right now

I’m nursing the baby and she is drifting off to peaceful sleep.
I’d like to keep holding her
she’s snuggling so sweetly
but I think she’ll actually lay down for this nap,

so I best take advantage of it.

Lily and Josiah are on the couch
her reading Henry and Mudge, while he reads Putter & Tabby.
A load of laundry - colors - waiting to be folded
separates them.
Lily is wearing fuchsia pants and shoes
one red, one pink, both for the right foot.
No shirt.

In mismatched jammies
Jeremiah sits opposite me in the heirloom rocker,
leaning against the quilt, also reading Putter and Tabby.

Brandon is out with Bernie.
He chewed through the rope holding the gate shut.
(Bernie, not Brandon)

Tony is at the church

helping to unload the chairs for the new building
which is almost ready.
He’ll need to stop at the co-op on the way home

to buy some chain for the gate.
~
It’s not picture perfect

but it’s wonderfully pleasant.
Soon we’ll be engulfed in the chaos
that comes with a houseful of children and dogs
but I am enjoying this moment.
Right now.
And

I am happy.

look who joined our farm

Monday
I called Tyler.
"Guess what the neighbors just got?!
A Great Pyrenees!"
"Cool," he said.
"Well, I'm glad you think it's cool;
it made me cry." I responded.
(lovingly - of course)
See
we have wanted a Pyr for a couple of years.
Tony and I especially,
but Tyler was completely on board also
after a visit to an Ozark farm where he saw a duo in action.
When I told Lana about it
she said,
"It's almost as if they read your private journal
and everything you want
they get."

They moved here a year and a half after we did
but they have managed to stay several steps ahead of us
farm-wise
the entire time.
Of course, their family unit
consists of 4 adults
(his parents live with them)
3 incomes
and 2 public-schooled children
whereas
we have added 2 babies
and lost two able-bodied adults
and
paid off the place
(on one income, while home-schooling)
in the time that we've lived here.

They are very nice people
and they've been quite generous with us,
but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit envious,
'cause I have been many times.
Tyler is quick to remind me of the above.
But I am not very patient....
~
Meet Bernie

it was raining, his fur will fluff out a ton when he's dry

~
Those same neighbors came over Tuesday evening
to ask if we wanted a Great Pyrenees.
Her parents raise them
(they are quite expensive!)
they also rescue Pyrs.
(not terribly expensive at all)
They had recently acquired Rick (the neighbor's) and Bernie.
Once Penny assured us that Bernie would be perfectly happy
in the goat field
but would easily adjust to guarding our whole property
once it is properly fenced (several years off....)
of course, we said, "yes!!"

When Penny told her folks, "They have eight kids....."

they waived the adoption fees and just gave us the dog!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us all of our needs
and so many of our wants

someday, Chacho... you will wear stretchy pants...

I

think

I'm going

to

die

!!

As I turned to nurse Lexi this morning,

I groaned, or maybe it was more of a moan,

"I feel like my muscles are completely shredded!"

That's when I figured out why my new exercise DVD

is called the

30 Day Shred.

oh

my

gosh!

OWWWW

~

I like my T-tapp, I really do

but

I have faithfully

- every single day -

either walked or 'tapped'

for five weeks

and I have not dropped a pound.

Now

I'm not exercising to lose weight.

I'm doing it because

first of all - I just need to. I'm not getting any younger...

Secondly

I want my little ones to grow up

thinking exercise is a normal part of life.

I messed up on that with my big kids,

because I wasn't there myself.

Tyler's little incentive program hasn't hurt any either.

But

I do have quite a bit of weight to lose,

so I sort of expected that that would be a benefit

of this new discipline of mine.

Since that wasn't happening

I decided it was time for a change.

~

Oh

I've changed alright;

I am going to die!

Maybe I'll just T-tapp instead, today...

my clever crew

Aren't they clever?!
I would've spent ten times as long
and a ton of energy
unloading by the shovelful

happy happy

It makes me so happy

to look out the window

and see freshly tilled dirt!

Although, this

is more accurately what I see.....

(we decided to keep the garden where we originally put it)

Of course,
I'll be even happier
to see
food
growing out there!

* * *

The tiller always make me think of Tony....

We were pretty broke when we moved out here;

the other house hadn't sold yet

so we were still making payments on both properties

and paying double utilities.

After researching tillers,

we really wanted to buy one with rear tines

but those are the expensive kind...

So,

Tony - 13 years old at the time - bought one for us!

Eventually the house sold and we paid him back.

But

when he bought it

it was a gift, he never expected to be paid back.

I can't use the tiller

without thinking of his love for us

and his generosity towards us.

~

I wanted to do some of the tilling yesterday.

I figured it'd be a twofer;

I could also count it as my exercise for the day.

Silly me

I was remembering my tilling with a front-tine tiller days.

Boy, you really have to manhandle those!

Tilling with this tiller

doesn't even qualify as a workout.

~

Thanks, Tony!

And thank-you, Tyler

for making this year

The Year of the Garden.

I love you

somebody stop me (and other stuff)

Really!
Somebody just needs to tell me; maybe I'll listen.
I
can not
sew
clothes!
grrr
I have precious little time for sewing
and I have spent
at least half of it
getting friendly with my seam ripper.
~
totally unrelated and much more joyful....
Lexi has been smiling all day!
She started off laughing in her sleep
right before Papa went to work this morning
and she's been a happy camper all day.
She had to get fussed at at nap time
'cause she was
disturbing the nap.
She had us all laughing!

I mean

could you just lay there all quiet like and ignore this??!

sooo fun!

~

this picture
is just 'cause
it
makes me smile, too

guess

who just rolled

from her back to her tummy!!!

Guess this explains her fussiness of the past several days;

my babies tend to get quite fussy

right before they aquire a new skill.
~
I know - the lighting is horrid
but I had to quickly document this momentous event

sign of spring

Nothing says springtime like diapers flapping in the breeze.

I do love cloth diapering my babies!

I love making one-of-a-kind diapers.

I love putting the soft fabric on scrumptious baby bottoms.

I love the surprise

of a coordinating diaper under a dress.

I love hanging them on the line

and

seeing them hanging on the line.

~
As I was hanging out the dypes today

and looking at all the fun colors

I thought,

"These ain't yer momma's diapers!"

Then I thought,

"HA - Lana can't say that - cuz they will be her momma's diapers!"

speaking of Lana....

we went fabric shopping today

and got all sorts of fun fabrics for a baby quilt.

I figure if I don't have time to quilt
the next best thing
is teaching my girl how to.

I hope it wasn't cheating

to buy a bit extra

so she can have scraps...

You know - for scrap quilts.

the weekend

We had a visit from Gramma & Grampa Saturday!

They brought Gramma Joyce

who'd been chomping at the bit

to see our new little Lexi.

~

TJ and Luke & Lana came for the afternoon, too;

it was nice

having all our kids under one roof for a few hours!

Tony was reading a Henry and Mudge to Lily.

(Who is finally enjoying being read to;

up to this point, she has preferred to 'read' to herself.)

I got tickled when TJ joined them on the couch

so he could look at the pictures, too!

Just goes to show you that

great literature can be enjoyed by all ages.

~

We had a bit of sadness yesterday.
Our food processor

bit the dust.

My mother in law bought it for me
at a yard sale
16 or 17 years ago.
It was ugly as all get out - but it worked great!
She bought me a new one to replace it about 12 years ago
but I returned it.
It was a wimp compared to this one.
It started breaking a few months ago
so we knew the end was near.
It's not all bad, though.
Now,
I can finally get a Cuisinart!
Wohoo!

what's better at bringing on smiles..

...than Saturday morning catoons?

Why
a big brother, of course!

and for a momma?

A little girl who sees work to be done

and does it. Unasked!

fishin' fun

The little boys just had to go fishing this past weekend!

The fish were hungry for those worms!

Tony joined us
after several fish had already been caught.
Didn't take him long to pull out a big bass.


Not to be outdone,
just a few minutes later,
Jeremiah reeled in an even bigger bass.

Poor Papa didn't even get to fish.
He spent the whole hour getting poles ready
with bobbers, hooks, and bait
and retrieving the hooks from those greedy fishy mouths.

Lily didn't do any fishing either

she was busy cutting 'flowers'
~

The boys just kept pulling out fish

(I don't even remember how many they caught)

and Tyler said,

"Looks like my priority will be cleaning fish this evening.

What's your's?"

I said,

"Guess my priority is cooking fish."

Josiah said,

"Well, I guess my priority is eatin' fish!"

a God thing?!

We are seriously considering

embarking on a journey

that it both exciting and terrifying.

We've talked about it

off and on

for years.

This morning

I found this:

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

I will not forsake them."

~

Isa. 42:16 "

at my favorite blog.

and the winner is....

I finally had time to do the drawing!

My very scientific method of choosing a winner...

and whose name did I pull out??

Lana!

for real!!

Lana, I'm going to order you the Peppermint Tea Tree

(although, I would've thought you'd pick the Chocolate Ice :-)

and we'll make some Lavender Salve together

how does that sound?

Then
just for fun
I drew a few more names
but
I won't be revealing them :-)
~
Start watching your mailbox in a week or so
to find out if it was you
~
"Oh, this is just too good."

just 2 days left....

to get your name in the drawing

for free homemade soap!

kid stuff

Yesterday

Tony was going to run to Walmart and take Josiah with him.
Earlier in the day, Josiah had put on ‘fancy clothes’
(which simply means the shirt had buttons)
As Josiah was putting on his shoes
(his Spiderman winter gators -aka crocs- which did not go with the outfit)
Jeremiah asked, “why are you going?”
To which Josiah replied,
“I’m the handsome one. I have to go.”

Jeremiah came in the house with the first dandelion of the season.
“You know, you can eat these.” he said.

And then he grabbed the honey.

“I figure it’ll be good with honey on it.”

~
Lily saw I had something in the oven.
She dug out some oven mitts and hollered out,
“Move back, move back everyone!”

Then a few seconds later I heard,
“I can’t open it, Mom.”
~

Not to be left out….

Lexi and Dad were thinking
maybe...
Monkey Girl
for her nickname?
Umm
I don’t think so!

self-sufficiency, soap, and a GIVEAWAY!

In my little fairy-tale world
we grow pretty much all of our food
and make
all of our medicines
cleaning supplies
shampoos
and bath & body soaps, scrubs & moisturizers.
~
In reality
we haven’t managed to grow much of anything
but we did finally find a source for manure.

*
Doing pretty good in the herbal remedy department.
Of course
I still have so much to learn!

*
Cleaning supplies.
Well
doing okay, there, too
but I have lots of room to improve.

*
I make my own moisturizer.
Just a blend of good -for your-skin oils

and
yummy smelling essential oils
(think orange chocolate)

I
made a batch of
Baby Bottom Grease
(which also happens to be an excellent lip balm!
I should probably rename it)
right before Lexi was born.

It works great.

*
The closest I’ve come to soaps & shampoo, though
is buying a few books
and doing internet searches.
I’ve tried some of the soaps from one of the downtown shops
but I was less than impressed!
And ‘natural’ soaps from the store
turn out to not be quite as natural as I’d prefer….
Then
I got birthday money from my mom and gramma

(thanks!!)
and decided I’d use some of it

to order homemade soap from Cheri.

I couldn’t wait for it to come in the mail!
At first
I was a tad disappointed.
It cleaned just fine
but I was hoping to step out of the shower
smelling

as if I’d bathed in a bottle of Victoria’s Secret’s Lovespell lotion.
After using it for awhile
(and it lasts a long while, I still have a sliver of my shampoo bar left!)
I’ve come to really love it!
Soap scented naturally just isn’t going to be as strong-smelling
as artificially scented soap.
I am okay with that now.

*

My gang prefers body wash to bar soap.

I felt kinda bad, being the only one to use good-for-me soap

while washing the rest of my family with soap

laden with cancer-causing ingredients

But just yesterday

I found a recipe to make liquid soap from homemade bar soap,

so I am excited to finally be able share the goodness!

~
I still want to make my own soaps someday
(Cheri is working on a soap-making book.
Needless to say, I’ll be ordering one
as soon as it’s available and I have some $$ to spare)
but until I do
we’ll be lathering up with
Sweet Hollow Farm’s
Citrus Sensation Shampoo
and
Tangerine Moisturizing soap.

~
Since I already sound like a commercial….
How about I throw in a giveaway?!
Go visit Cheri’s store
and buy some of her good-for you soaps
(may I recommend trying the shampoo?
And, if you have any poison ivy on your property,
or think there may be a chance of your getting into any poison ivy
you really ought to buy a bar of ‘Sweet Relief’ )
Then

come back and tell me how many bars you bought
(you can tell me what kinds you bought, too if ya want to :-)

~
Up for grabs is 1 free bar of soap, your choice.

*
You’ll get 1 chance for visiting her site
(leave me a comment & tell me what you wish you could buy)

*
And 1 chance each, for every item that you purchase.
(again, leave a comment)
If you don’t know how to leave a comment
(you know who you are :-)
e-mail me.
I’ll choose a winner Sunday afternoon,

so hurry!

oh

and tell yer friends!

sewing fever

I

have been itching

to sew again.

Then

I had to get the Hancock Fabric's sale paper

in the mail;

they've got some cute Spring fabrics!!

And

they even have PUL!!

(not that I need any, mind you)

Seeing as how

I can barely manage a shower

I'm not quite sure how I'll pull off sewing....

Although,

I could sew with Lexi in a carrier

(much of Mandy's wedding dress was sewn with Brandon in a carrier)

but

I'm not going shower that way!

our poor deprived kids

Yesterday

we ended up at the library

during Storytime

(or maybe it was Toddler Time??)

so I let the little ones join in.

There were stories, songs, and a snack.

Josiah was telling Daddy all about it,

".... and we had goldfish and some red drink.

(looks at mom)

What was that stuff?"

um.

That would be Koolaid.

~

Speaking of Josiah and Storytime,

he was such a good big brother to Lily

and I was so proud of him!

my favorite kind of burrito

A baby burrito!!

a very happy (but belated) birthday

to my very favorite son-in law!

Let's face it;
we've already given him
the very best gift we could ever give!

I'm not about to try to top that one!

~

still, I'm pretty sure

you are going to love it, Luke!

and

we love you!!

the girl has taste

I was going t o post yesterday

but

someone

kept me quite busy!

~

Lily pulled out all of my shoes

- which isn't as bad as it sounds -

my collection is pathetic.

When she got to the pair I bought for the wedding

she said,

"these are cute!"

I should hope so

at $37.50

per shoe!

she's not all girly, though

notice the gun

(but overlook the dirty toenails - we do)

about those naptimes

It seems

I'm not the only one enjoying our naps.

Yesterday

as Jeremiah snuggled up to me

(the boys take turns sleeping next to Mom & Lexi)

he smiled and said,

"I'm getting in my happy place"

Lexi lovin's

I love how Lexi is loving her bub

and
her Papa
~
Filed the taxes today.
That may end up
being my only accomplishment this week
although
I really hope to get all the thank-you cards finished, too.
I sorta like to have
both hands
for hand-written notes...
~
Lexi had her first really rough night last night
- or at least her momma did.
I'm hoping it was an anomaly!
Tyler ended up getting up with her around 2
so I could catch a few ZZZs.
Apparently
I was snoring pretty quick-like.
Thanks, Love!!

All in all, she's been great.
Sooo much easier than the previous 4!!!
~
I can't look at Lexi for long
without
getting misty-eyed.
How
out of all the women in the world
did I get picked??
Thank-you, Lord

bribery

Jeremiah has been hard at work

cleaning the kitchen

for the past 25 minutes or so.

~

I heard clanking coming from the kitchen

and figured Brandon must have been loading the dishwasher

(Tyler and Tony are at Riverwalk

so he's the man of the house this evening)

Loading the DW is my job

but I've been sorta busy lately

so the guys

have been pitching in to do my work.

Turns out

it wasn't Brandon;

it was Jeremiah.

And if he weren't attempting to bribe me

it'd be really sweet.

See

about a half hour ago

I told the boys,

"No, you can't watch the Apple Dumpling Gang."

I was going to tell them that they could watch a short movie

but as soon as they heard the 'no'

they commenced to throwing such hollering crying fits

that

I quickly changed my mind.

About the shorter movie, that is.

After being denied

'just one more chance'

Jeremiah resorted to

attempted bribery of an unelected official.

He

(in his words)

"took initiative so mom will let me watch a movie."

what??

He's five!

He

washed the dishes, then put them in the DW.

(not properly, but still...)

He wiped off the top of the DW.

He washed the pan.

He even cleaned off the stove!

~

I'm still not letting him watch a movie

but he may have just earned a new job!

squealing with delight

I have this squeal

which is

- according to my children -

reserved only for when I find out a baby is on the way.

They can ascertain within seconds

who

the new momma is

based on

a) who I'm on the phone with

or

b) who's blog I'm visiting

Every once in awhile

I've been told not to tell anyone just yet

and I've had to sheepishly confess

"Ummm

my kids already know...."

I just can't help it!

~

and while I'm on the subject of new babies....

I hope

that I am present for the birth of some of my grandbabies

so I can feel that fresh-from-the-womb skin against my cheek again.

I don't know that I felt that with my first four

I got to hold their whole bodies...

But having my arms strapped down

for the c-sections,

the only thing I could touch my babies with

was my cheek.

There is absolutely nothing in the world

that feels like a newborn baby

still covered in 'cheese'

mmm

~

ahh naptime

I love naptime.
Not for the reason one might think, though.
I can’t really even describe the feeling.
Happy
doesn’t really capture it
but it’s the best this non-linguist can come up with.

Tyler doesn’t really get it.
For him
naptime is all about the nap (for him, too)
For me
Naptime is a time for me to be with all the little ones.
I know
Lots of folks advocate a quiet time with everyone in their own room…
Well
in this house, that’s an impossibility
so I go in the complete opposite direction
(not entirely unlike most things…..)

There’s a big window on the south side of the room
so it’s usually nice and warm in there.
Sometimes we listen to the Bible as we rest.
Sometimes we don’t.
Usually a little boy has to get up and go to the bathroom.
A swat or two isn’t at all uncommon.
Eventually one or all drift off to sleep.
And when they do
I just feel
so
satisfied.
happy. peaceful. content.

Of course
that’s not how it goes down every day.
Occasionally, naptime is more of a nightmare.
I don’t care to remember those naps;
but I sure don’t want to forget all the good ones!

sweet sisters just up from their nap

Lily & Lexi

from January 22nd
~

better late than never....

random thoughts

I’ve been amazed by how busy I have been
doing nothing
but holding/feeding/changing Lexi
with the occasional overseeing

of laundry doings and food prep/cleanup thrown in
while

loving on Lily and the little boys
and appreciating all the efforts of the big boys
(and loving them very much - just not so much lovin on them…)
~
I’ve found that if I sit in the rocker in the bedroom
Lily and Josiah will pretty much just hang out with me in there.
That’s been nice and cozy.
~
I am so

tired

of sitting!
But I am healing nicely and will be glad to resume my normal activities.
Whenever I can manage to squeeze them in, that is.
Normal activities being cooking, cleaning, school and an occasional shower…
~
I finally slept in bed for the first time last night .
Much comfier than the couch!
I still used every extra pillow in the house, though
~
So far
Lexi is a dream baby!
She rarely cries and spends most of her time snoozing in her favorite spot.
~
We went to church yesterday.
I had to wear maternity pants!
I’ve never had to wear maternity clothes to church after having a baby.
I didn’t cry, though.
Almost
but did not.
Tyler says we haven’t ever gone only a week and a half after a baby’s arrival.
Sweet.
Nice try ~ but I still wore maternity pants!
Sigh.
Besides my pants problem,
church went well and little ones all did super.
I’d considered calling Luke and Lana and begging them to come,
but I didn’t.
Figured sooner or later

they’d have to go back to their church and we’d be on our own then;
we may as well start now.
~
I’m doing an online book study.
Reading the book and sitting and observing my children has been eye-opening.
I’ve always felt like I am fairly consistent, and when I give mercy
(which is admittedly often, because I feel like that’s what Jesus would do)
I let them know I’m giving mercy.
But what I realized

is that I must not be as consistent as I thought I was
because I have a serious obedience problem with my children!
And here I thought things were going pretty smooth
(although we have some ongoing issues with Josiah

that we still aren’t quite sure how to handle)
I need to crack down more, but at the same time be careful,
because we do have a new baby

and everyone’s place in the family has shifted……
~
I’m itching to begin gardening.
I so want to be successful this year!
I keep telling Tyler
all I need is a bunch of poo.
You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to get manure!
After all our deliberating on where to put the garden,
we’re moving it.
Right up by the house, so it’ll be easy to get out and work in it every day.
~
I’m also itching to exercise.
Well

that’s not entirely true.
I’m itching to see the benefits of exercise
which
I’m old enough to realize
means
I actually have to exercise.
At least I have a great workout buddy!
~
I still have some thoughts I want to record from our hospital stay
before I forget what it was I wanted to remember.
Seeing as how I started this post about 6 hours ago

(make that 7 hours...)
I kinda doubt I’ll get to that today…

Elizabeth

recently said

(and this isn't a direct quote, just my remembering...)

that when you have a baby

there is no 'return to normal'.

that normal no longer exists

and soon enough

the new normal will set in.
I'm just reminding myself of that -

since my entire day's accomplishment

is

this blog post!

well that, and a pretty happy baby girl

mmm

Posting may be sporadic.
I'm spending about 20 hours a day
holding the sweetest little thing imaginable.
~
I still share, though

home

I cannot help but marvel at God’s goodness to me.

~
Nine years ago
He called home our tiny baby

before we ever got to meet her/him.
Today
He allowed me to bring one of His precious children to my home.
And oh, she is loved!

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing and privilege

of new life!

home!