the great adventure

what do you get when you throw together

some kids

khakis

a few old biological warfare bags

some plastic party hats

ribbons

fabric

rope

hot glue

various thrift shop goodies

dollar store gun sets

snaps

a little imagination

time

and

spray paint

??

a bunch of Indiana Joneses

(ok - so TJ didn't dress up....

Thanks for all your help with the girls, T!)

~

Today was Annual Meeting Sunday.

This year's theme was The Great Adventure.

Wednesday

I decided we should pull together some outfits for the kids.

The bullwhips may have been going a bit overboard.....

sweet surprise

This morning

Jeremiah was watching Lexi

and she went pee one too many times.

Leaker.

All by himself

he took off her wet clothes

and changed her diaper

~

What a loving big bub!

oops!

Brandon told me a few weeks ago

that

one of the things he loves about summer

is all of the cold drinks.

So

I've purposed to be more generous with my "Yeses"

when the kids ask if they can have a snow cone.

~

For the syrup flavors,

we use koolaid

made with 2/3 the sweetener and 1/4 the water.

All summer long

Brandon has been making the syrup

with 1/2 sugar, 1/2 xylitol

~

Today

I told him to up the sugar and decrease the xylitol

because the xylitol is soo expensive

and I hadn't noticed any ill-effects from the sugar in the snow cones

~

big mistake.

HUGE.

yeah, man, that's the good stuff

wasn't all that long ago

that

Josiah was helping Lily learn to walk

Tyler's favorite muffins

Poor man had to make them for himself.

In my defense,

I'd have made them if he'd have asked.

~

Blueberry Muffins

(makes 24)

cream

1 c. brown sugar

2/3 c. oil

add

2 eggs

mix, then add and mix

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. milk w/ 1 tsp lemon juice)

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. chopped nuts

2 c. blueberries (frozen - don't waste the fresh ones!)

If using freshly ground flour, let sit half hour or so.

Pour batter into well-greased muffin tins or paper liners

top with

1/2 c. brown sugar mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon

bake at 325

for 20 - 25 minutes

~
delish!!

Aunt Terri came to play

The kids were so thrilled to have Aunt Terri come today
with the express purpose
of playing
and creating with them.

She brought paints, brushes
and a great step-by-step
how- to-draw
book.

When they got tired of painting they drug her out to the swing.
She watched.
And got eaten alive by mosquitoes.
(and me - all out of lavender oil. sorry 'bout that!)

Then they collected pokey balls from the sweet gum tree
and she taught them how to make spiders
with the balls and some pipe cleaners.
They only made one each;
'cause the spiders were way too much fun to play with
to mess with making more.

After that
she pulled out the clay.
Of course
she whipped out cute creatures in a matter of seconds.
She is so talented!

An hour or so later
we had her make a Mii
and she went Wii bowling with Jeremiah, Josiah, and Brandon.

A fun, fun day
when
Aunt Terri
came to play

~

Thanks for giving up your day for us, Ter!

good news / bad news

We bought new sheets for our anniversary

this year.

You know -our 22nd -

the one that we celebrated

just 12 days ago

~

I was so happy to have nice new sheets

with no kid-induced rips or stains.

I even listed it in my gratitude journal.

the good news

is

the child

is

still

alive

~

sheesh

~

(and I guess more good news is a non-guilty child felt

and expressed empathy,

"I didn't cut your sheets, but I am sorry it happened")

stolen

"I was thinking about stealing you away for a few hours,"

he said.

"Don't think; do"

is what I was thinking.

I've been stressed and frazzled

pretty much all summer.

First the trip

(stayed home)

then all the fixing up at the Hardie House

(home, again)

And now, summer is pretty much over.

Having taken Eph 4:29
(and other similar scriptures)
to heart,

I try not to complain much.

I really do.

But sometimes my flesh gets the better of me.

And

Tyler has to hear it....

Yesterday

he picked a bad time to call to check on me.

I'm still trying to figure out curriculum

the house is a wreck

yada, yada, yada

~

and so

he stole me away.

Lily went, too

'cause

well

'cause she's just so darn cute

and when she saw Daddy was fixing to go somewhere

she announced she was going with him,

I just didn't have the heart to tell her any different.
~

I still don't have school all figured out

and the house will always be a wreck, I fear

but I feel a little bit better about it all,

having been stolen away for a few hours....

breaking news

Lexi said her first sentence!

The boys have been telling me for several days

that Lexi says "Bubba"

but since I, personally, hadn't heard it

I didn't record it.

I mean,

what bubba wouldn't want their baby to say their name?

They could be mistaken....

but about twenty minutes ago

we

(Papa, Ton', Brandon, and I)

all heard her

clear as can be

"Hi, Bubba."

and now - the results

A lot of the color washed out of the shirts

but still

we thought they turned out great.

(before we washed them, they looked awesome!!)

We ran to Penny's to pick up a few sale items.

(can you believe it ~ Penny's was having a sale - how unusual....)

Of course

everyone had to wear their new shirts.

Tyler looked around the car and chuckled.

"What?"

"I was just thinking - Vern Yip would say

it looked like a rainbow threw up in our car."

~

Surprisingly

I think we made less of a spectacle than we usually do

when we go shopping;

people were looking at all of us in tie-dye

instead of just looking at all of us.

~

a fun project that we'll definitely do again

(but probably not with Tulip dye!)

~

why have my pictures looked so fuzzy lately?

they don't look like that on the camera or computer

just on the blog.

anyone??

family fun night

7 quick takes - again

1.

I'm liking this 7 quick takes thing;
it gives me a chance to catch up on old news
that I haven't managed to record
without it being
- well -
old news

2.

I am developing a fondness for lavender oil.
Still don't like the smell
at all
but it is proving to be an essential
(haha - get it - essential - I crack myself up)
ahem
an essential part of my 'medicine cabinet'
~
Lexi isn't a big pooper
as in
she doesn't poop often.
I worried when Jeremiah went through this stage
worried still, but less, when Josiah did
by the time Lily was there
I was okay with the whole go a kazillion days between going
and now it's Lexi's turn.
A consequence of that, though, is
sometimes
the girl poops off schedule
and I don't find it for awhile
and her poor little bum gets quite sore.
Lavender oil to the rescue!
I put a few drops in a sinkful of water
and plopped her (gently) in
for about 3 minutes.
I left her diaperless and in less than 30 minutes
she didn't even have a hint of a rash.

It's also great for putting on 'squito bites

neat

(that's a fancy word for 'you don't have to dilute it with a carrier oil'

like you do most essential oils)

It works well with tea tree oil

as a poison ivy rash treatment, too.

3.

Lily sings the Winnie the Pooh song

only

instead of 'silly willy nilly old bear'

she sings

"Silly, silly, silly old dear"

I love it!

4.

Poor Lexi's gums are really bugging her;

she's just miserable

and she's bringin' us all down

5.

We went to Mazzios Tuesday

to celebrate Luke & Lana moving into their house.

There weren't many people there

so we just let the kids roam around

while we talked.

Even though I was feeling lousy,

it was the most relaxed I've been in a long time;
it was nice.

6.

We also had friends over earlier Tuesday

which was great fun.

It wasn't until after they'd left that I realized we had

14 kids here

Them's some good kids!!!

7.

'Vulturing'

is when one of my children has a baby

usually a fussy one, but not always,

and they stay

in very close proximity to me

hoping that I will take said baby from them sooner

rather than later.

~

Someone

is

vulturing

right now.

the dam swing

Labor Day weekend

four years ago

smack dab in the middle of working so hard

to get this house livable

Tyler and the kids camped out on the property

and made a swing.

Usually referred to as The Big Swing;

also called

- by the little boys who don't know any better -

The Dam Swing.

I suggested that they use the other name.

"But, it is on the dam...."

Well

whatever you call it

it is a big swing

and it's a huge hit when we have guests.

Mostly with kids and dads

but I know a mom or two who've shocked their kids

by hoppin' on.

I

personally

don't especially enjoy

being that far off the ground

held up

by only a rope

and a tiny piece of wood

Look, Mom, only one hand!

(and still, I didn't yell, "Be careful!")

Josiah pulled himself up

and stood

while

swinging

Even Lily gets in on the action.

I thought I was going to throw up

the first time I watched her go.

Makes me nervous just to look at this picture!

~

Tyler,

thanks for balancing out

the slave driver.

I love you

school shopping

gives me a headache
every
single
year

I've put it off longer than usual;
I'm not sure yet
if that's a good thing
or not.
Probably not.
~
This will be our 10th year of homeschooling.
You'd think I'd have things figured out by now.
'Course
I've been momma-ing
for 22 years
and don't have that figured out yet either.
~
I think
maybe
I should just head to bed
and take another stab
- at both of 'em -
tomorrow

sisters

the first

- of what I suspect will be many -

beauty shop sessions

~

thank God for sisters

!!!

happy anniversary

hubba hubba

~

I can still see the words on the front of our invitation:

This day I will marry my friend

the one I laugh with

dream with

live for

love

~

After 22 years

you are still the one I laugh with

dream with

live for

love

and so much more.

~

Thank-you for marrying me

And for staying married to me

And for loving me

And for making me a better person

I love you

xo

so practical, yet attractive, too

I love this idea!

I hope I can remember it

when we actually have some wall space to use it

7 (more) quick takes

1.

We’ve been 'unplugged' for the week
and it’s been nice.
Although
I was a bit surprised to find
that I still didn’t have time to get everything done
I needed to get done.
It’s been especially good for Jeremiah.
I know this about him; I just tend to forget.
He has a much greater desire to help out
when he isn’t under the influence
of electronics - at all.
The other night,
I told the kids I was going to feed Lexi,
then I had to get carrots and potatoes peeled for dinner
and he said, "I’ll peel the carrots, Momma."
And he did - the whole 2 # bag - without a single complaint.
And
he did a fantastic job!
On top of that
the boy who doesn’t like cooked carrots
ate 2
because they were the best carrots ever.
Still need to work on that pride….

2.

Modeling clay.
The kids have spent hours playing with modeling clay this week.
Best $1 I’ve spent in a long time!

3.

Poor Tyler isn’t feeling too swift.
I loaded up the kids while Lexi was napping
and took him some garlic pills.
I think he was a little bit disappointed.
Usually when I surprise him at work
I bring a treat
not a handful of garlic pills.
But it seemed a little counter-productive to bring him a candy bar, too.

4.

Finally got some sewing in Saturday evening.

The dresses were inspired by Charity
who was inspired by Chris who also inspired Dana....
All those ruffles took a surprisingly long time.
I probably spent 2 ½ - 3 hours per dress.
I’m ok with them
but I was hoping to be thrilled with them.
In retrospect
I should have gone with a skirt
and used a solid fabric.
ah well

5.

I found out last week
that Jeremiah thought he would be going to kindergarten.
He asked me something about napping and school
to which I replied something along the lines of,
“Yes, you’ll still nap when you’re in Kindergarten.”
To which he replied, “That’ll be a little weird.”
“How’s that?” I wondered.
“Well,” he said, “I’ll be taking a nap with strangers.”
Yeah - that is pretty weird, Bud.
Just one more benefit of home schooling...

6.

The boys have also spent lots of time playing in the pammicans
that Tony & Brandon made.

Don’t ask about the name; I haven’t a clue.


7.

I actually heard part of sermon two weeks ago.
So
rolling around in my head the past 2 weeks:
Extreme poverty
Overwhelming joy
All Jesus did - was serve
(this wasn’t from the sermon; but a reminder from Tyler
when I was complaining about something.
And darn-it, I hear it in my head all the time;
'specially when I’m trying to feel sorry for myself.
Nothing spoils a pity party faster.)

for more Seven Quick Takes, see Jen

Oh, I could just eat her up!

She is so scrumptious!!

And she has a new word.

Mama.

6 months. 2 words.

genius, I tell ya

(grin)

trying to make the best of another long day

They are working like madmen on the Hardie House;

Lana and Luke will be moving in

a week from today

finished

or not.

~

Meanwhile

back at the ranch

I started the day off with the breakfast of champions

and the kids had smoothie pops and leftover oatmeal.

Then it was on to movies and legos

and baths - one at a time

so the floor wouldn't get soaked.

and

a bit of painting

For lunch - a picnic - indoors

made so much nicer with Latvian 'lunch sacks'

a hummingbird joined us

and then

a butterfly, too

Apparently

butterflies like smashed pooh.

Of course

no meal is complete without a spill

Lexi had the usual - milk - straight up.

She didn't spill.

After lunch

more creating

yes

that would be gum

but

she's being creative with it

so it's all good.

right?

I'm hoping for an hour or even two

of everyone napping.

so far that's not going real well for me.....

~

and now

we're at the halfway point of this l o n g day.

I imagine the second half will have more of the same.

And we're looking forward to having everyone

together

on a Saturday again

soon.

Whatever will we do?!