedy hole; they’ve had you their whole lives.
And now
you are gone.”

~

Nate, Mandy, ‘Lish, Matt,

I’m sorry.

I didn’t know.

I never thought about what my leaving the family

might mean to you.

I love you.

the challenge

I bought a new foot today.

(thanks, Babe)

When we got the rolled hem foot a few weeks back

and I had so much fun with it

and it worked so well

(which is exactly the point of a job-specific tool)

Tyler told me

he wanted me to have every foot they make for my machine.

After making sure he was serious

I almost cried; it was so sweet.

~

A ruffler was next on the list.

With little girls to sew for

I figured that'd be handy.

They were busy

so she didn't have time to show me

on the machine

how to use it

but she did talk me through it a bit.

I asked was it double the fabric or what.

She said, "There's no way of knowing."

What?!

"Well, now I've got to figure it out,"

I told her.

"You can't. Mom's tried and she can't even figure it out."

People.

Don't you know if you tell me I can't do something

I

will

prove you wrong??

(unless, of course, I really can't......)

only 5 1/2 months old

and already

this

is a rare occurrence

~

She barely left my arms in the hospital

and even then
it was to go to someone else's.

Our first weeks were spent snuggled together;

I held her about 20 hours a day.

"Don't hold the baby all the time,"

they say,

"You'll spoil her."

Here we are

just a few short months later

and

it dawns on me

I hardly ever get to hold my sleeping baby anymore.

So

when she fell asleep on my chest this evening

I held her

just a little longer.

To remember.

Then I laid her gently on her pillow,

right next to mine.

So I can snuggle her all night long.

'cause

she just ain't spoiled yet.

~

The long sleeves are because we have to keep the bedroom quite chilly;

if Lily gets too warm (and she is hot-natured!)

she'll break out in hives.

horribly itchy hives.

Most likely part of a viral infection she picked up

and passed around.

well

back to the drawing board....

~

texture is wrong
flavor is wrong
and
they are
way
too salty

pickles

tonite

I'll be trying my hand at making

pickles

for the first time

(well - as an adult)

~

we've gotten over 100 lbs of cukes already

so we gotta do something...

I am purposed to not waste one bit

of all that God is blessing us with.

~

The recipe I'm trying

calls for 4 lbs;

it won't even make a dent in the pile...

a boy and his quilt

"I'm attached to my quilt."

"Oh, you are?

what does that mean?"

"It means I take it places with me."

"Well, yeah, I suppose it does.

Where did you learn that?"

"Oh, I read Putter & Tabby.

Zeke was attached to his jump rope and took it places."

.

I'm pretty attached to you, too, Josiah

I almost feel sorry for him

Donor is so scared of fireworks.

even snap dragons

Poor pooch.

~

While the guys were gone

I let him sleep in the house - not in his kennel.

He did fine

so since then, on the nights he hasn't wanted to be outside

I've just let him sleep in the living room.

Last night
he came in and slept by my side of the bed.

I wasn't sure if it was for my protection

or his.

I'm thinking - his.

fireworks

It's that time of year again.

The boys spent the day making their lists

and I made a master list to make it easier to compare prices.

(I can no longer rely on my brain...)

Then

we shopped.

Jeremiah is old enough to realize his $20

(thanks Grampa Bob & Gramma Pat)

will only go so far;

Josiah still wants some of everything

and a bunch of some things...

both boys spent every cent!

Tony and Brandon bought less this year than ever before;

mostly due to their lists

and thinking about what they'd buy ahead of time

~

I just love taking my boys fireworks shopping!

~

In no particular order

here's what we bought

where we bought it

and how much it cost:

.

we bought the most at the first tent on 271 (closest to 540)

some of what they had was the same price as the other tents;

we bought here, 'cause a guy from DTC runs it

(and as a nice surprise - gave us a 10% discount :-)

bottle rockets - $3.50 / gross

smoke bombs - $1 / 12 pk

5 shot roman candles - $1.50 / 6 pk

little friendship fountains - $ .25 ea

morning glory sparklers - $1 / 3 (5 pk)

bunker busters (they were the only ones to carry these) - $1.50

satellites - $1 / pkg

snakes - $1 / 6 boxes

day & night parachutes $ .50 ea

split wing rocket - $1.25

25 shot missile box thing - $1

chopper bike - $1.50

~

from the 2nd tent

ground flowers - $ .50 / 6 pk

crackling balls - $ .50 / 6 pk

~

and

from the 3rd tent

party poppers - $ . 25 ea

tanks - $ . 33 ea

screamin' chickens - $ .33 ea

snap dragons - $ . 25 / box of 50

festival balls - $3.25 / 6 + launching tube

~

we didn't go

'cause it was off in the opposite direction

and Tyler didn't think it'd be worth it for the little bit we'd save

(and he's completely right)

but

the TNT tent on hwy 59 (by Mc D's)

has

5 pk morning glories - $ .10

and

6 pk ground flowers - $ .29

~

I thought it'd be fun to look back years down the road

and see how much fireworks 'used to be'

words

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

but only what is helpful for building others up

according to their needs,

that it may benefit those who listen

~

I've been working with the kids lately

on using words

that

build each other up

As usual

I need more work than anyone.

Lily just told me,

"I'm getting frus-ter-a-ted with you."

Sadly,

she didn't just

'learn it up'

all by herself.

~

Matthew 12:35-36

(emphasis mine)
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him,

and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

But I tell you that

men will have to give account on the day of judgment

for every careless word they have spoken.

~

ouch!

~

Create in me a pure heart, O God

more bounty

from the dairy

this time

~
Lana kept the middle kids

(thanks!!)

while Tony and Lexi went with me to Claremore.

Let's just say that we were all 3 glad

that the girls didn't go with when the guys went to Florida...

I'm also glad that Tyler is usually the one to drive.

I'm pretty good with directions

and

I'm great with a map

but I'm not always so hot

with printed out google directions.

But

my little mishap

that added 30 minutes onto our trip

turned up a treasure;

a Fabric Mill Outlet.

and I just drove right on by...

I had some precious cargo to get home

I am so thankful to have a fridge full of goodness!

' course

sometimes not-so-good-for-you goodies

occasionally find their way in the fridge, too.
~

Thank-you, Lord

for the abundance in my kitchen right now

garden bounty

21.75 lbs of cukes and yellow squash

today

!!

Sadly, our squash plants are mostly dead

I don't know what it is about us and squash...

But our cukes?

look fabulous!!

hundreds of blossoms still.

I am so excited;

we will,

for the first time ever,

be able to share
food

from our garden

~

We have one cantaloupe vine;

I was bummed, because that was all I could get.

One measly plant.

But the thing is massive;

it covers at least an 8x10 ft area

and there are probably

30 - 40 cantaloupes in varying stages out there

~

all we needed was a bit a poo

and God's blessing

missin' Papa

and her big bubs

"hi"

It was unmistakable.

The first time,

when she said it to Brandon a few days ago,

I wasn't 100% positive;

last night

there was no doubt.

TJ stopped by the house for a bit

and when Lexi saw him

she smiled expectantly, her arms all twitchy

like Tabby's tail,

waiting for him to acknowledge her.

And then she said it.

"Hiii!"

unbelievably light whole wheat cake

Sunday

using this recipe as a starting point

I made a cake

so fluffy

that had I not run the grain through the grinder myself

I would not have believed it was a whole wheat cake.

I used Tammy's method

but made her fairly healthy cake

downright good for ya

~

4 eggs, separated

1/4 c. xylitol*

1 c. + 2 Tbs whole wheat flour

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

.

Using an electric mixer on high speed

beat the eggs whites till frothy.

Continue mixing on high

and add 1/2 the xylitol.

Add the rest of the xylitol

still beating those egg whites.

Continue mixing till egg whites stand in stiff peaks

(or you think, "Surely I have mixed this long enough.")

.

In another bowl,

use the mixer to quickly combine the remaining ingredients.

.

Using a rubber spatula

gently fold the flour mixture

into the beaten egg whites until completely blended

.

Pour into a greased and sugared (or xylitoled) 8x8 pan

and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes.

.

cool

(cake will sink slightly)

top with berries and lightly sweetened whipped cream

~

yum!

* may use sugar instead of Xylitol

dinner

You're finally going to let me try it??




lemme help

well

I'm working on it

oh yeah, baby!!

~

that brings the total of summer-squash lovers in our family

to

10!

perhaps I am the only one amazed by this...

She's barely two

~

Daddy says we need to get more beads

and set her up with a business!

Wonder how many people would want to buy jewelry

made by a toddler??

the downside of a loving family

One gets sick;

all get sick.

thievin' varmit

This

was stealing my chicken eggs

I don't think so!

Tony got him with a 22
(I'm all for gun safety; but I think we're being a little too safe.
it took about 3 minutes
for Tony to get out to the barn with gun & ammo)

I was going to chop him up and feed him to the chickens
- you know -
as a warning to all other snakes
with dreams of eggs for breakfast
but there wasn't much meat on him
so I had Tony
throw his body to the buzzards

packing away

baby clothes
for the last time.

makes me sad.

(sweet Lily, always observant, just ceased her chanting of

"can you get me a vitamin C and an acidophilus?"

and came and hugged my arm.

We are so blessed to have this girl!!)

we love our Papa

(Lily's present to Papa, made all by herself)
~
Thank you, Lord
for Tyler!
Please
strengthen him and give him courage
as he leads our family in following You.

some favorites

from
Lana and Algie's first photo shoot
23 wks
(after which, Mimi was rewarded with a high five!)

and so it begins again II

We've been here before;

at the beginning stages of fulfilling a dream.

This time

it isn't our dream, but our children's.

How thankful I am that we can be a part

of making their dreams

reality

~

The guys will be putting in 12 long very hot hours

of demolition work today.

Undoing

before the real 'doing'

can begin.

~

Luke & Lana bought paint several weeks ago

in anticipation of this day.

well, yesterday, actually.

The day work on the house would begin.

Only

at that time

we didn't know we'd have to re-do

all

of the electrical

and

we'd have a tree downed by a storm

hours

before the purchase became final

leaving us with many hours

(and dollars!!)

of extra work needing to be done

before we can even begin to think about painting.

Of course

I say 'we' loosely.

Once again

I am at home with little ones

while everyone else gets to do the real work.

At least this time around

some of the little ones

are now big enough

to be helpers

at home

and so it begins again

I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. I am not going to cry.

storms

Way back

several years before we began homeschooling

TJ wrote a paper

on who he thought would make a great teacher.

He choose me.

"because she has great storms,"

he said.

This threw me a bit.

I read 'storms' as 'stories'

and thought

I don't do stories - Tyler tells the stories.

hmm

So I asked him about it.

Storms.

Brainstorms.

Ahh

now I get it......

~

today's brainstorm

(I still get 'em)

was

Tony and Brandon could make strawberry jam

the cooked kind - it's more like 'real jellies'

all by themselves!

It'd be great fun

they'd learn a new skill

they'd create wonderful memories

and be so proud of themselves!

So far

the jam boiled over

(and I mean boiled over!)

and covered the burner

setting off the smoke alarm.

They've both managed to burn themselves,

they don't like making jams and jellies

one bit,

and I've got at least an hour's work

in cleaning that burner

~

In their defense

I hadn't provided them with a big enough pot

and the same mess would have happened to me

but then

they wouldn't have this fabulous memory

~

some storms

are better

observed

from a distance

chicken berry salad

Jeremiah took one look at the salad I'd served for dinner

and announced he wouldn't be eating his salad this evening.

So I told him,

"Goodnight ~ 'cause that salad is dinner."

He ate it

and lived.

I ate and enjoyed.

Lily enjoyed it, too.

I'm not sure about anyone else...

~

First

I made the blueberry poppyseed dressing

by mixing in the food processor:

1 c. blueberries

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. water

1/3 c. vinegar (half apple cider, half white)

1 TBS honey

1 TBS poppy seeds

1/2 TBS mustard

salt & pepper

::

then

I fixed the salads:

lots of leafy greens

thinly sliced chicken* (cooled slightly)

strawberry rounds

pecans

slivered onions

~

delicious

and just perfect for a summer meal

*
I didn't do my usual 'smother it in Cavendars'

for the chicken;

the flavor would have been all wrong.

Instead, I soaked a few breasts in a brine

made of warm water, salt, brown sugar, honey and pepper

before cooking in a hot skillet with a lid for 9 minutes

~

for more ideas and recipes

using summer bounty

see here

~

speaking of cooking chicken in 9 minutes

(which is actually 2 minutes longer than usual, since I hadn't butterflied it)

I bought Lily a couple of frozen dinners for while the guys were gone.

I was worried she'd be hungry

and I wouldn't be able to fix her anything....

She liked the mac & cheese

but really

a dollar

for a tiny serving of mac & cheese

that took 5 1/2 minutes

??

Then there was the little chicken nuggets

with smiley face potatoes.

I pulled them out to put them in the microwave

and the package says it's best cooked in a conventional oven!

15 minutes to heat the oven & another 15 to cook

where

is the appeal??

One could cook real chicken

and microwave a baked potato

in less time than that

and

make extras for other meals.

I went with the less desirable microwaving.

Lily ate them just fine

'Til I sat down with a plate of guacamole and chips

and she said, "Guacamole! I love guacamole!"

and fed those smiley taters

to the dog.

a boost to my ego

NOT!

~

"So, what do they call you?"

he asked

as Lexi and I sat in his office.

I looked at him

blankly.

"Nana? Granny? Mimi?"

he offers.

I suddenly,

decrepit old thing that I am,

realized what he was saying.

"Momma."

I said with a smile as I smooched my daughter.

Then

to add insult to injury

he says,

"Really??"

twice.

Lexi and her old momma after a long hot day

I actually kinda like 'Mimi' though

Papa & Mimi ~ whatdya think?

how's that??

Thanks to Kung Fu Panda

and a tiny misunderstanding

Jeremiah and Josiah have taken to referring to their

er - privates

as 'tenders'

The other day

one of them asked what was for dinner.

I answered,

"____________ (I forget what it was) and chicken tenders."

Then we heard Josiah,

"You know. Chicken p*nises"

more on good tools

Tony came in the room with a big grin

bouncing up and down on his toes

like he does when he's excited.

"Can I cut the grass?"

~

a little note to any sewing friends:

save up $10 and go buy a rolled hem foot.

Really!

It is that helpful!

~

I wasn't even sure there was such a thing;

I know of serged 'rolled hems', but not sewn ones.

We'd actually gone to the sewing center yesterday

to buy an invisible zipper foot;

I can't seem to find 'my' (Briggs) capris anywhere,

and I really need another pair or two

so I've decided to take apart a pair and make some myself.

While there,

I figured, what the hey, I'll ask.

They do make a metallic primer, after all...

So I asked.

"Is there a foot that sort of folds the fabric for you

so you can do a narrow hem ?"

Not only is there one - there are several!

I only bought one.

But

she ended up giving me the wrong size,

so I'll need to go back and get the one I originally wanted.

oh

darn.