don't eat floppy pancakes

So,

we're sitting here eating lunch

and the topic turns to directions

when Josiah asks, "Which way is north?"

~

Jeremiah,

'remembering' the mnemonic phrase,

says, "Oh - don't eat floppy pancakes."

uh huh.

Also known as

Never Eat Soggy Waffles.

memory lane

Lily, Josiah, and Jeremiah

all had a favorite song

when then were babies.

Some (Lily's) were more tolerable than others (Jeremiah's - gag!).

The song would get played

over

and over

and over

(usually while someone was dancing)

to keep the baby from screaming

Jeremiah is in the bedroom

singing "I Loved Her First" to Lexi.

He should know it;

he's heard it a million and one times...

~

It was right around the time Luke and Lana started courting

that Lily picked this song.

We couldn't get the song pulled up on youtube fast enough!

I'd dance around the living room

and bawl my eyes out

waltzing with one baby girl, while my other girl

was getting ready to waltz out the door.

uh-oh

Little Miss Lexi

has joined the ranks

of

mess-makers

and she's durn proud of it

~

She's crawling - sort of;

she gets up

goes forward a little

sits down

gets back on her knees and does it again.

and

she can pull up to standing - sort of....

~

watch out, world;

Lexi's comin'

is this normal?

Jeremiah

was not happy when he realized that

tomorrow

is a Saturday.

As in

no school.

He decided that we'd just have to make it a school day

cuz

"Dad never gets to see how good I do with my school -

with my letters and my words."

~

Last Saturday with Papa;

another delightful scene from my kitchen window...

introducing...

I know, I know.

People will say

that I already have more than my share

that I don't need another.

Why on earth would I even want another??

Fortunately

I've never been one to care much

what people say.

What's another mouth to feed

when you already have so many?

Another soft little body to love on?

~

introducing

the newest member of the fam.

Meet

Alice

the scrawniest little thing you ever did see

but

Ton's in love

and so are the rest of us

my baby

and

her baby

luv you both :-)

't' is for tiger

I just love kindergartners, don't you?

(see the little baby tigers on the bottom r? too cute)

overdoin' it?

I think

sometimes

we take things a tad too far.

Like

for example

the pre-birthday dessert we just ate

in anticipation of Brandon's 11th birthday tomorrow.

Funnel Cakes

and then

since we'd already have hot grease...

we added

Fried Oreos to the menu

~

Delicious

but probably not worth it!
Now

we all feel very heavy

and the house stinks like fried food

ugh....

wrap me in Your arms

"God sure is loving you, Lady."

Tyler lovingly said to me last night

as we were eating a delicious dinner

that I didn't have to make.

~

Michael Gunger sings a song we sing in church sometimes:

There is a God who loves me

Who wraps me in His arms

that is the place where I'm changed

And that's where I belong

[Chorus]

Take me to that place Lord

To that secret place where

I can be with You

You can make me like You

Wrap me in Your arms

Wrap me in Your arms

Wrap me in your arms

~

When we sang this a couple weeks ago

I thought, "Oh, I want to be wrapped in His arms

but I don't even know what that feels like."

~

I want to be changed; I want to be more like God.

Or

at least

I want

to want to.

But rarely is change painless.

And that's the part I don't like so much.

~

The past few months have been a struggle for me

Shoot

the past few years have been a struggle.

I love my children tremendously

I wouldn't want to know a life without any of them.

When Lexi was such a pill our first (and second!) day of school,

I was consciously thankful for her - that we have her

even in all her crabbiness.

BUT

children don't make life easy....

And when they come 4 in just a little over 5 years

(and you've already got four...)

well

things can get a little tricksy.

And so I struggle

(the past couple of weeks, especially so)

far too often in my own strength, instead of His.
~

Looking back over several days, I can see

God has been using His people to wrap me in His arms

.

A phone visit with a very dear friend

who loves me enough to tell me hard things

.

a phone call from another friend - out of the blue

with the loan of exactly what I wanted

and she had no clue I wanted it

.

a refreshing visit with a sweet lady I don't know real well

.

yet another phone call with another dear friend

.

and finally

a friend I am not particularly close with anymore

(no real reason - we've just kinda grown apart over the years)

showed up at my house with dinner yesterday

because she wanted to surprise and bless me.

.

None of these ladies knew I was having a rough time.

None of them!

On top of that - being a homebody by nature, and a busy one, at that

I can go weeks

(yes, weeks!)

never talking to another soul - save the 10 in my immediate family.

So last night when Tyler said, "God is really loving you."

I realized

this

is what it feels like to be wrapped in His arms.

~

It's humbling, really.

which (hopefully) serves to bring me just a wee bit closer

to being 'more like You'

7 quick takes - photo edition

1.

early stages of the BBR

Mrs. Lisa taught Lily how to polish silver in Aunt Terri's shop.

I love how - even from this angle -

you can see how closely Lily was paying attention

2.

just ordinary life

I love these people!!!

3.

Tyler's wants a photo for facebook.

umm

the second one gets my vote

hubba, hubba

4.

life with brothers....

5.

Happy 17th, Ton'

You are such a blessing to our family!

I love you

6.

For easy bedtime reading:

poor man's version of the gutter bookshelves

which, incidentally,

we like better

although - in a permanent house - I'd paint 'em

~

(The upright boards go to the bed, not the shelves - ignore them.)

We simply took a 2x4 & cut it the length we wanted the shelf to be

(by 'we' I mean, Tony, mostly)

then we split the board in half, so we had (roughly) 2 - 2x2's.

Found the studs then screwed the 2x2's onto the wall.

Then we put a line of glue

on the bottom portion of a 1x3 cut to the same length as the 2x4 (now the 2x2)

lined up the bottom of both boards

and added a few finishing nails.

I figure they can choose new books every week.

If they're especially careful,

they can earn the privilege of having library books on their shelves, too!

I didn't want them fighting over books

so I kept sending them to get 2 books each.

Jeremiah was very thoughtful choosing his books;

Josiah wasn't. (except Mouse Paint - he loves that book!)

7.

last week's Family Fun Night

sisters playing together make me so happy!

yep

I do love these people

~

for more quick takes, visit Jen

one down

179 to go

~

Today was our 10th first day of homeschool!

We should celebrate

but frankly

I'm worn out.

Probably our worst 1st day ever.

To borrow from Mr. Putter,

Lexi

was

not

a

lollipup;

Lexi

was a nightmare.

Besides the fact that Lexi had absolutely no interest

whatsoever

in any of her siblings

receiving any semblance of a formal education

things went well.

I do need to purchase noise-reducing ear muffs for the boys, though.

the big day

We were going to

finally

start school today.

No matter what.

Ready or not.

~

We didn't.

~

I did something I rarely ever do last night;

I went to bed early.

With a whole bunch of stuff undone.

I was just so tired!

logic was - I was going to bed so early

surely I'd wake up

early

- refreshed -

and I could accomplish more than if I stayed up

and attempted to finish my work

while in a sleep-deprived state

(I've been averaging 5 hours a night (interrupted, of course)

and that just doesn't cut it anymore)

~

My logic failed me.

The night was not restful

and was even more interrupted than normal.

So

when I got up this morning

later

than usual

I decided to swallow my pride

and take

yet one more

'one more day'

to really get ready

and we'll give it another go

tomorrow.

~

All is not lost, though

I've got the oven warming up

so we can start our last

'last day of summer'

off right

with cookies for dessert

after breakfast

boys blessings and papa bears

Often when TJ and the boys do something (bowling, movie..)
they'll invite Tyler to go along.
He doesn't usually get to go- but it's an honor to be asked.

~

We gave Tony an early birthday present this evening:

two tickets to tomorrow's Rock the River 10-hour concert.

He grinned,

"You going with me, Dad?"

~

What a blessing for my sons to have a Pop

who loves to invest in them

and

what a blessing to have sons who enjoy being

with their dear-old-dad!

I don't know of many 17 year-olds

who'd be happy their dad was going to a concert with them.

What's also neat,

is - it would have still been cool with Ton'

if Brandon was going along, too.

There really aren't many guys who'd be good with that!

~

I love you, my men;

all of you!

(and I'm really glad I'm not going to the concert!)

~

Sons are a heritage from the LORD

Ps 127:3

plain jane

A friend recently gave me a ton of hand-me-downs

(why on earth are they called that? It makes no sense!)

There were so many

if I’d have kept them all

it would have more than doubled my wardrobe.

But

my stay-home lifestyle doesn’t warrant many of the clothes

and some of the clothes, while I liked them very much,

just weren’t me.

As I surveyed the pile of keepers

I thought to myself, “I really am plain Jane.”

~

I was never particularly fond of my wedding dress.

I bought it because it was cheap.

As in - $20 cheap.

And it fit.

I thought it was so plain and boring.

It was plain and boring!

Nothing like what I would have chosen as my wedding dress

if I’d had unlimited funds.

Or just more funds.

Several people commented

(I’m sure they meant it as a compliment - I didn‘t take it as such)

“Oh, your dress is perfect. It’s so ‘you’”

Why

Thank-you very much.

This dress is plain.

It’s like

the ugliest wedding dress I’ve ever seen.

Not a bit of sparkle.

No ruffle.

No floof.

Plain.

~

In retrospect

that dress really was ‘me’.

I really am just a plain simple gal.

I adore floral prints - just not on me.

All of my shirts are solid.

In the rare event I stray and buy a patterned shirt;

I get rid of it within a year.

It’s just not me.

I

am a simple girl.

I am Plain Jane

But I am okay with that now.

doin' the happy dance

I really wanted to do

Tapestry of Grace (ToG) this year, Year 3.

Even done bare-bones style,

it's better than other history programs I've looked at.

I tried to borrow it

but no luck.

Tyler increased my school budget so I could buy it

since it's what I really wanted.

But

when it came down to it

I just couldn't spend the money,

knowing I wouldn't be able to do the program justice.

It just seemed like I'd be wasting money.

If I borrowed it

I'd be more okay with not doing everything.

Weird, I know.

anyways.

A dear friend, whom I haven't talked to in ages

called me today.

"Before we start visiting,

I just wanted to remind you that I have that 1 year of ToG

if you ever want to borrow it.

I know you said you'd really like to do Tapestry again.."

"What year is it?" I asked.

"I'd forgotten that you had any ToG..."

"Year three."

~

That had to be a God thing!

I was thinking today...

Several years ago,

I dreaded hearing my father’s voice on the other end

when I picked up the phone.

He was making bad choice after bad choice

and he knew better.

I was so disgusted with him, I just wanted to write him off.

He’d hurt me.

Indirectly, but still painful.

It doesn’t matter how old a child is when their parents divorce;

(I was nearly 30)

it sucks.

(no, kids, you still can‘t say ‘sucks‘)

It shakes you to your very core.

You feel like everything you’ve ever known to be true

is just a lie.

So,

I really felt quite justified in wanting no relationship

with the man who once danced me on his feet.

I used to be daddy’s girl.

Suddenly I was nobody’s,

‘cause I sure didn’t want to be his anymore!

I would have been happy to never talk to him again.

~

Tyler wouldn’t let me.

‘Never talk to him again’ that is.

Oh, there were a few times

when I was especially fragile

that he intercepted the phone for me

(not that the calls were terribly frequent)

but usually,

he encouraged me to love my father in spite of himself.

To honor him,

simply because God had made him my father.

I chose to listen to Tyler and at least attempt to honor my dad.

To be honest,

I still struggle today to know how to do that well.

The difference, though, is now I want to honor him,

not just because Tyler told me it was the right thing to do,

but because I truly want to.

The last time he called,

I was happy to hear his voice,

“Tracy. This is your father…”

~

I was thinking today..

How strong my husband was during that time.

It would have been so much easier for him to let me have my way.

To protect me in the way I wanted to be protected,

not the way I needed to be protected.

I can be such a stinker when things don’t go my way.

(or at least I used to could be - now, I’m pretty much sweet all the time.

That’s a joke, Son)

~

Tyler,

I love you!

More today than yesterday

and certainly more than 11, 12 years ago;

obviously far more than 22 years ago when we first started out.

Thank you for protecting me

For correcting me

For loving me.

For really loving me.

I am so proud of you!

the big bathroom remodel

home again

home again

jiggity jig

~

We got back early evening yesterday

from a fairly successful

trip to Rogers

for the Big Bathroom Remodel.

The remodel was big;

the bathroom

was not.

~

Terri asked me a few weeks ago for my

slightly-informed, non-expert opinion

about what it would cost to remodel her bathroom.

Forgetting my dear sister's champagne tastes,

I briefly calculated,

called Tyler,

and then called her back.

"$1,000 - $1,200.

$1,500

tops.

We'll be there soon."

As usual,

that 'we' is loose.

The little kids and I would merely play a supporting role

while the big boys and Tyler did the real work.

~

After a week of phone calls and e-mails back and forth

and countless trips to hardware stores

both here and in Rogers

(and a call to Gramma & Grampa

to invite ourselves for the long weekend)

we were ready.

We also realized

we were going to be at the 'tops' figure, not the $1,000...

~

Friday we headed up early

but not as early as I'd planned.

The boys started tearing in right away;

they had to take the whole room down to the studs

and wanted to get as much done as possible before Tyler arrived.

I got to help a little bit since Ter was playing with the little ones;

that was fun!

Matt came over.

"This whole wall (an exterior wall) has got to go!"

"We're on a very tight schedule,"

I remind my 26 year-old baby brother, "and a tight budget!"

By the time Tyler got there in the evening,

the wall was gone and a buddy of Matt's

had installed a stop valve on the toilet

and removed both the toilet and the sink.

Took him

like

8 seconds.

Fast forward ~ this is getting too long..

TJ ended up coming up to help;

he'd stayed here to watch animals for us

but by Sunday

he couldn't stand missing out on all the fun.

T does love to be around family!

(Thanks Lana & Luke for taking care of Lola after he left!)

~
We (see above) ended up replacing the entire floor, too,

so she really does have a whole new room.

Terri picked out rich paint

lovely tile

an elegant surround

beautiful vanity, light fixtures and fan

but the crown jewel of her collection

is the cable hookup

so she can watch TV while enjoying a bubble bath.

James'll never get her out of there.

~

The BBR still isn't complete,

but it will be soon.

We're thinking about our own HGTV show.

Design on a Dime..

Remodel for Rednecks..

(actually - there were no redneck fixes in the remodel of this bathroom)

On the Cheap....

or maybe just Big Bathroom Remodel

and we could only remodel bathrooms....

oh, the possibilities....

~

(thanks Mom & Bill for keeping the cast & crew well-fed)

what I learned today

You really shouldn't wait

until a few hours before you are supposed to leave

to get eight people packed and ready for a weekend away.

No matter how laid back you are trying to be.

~

you will be late...

thanks, Guys!

Tyler and I came home from the visitation

to find that Tony and Brandon

had folded three loads of laundry

(and put most of it away)

They also made a huge dent in the kitchen clean-up.

Thanks a whole heap!!

It was such a blessing to not have to face either mountain!

Love you both!!

our big girls

Just a minute before these pictures were taken,

Lexi was laying on the floor.

Nobody helped her up.

What a big girl!!

Check out that posture!

~

Lily ran a few errands with me this morning.
A lady asked her, "Where'd you get those curls?"
I wasn't sure how Lily would answer.
"God."
A few seconds later, she added,
"And my Papa."

I

am

a tomato canner.

Yes,

that's right;

I can tomatoes.

At least,

today

I did.

~

I have 6 lovely quarts

of

peeled petite diced tomatoes sitting on my counter

plus another one in the fridge that didn't seal.

But here's the thing:

If I'd have bought 7 big cans of petite diced tomatoes

at Walmart

it'd have cost me $8.33 plus tax.

Them there 7 jars

represent 2 hours of labor

(1 1/2 hours of mine & 1/2 hour of Brandon's - thanks, Bud!!)

and that doesn't include the finding and washing of the jars

lids, rings and canner.

Or the picking of the tomatoes.

Also coming into the equation:

it takes 1 hour and 25 minutes

to water bath process a quart of tomatoes in their own juice.

The heat under the canner was on high for over an hour

prior to that

while I was preparing the tomatoes.

Another burner was on high for an hour an a half

so I could have boiling water to blanch the tomatoes

so their skins would slip off easily.

I had to turn the air on in the kitchen

because it got so hot

(and today was a really cool day!)

My mom gave me lots of canning stuff

(thanks, Mom!!!)

so I didn't have to buy jars or bands

but I did have to buy lids

(14 cents per lid

if memory serves me - which - in all fairness, it may not...)

~

While the part of me that wants desperately

to live a self-sufficient lifestyle

is quite pleased,

the realist in me

(who is equally loud; probably even louder....)

says

it really isn't worth it;

just buy your stupid canned tomatoes at the store

and be done with it.

Move on.

~

at least I can still make my own jam...