right now

as I type,

Tony

is driving

for the very first time

by himself.

~

You go, Ton'

use your road rage if you have to.

Love you, Bud

~

sniff

perfect ways to start the day

Off the top of my head

there are four perfect ways to greet the day.

Of course,

this has changed over the years....

~

The first

would be snuggling with my hubby

but, that doesn't happen nearly often enough.

~

Not necessarily second in preference,

a steaming (pretty) cup of perfectly doctored

decaf french vanilla coffee, lovingly prepared and delivered

starts the day off pretty nicely, too.

~

Still being in bed

and getting to see that first sleepy smile

when Lily wakes up and sees that I am there.

Oh so sweet!!!

~

And now the newest -

hearing the pitter patter of Lily's bare little feet

(somewhat unsteady

as they support her weight for the first time in hours)

just before seeing her huge smile, wide eyes, and outstretched arms

as she runs to me

after getting out of bed all by herself.

mmmm

God sure knew what He was doing,

starting people off as babies!!

out of a 3 year slump

Once upon a time
in the old house
in a world that seems far far away
I decorated for seasons & holidays.
Not a ton, mind you
but you could look at the entry table
(and in the fall & winter
the stairs - oh, I miss those stairs!)
and know where we were
in the calendar.
Not so since we’ve lived here.
For starters
I’ve never really fallen into a good housekeeping groove
and we’ve been here almost 3 years!
Add to that
it’s a yucky house
and let’s not forget it’s diminutive size….
~
Yesterday
in preparation for our trip over the mountains this weekend
(which should be quite beautiful)
Tyler and I thought we’d stir up

a bit of autumn appreciation in the kids.
Actually, Tyler had the idea - it was my job to implement.
So
I sent the boys out in search of natural treasures

while Lily and I headed to the shop
to find the long neglected box of fall decorations

Nothing fancy
But it does make the place a bit cozier;
and we didn’t spend a cent!

We topped off the day with our annual
after-Halloween-when-the-pumpkins-go-on-sale-for-a-dollar
Dinner in a Shell.
oh, so good!

tickled

I am so tickled with myself!

I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago!

Actually

I probably did

and

then promptly forgot my brilliance.....

I often have great ideas

and when I tell the kids about them

they're like

"Mom, you've already told us this...."

really?!

~

anyways

I had the idea and acted on it

all in the same week.

Roller-ball bottles for Miracle Rub!

Isn't that clever?!

I never minded getting the oil on my hands,

but the bigger kids sure didn't like to.

This'll be a lot more convenient

than

grabbing the baby

sprinkling oil on her feet

rubbing them together

and then rubbing her sweet feeties on yer neck

when you have a sore throat.

~

I'm just swimming with more ideas....

Peppermint for headaches & yucky tummies.

Muscle rub

minus the beeswax, of course.

Some yummy lemon oil

just because.

Oh, the possibilities!

reassurance

Dr’s appointment today.
From now on, they’re every two weeks.
Ugh
But today’s was good.

~
See
Little Bit
isn’t much of a mover & shaker.
At all.
And while I’m not a worrier, by any stretch of the imagination,
I was actually beginning to worry.
I’d do the kick counts;
they rarely added up to 10 in 2 hours.
Not real encouraging.
My babies move
alot
But, then again, this could be my calm baby….
but then again,
10 movements is the minimum I should feel in 2 hours,
so maybe things weren’t quite right.
My belly is growing
so it would seem baby is growing properly.
So why I am I not getting kicked more?
If I’m just not feeling them, why not??
So we did a quick ultrasound to check things out.
Everything looked just great
and Baby passed the test with flying colors.
Looks like we just have us a calm little baby.

~
Oh
and since we were in there…….
and since I was already pretty sure……

isn't she a beaut??

sleepless in the south

You know those 1st trimester

can’t sleep even though you’re exhausted

and can’t even open your eyes nights?
I don’t really miss those nights.

How ‘bout the 3rd trimester

can’t sleep cause you can’t get in a comfortable position

long enough to get to sleep nights;

what with the aching back, sore hips, pelvis spreading

(even though your body no longer can use this amazing function…)

leg cramps, puffy feet, and hands & arms that fall asleep

before you do?

Goodbye second trimester
Hello third

~
Baby,
Momma’s just about ready to meet you!
Actually, Momma is ready now;
but it’s probably best if you stay put for awhile
and work on growing big and strong.
I love you, Pumpkin

unexpected promises

I just got a package!

Now

if I were like my friend Sandy

I would have waited till this evening to open it

but alas

I am not.

I am

me.

So I quickly grabbed my trusty Leatherman pocketknife

and opened the box.

I thought maybe it was going to to be a nutcracker;

the size was about right.

But it was way better than a nutcracker

(especially for nasty black walnuts!)

and if I would've waited till I was all alone to open it,

I would have missed Lily's delighted squeal

at seeing

the

chocolate!

~

Thanks, Mom!

I love you

~

um....

I shared before I saw the note;

sorry.

And to be perfectly honest,

now that they all know I have candy

I'll probably share again.

That's just what moms do.

not quite music

Tyler was 'singing'.

Rather annoyingly, in my opinion.

Of course, to be perfectly fair, it has been a long day

and my nerves and ears were shot hours ago...

I told him he was catterwallerin'.

He disagreeed

and continued his noise.

Lily came in the room

took one concerned look at Papa

and asked,

"You okay?"

they say clothes make the man

Whaddya think??

things are going to change around here

It has been a l o n g day!

Tomorrow will be even longer.
Crackdown!
To be entirely honest,
it should have come months ago
but the whole thing is just overwhelming to me.
1 kid at a time
would be okay.
But both of these little guys???
And their ever-so-observant sister??
(and the big guys aren’t entirely flawless, either….)
Meanwhile
ever so subtly
things grew worse and worse.
Not quite instant obedience.
A few too many questions.
Not outright disrespect
but
disrespect nonetheless.
Lack of discipline.
(on my part just as much, if not more, than theirs. Sigh)
Too much crying and ridiculous carrying on.
Anger.
~
I’ve been trying the mercy route.
It ain’t workin’.
Somehow
even though I was careful to express that I was showing mercy
- lest they think I was just a weenie letting things slide -
(although, again, being perfectly honest, sometimes I was)
they mistook my mercy for _________
Well, I’m not sure what exactly they mistook it for…..
Suffice it to say
There has been a lack of peace & joy in our home
and frankly
I can’t take it any longer.
So

here we are
in boot camp.
Or maybe we should call it
Booty Camp
‘cause I know 2 little guys

who are gonna have real sore ones.
~
Ya’ll pray for us!

was that fun?

"yeah"

"Do you want to do it again?"

"No!"

Not so with Josiah!
"Was that fun?"
"That was much fun!"

a tip - what not to do in church

The pregnant woman sitting in front of you

probably will not appreciate

you kicking her chair

-however gently-

throughout the service.

~

I'm just guessing.

exercise buddy

my exercisin' buddy!

I have to wait till Lily is done eating her breakfast to do my T-tapp

'cause she will decide she's finished

before she's finished

so she can exercise with Momma

I do love that girl!

but...

Lily had a messy diaper not long after waking up this morning.
So I took her in the bedroom to change it.
As we walked through the doorway
she said, "I not tired!"

initiative

One of the things I desire

is for my children to show initiative.

To see a need and fill it

without being asked.

It seems that girls are a bit better at this than boys.

But

maybe not.

Jeremiah has gotten fairly good at showing initiative.

He is often the one to realize we have no water at dinner-time

and will go get it.

I used to worry that he was getting it straight from the faucet

without using the filter;

but, no, he even uses the filter!

Just a moment ago

I was folding laundry and the timer went off.

It wasn't a big deal;

nothing was going to burn in the oven,

so I just ignored it.

It went off again.

Josiah told me, "Timer, Mom"

and I assured him it'd be okay if I got it in a sec

it was just to remind me to check the bread

to see if I needed to turn the oven on yet.

I told him I would finish folding the laundry, then get it.

And that sweet little 3 year old boy said,

"How about I finish folding the laundry for you

so you can get it now?"

~

Honey - that would explain why

it looks like I just wadded up your skivvies.....

houses, houses, houses, houses

We didn’t count as we were going along,
but we calculated today
that we looked at
between 25 and 30 houses yesterday.
We weren’t looking to buy, of course,
just looking for ideas.
~
For years
Tyler and I have enjoyed drawing up house plans.
I’ll think I have come up with the perfect house
and he’ll find some reason why it isn’t.
and vise verse.
Although
to be perfectly honest
I’m a little quicker to point out all that’s wrong with his plans

than he is with mine.
That’s sort of how we are in life, too.
I’m working on that…..
Then
we bought this land
and the whole house-plan drawing thing
became more challenging.
Now, we have to suit the house to our land.
And
we not only have to fit in everything we want in a forever house
in as few sq ft as is reasonable,
we have to have it on the ‘right’ side of the house, too!
Kitchen on the east
so the sun can help quickly thaw the bread
I forgot to get out the night before.
Then again
I’d also like the sink widow facing the north
‘cause that’d be the best view…..
~
It’s been several months since we’d done any plan-drawing.
Busy with weddings, funerals, and babies
you know.
But now that we are finally beginning to accumulate a bit of cash
in our house fund
we decided to get back at it.
The Parade of Homes was this weekend
so it was the perfect opportunity
to see
in person, not just on paper or the computer screen,
what we like.
~
Didn’t find a thing!
Oh, sure, there were a few small touches that we liked and might implement
but nothing big.
No
Living room, Dining room, Kitchen set-up
that was just
'wow - this is exactly what I want…..'
Actually, I really liked the layout of the last house we went to
but
I can’t get it to work with the garage on the west side……
~
We talked to one gal for awhile;
told her why we were looking, what we were looking for
and that we really hadn’t seen it.
She said, “Well, these houses are for the typical American family.
It would seem to me that you all are not the typical American family.”

Who told?!
~
Back to the drawing board.

~

p.s.

The kids really enjoyed looking for

'things that grabbed them' about the houses.

After we'd been at one house for a few minutes,

Jeremiah came and got me,

"Mom, there's a lot of things that grab me in the master bedroom.

You gotta come see!"

I quickly went to see what architectural treasure he'd found.

"This grabs me, and this grabs me,

and I really like this, too!"

~

The house happened to be furnished;

he was pointing to the bed, nightstand, and curtains.

You may have already known this

I did not.

Today

is,

in addition to being Kiss & Huggin' Day,

Flower Pickin' Day!

Which may explain why Lily

was so insistent

on wearing flowers on her clothes today.

I love you, Jeremiah!

Thanks for likin' things special.

bedtime battles

Last night
when Josiah came walking into the dining room at 10:30
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I buried my head in my arms;
tears burned my eyes
and threatened to spill out.

~
The boy has always been a champion sleep fighter.
If he could get paid for this ‘skill’
he’d be one rich little boy!

~
I told the boys when they went to bed
- I had them repeat it, so I knew we were clear -
Do not get out of bed
for any reason.
If you get up, you will be spanked.
We went through all the scenarios…..
45 minutes later
Josiah got up
(I forget now, why)
He got a good spanking
along with a reminder.
He stayed in bed till 10:30
and he just couldn’t stand it anymore.

~
I did not want to spank that boy!
Why did he have to get out of bed??
As I sat there with my head in my arms
I thought, “Oh God, I am so sorry!
How many times
have I caused You to want to shut your eyes
and pretend that, no, I did not just do that?”
I did not want to spank that boy!
How He must have hated punishing the Israelites
time and time again!
Tyler began singing
ever so softly
about God’s grace.
I gave him (Josiah, not Tyler) a ridiculously soft swat
and picked up that scrappy little boy and held him tight.
Then we all went to bed together
and he fell asleep holding my hand.
Which is all he really wanted (needed?) in the first place.
~
I wonder so often
When its all said and done
does it really matter??
Do I have to be right?
Does my word have to be law?
Will I ruin them forever
as Mr. Pearl suggests
if I do not ‘win every battle’?
If I did win every battle - would that amount to anything?
The bottom line is -
I want my children to obey
me, first - ultimately God
because they want to. They choose to.
Not because they fear the punishment,
but because they love me (and God)
and desire to please me (and God)
~
Lord, please, grant me wisdom.
James 1:5

bits n pieces

This morning

Josiah was reading Go Dogs Go.

He excitedly ran through the house exclaiming

"I learned to read! I was reading Go Dogs Go all by myself!"

We all congratulated him

and Jeremiah followed him into the playroom to listen

while he repeated those familiar words.

Jeremiah was so proud of his bub's new 'skill'.

"You are reading!

Oh, Josiah I love you!"

~

Thanks to just a couple minutes instruction from her brother-in-law

Lily now knows her hands and her elbows

and she has delighted in telling me about them all day long.

Such a smart little girl!

~

That smart little girl has also been a bit (and I'm being kind!)

of a stinker this week!

I told her I expect a new tooth soon

~

I heard a new song on the radio the other day

and it has stuck with me.

I think I'll make it my prayer for my 41st year.

Lord

empty me

of me

so I can be filled with You.

well, it's done

and now

I really could use some chocolate!

~

I'll miss those sweet curls

but

I actually like the new look

better than I thought I would

and I sure do love the boy sportin' it!!

sometimes

I am such a dingbat.

~

I just walked outside

to get the diapers off the line and thought,

"Mmm something smells good!"

Which is odd.

I can't remember ever smelling a neighbor's dinner

since we've lived here.

Oh, maybe the occasional grill going

but that doesn't count.

Then I realized

that's our dinner!!

I forgot for a moment

that I had dinner cooking in my summer kitchen.

Silly me.

Let's just hope I remember to start the rice that goes with it.....

she knows what she likes

Brandon told Lily,

"I don't know what I should get you for Christmas."

(He is most definitely not a procrastinator!)

She immediately told him.

Shoes.

another birthday boy

Tyler was finishing up a major project at work.
Things were stressful, to say the least.
We’re used to our papa working 40 - 45 hour weeks
and he’d been working 80+ hours a week for several weeks.
We were both on our last nerve
but the end was in sight.
His program installed on Sunday
which meant there would be fallout to deal with on Monday
but after that
things would be okay.
I remember telling him that evening
that I hoped we had a few days
to reconnect
before the baby came.
~

Tyler went to work on Monday;
I took the kids to school and went back home.
(what on earth did I do with myself all day long?!)
By late morning, I was pretty sure
we weren’t going to get those couple of days to reconnect…..
~
I called Tyler at work
and asked how everything was going.
He was fixing
what he thought
was the last ‘bug’.
So
I let him off the phone so he could finish fixing it.
He called back a few minutes later.
Apparently
I didn’t regularly call just to see how things were going,
so he got a bit suspicious
and thought perhaps I’d called with something else on my mind…..
~
Next call was to my dear friend Terry Frey
who lived an hour and 10 minutes away.
For various reasons,
we’d decided on a hospital birth this time,
going with the doctor who owned the Beginnings Birth Center.
I’d written up my birth plan months earlier
and fortunately, he didn’t have a problem with any of my wishes.
We wanted the kids there for the birth,

so Terry was coming to be with the kids.
Lana and T were especially anxious to attend
as they missed seeing Tony born….
and Tony was a bit worried about his momma.
I don’t remember for sure,
but knowing Terry, she probably picked up some treats on the way.
~
After rushing to fix that ‘final’ bug, Tyler hurried home
and we went to pick up the kids from school.
I can still see those excited faces
and huge smiles
as they walked out the door of their classrooms.

By about 3 o’clock
contractions were coming hard and fast
So I decided it was time to head on over to Mercy.
(Of course, it had to be the year before they remodeled….)
We quickly got settled in & they hooked me up to the monitor
but only for a little while.
That was part of the deal.
As soon as they unhooked me
I headed to the toilet.
Without a hot tub, that was the best I could do.
The kids were
….well
I’m not really sure what the kids were doing….
(I was a little preoccupied)
I’d fixed them all up a bag of goodies;
maybe they were messing with those……
~
At some point the nurse asked me how I wanted the bed
for the delivery.
Huh??
I told her I had no idea.
I had yet to deliver where I was supposed to
(‘cept T, but that hardly counted…)
~
My water broke somewhere between 4 and 4:30.
Tyler told the nurse it was going to be pretty soon.
Why don’t they listen??
She checked me.
Five.
I know she was thinking
Pretty soon, huh??
Around 4:45
Tyler called her back in the room.
“It’s just about time. You should probably get a doctor in here.”
There were 3 doctors in the practice.
All three were at the hospital, in various places.
She makes the call as she’s checking me again.
“She’s only an 8.….”
They decide there’s no need to come yet.
The bed was still just a bed.
I think there is some change up thing they do
To make it more of a delivery table sort of thing.
Not sure about that one though.
~

Minutes later
I told Tyler I had to push.
Tony was getting real concerned about his momma
and asked Terry to take him out of the room.
Now
Terry knew me well enough to actually believe me.
If I said the baby was coming
she was coming
(we were so sure it was a she)
~
The nurse didn’t think I really had to push yet
but Tyler had been warning her for the past hour I go fast at the end….
She starts to check again
and whadya know?
She sees baby’s head!
And frantically makes another call,
“Get a doctor in here now!”
Meanwhile
Terry’s trying to talk Tony into going back in the room.
She knew she was there for the kids,
but she sure didn’t want to miss out on the birth.
How many people get the opportunity to witness such a miracle?
“Momma’s fine. If we don’t go in there right now
we’re going to miss the baby being born!”
They made it in the room just before the doctors
- All three of them -
rushed in.
Seconds later
our fourth child
entered the world.
screaming bloody murder!
Doctor Berumen turned her over
aannd
‘she’ had a package!
We had a boy!!!!
Brandon Levi
You are a treasure!
~

Brandon is a thinker;
He figures out things
I’ve never even thought to wonder about.
He’s creative.

He is compassionate.
He may be serious
but he loves to play tricks on people
'specially his mom!
He’s a good friend.

One of his favorite things in the world is playing board games
and he’s a great winner
(and loser)
He’s thoughtful.



He waited a long time to be a big brother and he’s an excellent one!
And he’s more responsible than any other kid I know.
~
Happy 10th Birthday Brandon!
I love you sooo much!!!

our big girl

I know.

It's hard to believe

but it really is true!

LilyPie can count

to six!!

~

what a big

observant

girl!

Happy 16th

I woke up
and knew instantly
‘today is the day’!
~
It was Sunday
sixteen years ago, to be exact.
We decided to skip church
and went for a walk around Asbell Elemantary instead.
I called my midwife around noon
and told her she was officially ‘on call’.
~
We had a leisurely afternoon
with a few neighbor friends popping in and out.
Contractions continued to increase
in frequency
duration
and intensity.
A Bill Cosby tape was in the VCR.
for awhile
he was a humorous distraction.
then
he was not!
~
My mom started heading our way around 5 or 5:30;
I called Janessa back
and told her I was ready for her to come on over, too.
She arrived a few minutes before 6:00
and we headed to the bedroom for ‘the check’.
As usual, I wasn’t dilated past a 1.
Usual or not, it was still a bit discouraging.
She announced she was going to church.
You know
since I wasn’t doing much of anything.
I informed her
she was most definitely not going to church;
she was my midwife & I was ready for her to be with me.
She assured me that Kimberly,
her very sweet apprentice with a young baby of her own,
was on her way.
And she would be back in an hour.
My midwife then walked out the door
saying, “Nothing is going to happen in an hour!”
~
I kept moving from the tub to the toilet
then back to the tub again.
It’s so nice to labor in hot water!
(I would love to have a water birth, but alas, that will never happen.)
My water broke not long after my midwife left.
Then things really got intense!
I told Tyler there was no way I could do this for 8 more hours
(where I came up with 8 hours, I have no idea…)
I was going to have to go to the hospital.
I was already feeling like I had to push
But for goodness sake, I was only a 1,
so my mind and body must playing tricks on me….
My mom thought I needed to just get a grip
(fortunately, she told me that later, not right then :-)
so she took TJ & Lana to play outside.
Kimberly decided she would help me refocus
by checking me again…
She figured she’d be able to tell me I was at 3cm
or maybe even five!
I waddled to the bed
with Tyler’s help.
She took one look and said,
“We’re crowning!”
I’m not sure who was more shocked,
Kimberly
or
Me!
Here I thought I was just a wimp
and
I was in transition, and a fast one, at that!

~
Tony Michael
was born moments later
a few minutes past 7:00
as Janessa was walking back in the door.
Nothing’s gonna happen in an hour, huh?!

~
Tony has been an absolute delight!
He introduced us to the joys of co-sleeping
before we knew there was a name for it.
He’s a snappy dresser.

He is our resident comedian.
He loves the Lord
and
he loves all kinds of music.
He’s adventurous.

He’s a fantastic big brother
(a pretty good ‘little’ brother, too!)
and an excellent driver
with just the right mix of confidence and caution.

He loves animals.
He will make an excellent husband and father someday.
~
Tony
We love you and are so blessed to have you in our family!


Happy Birthday!

introducing......

beautiful Baby L

~
I am not always big on technology

but I do love ultrasounds!

I usually prefer the bare bones sonogram

to the more modern 4D's they can do these days

but today

I like this picture of our Little Bit the best.

Don't we have us a doll baby?!
~

I am just amazed that at 10 ounces

and about as many inches

a baby is a perfect (albeit tiny) person.

God is so incredible!!

~

Only 19 weeks till we get to meet this precious sweetie

face to face

kids in the kitchen

Once upon a time
I used to sneak into the kitchen to cook dinner.
Doesn’t work anymore.
Hasn’t in years, actually.
Which is fine
‘cause I’ve learned a thing or two.

~
They see me grabbing the bucket of grain
and
pretty soon
there’s a chair by the mixer
with an eager helper standing on it.
(the chair, not the mixer)
~

so
it was really no surprise
when I sat down with some veggies
(yes, Honey, I sat down to do food prep ~ can you believe it?!)
that I soon had offers of help.
My first thought was
Ummm
I’m cutting vegetables, there’s nothing you can do.
Thanks anyways.
But then I figured
Really
What’s the worst that could happen?
The very worst that could happen
if I let them help cut
was
a finger tip could get cut off
and
surely they couldn’t cut hard enough to cut off the whole tip…..
So I went ahead and let them help.

Josiah cut up an entire 8 oz pkg. of mushrooms!

Brandon,
who is becoming quite proficient with a knife,
cut up the broccoli and cucumber

Jeremiah diced most of a bell pepper

...and the pizza was delicious!
Great cutting, guys!
thanks for all your help.

~

I should probably confess....
I was a bit of a 'mother hen'
Jeremiah suggested I video him cutting the pepper,
but I decided against it
since the entire audio portion would be
me
saying,
"Watch your fingers.
Keep your fingers away from the knife.."

like B1G1

Most of what I do to save money

is so second-nature to me

that I forget it might be 'news' to someone else.

Dish soap

for example.

I'm not even sure that my kids

(or Tyler, for that matter)

know I do this.

Every time I open a new bottle of dishsoap

I pour half of it into the bottle of soap

I just emptied,

after filling it 1/2 full of filtered water, that is.

Then

I gently fill the now-half-empty

new bottle of soap with water.

And I've got 2 brand spankin' new bottles of dishsoap

for the price of one!

~

I also tear my dryer sheets in half before using them;

I throw half in the dryer

and stick the other half back in the box for the next load.

I figured all thrifty folks did this

but

once I mentioned it in passing to my mother-in-law

(who was pretty tight herself)

and she said,

"Well, Tracy, I've never heard of such a thing!

You are cheap!"

~

If I ever find a recipe for dryer sheets that

control static

(as opposed to just softening fabric)

I'll try it.

and I imagine

I'll stretch that

just as far as I can too.

the next cat whisperer

or

maybe not

books n boys make me smile

Up until a week ago

we hadn't been to the library in ages!

Honestly

the thought of taking these 2 boys

to the library was

less

than appealing.

We decided to give it a whirl.

It's been fun to introduce them

to some of our old favorites.

Charlotte Mason may consider them twaddle.

I don't know.... and I don't really care.

I hadn't told the boys to read;

they just went in

and each picked a book from the library basket

and got comfortable.

A Putter and Tabby for Josiah
and Jeremiah picked his new favorite book

(if you have never read Seven Silly Eaters

you've got to check it out at the library

the illustrations are great!!)

~

Several minutes later

I found them in a chair

together;

Jeremiah 'reading' to his little bro.

that
makes me smile a lot.