gift giving at an early age...

So I went to yard sale of a good friend a few months ago and there was another yard sale across the street. While my husband and girls were at my friends, my sons and I strolled across the street. This is how he was able to keep it a surprise from his sisters....
Steven has a heart for his sisters!

He saw these dolls (and several others) at a yard sale and BEGGED me to lend him the money to buy them for his sisters.
Out of 15 or so dolls, he chose this one specifically for Rebekah

And this one especially for Heather

Of all of the dolls on that table, I would have chosen the same dolls for the same girls. My little boy loves his sisters.

and that helps them love him more too....
(by the way, just in case you were wondering how much money I let a 3 year old spend on his sisters, the dolls were only $4 a piece)

Christmas Jammies

So if you remember... My goal for Christmas was to make my family jammies to sleep in on Christmas eve...
I didn't quite do what I had intended to, but as I have heard from SEVERAL friends.... I realized that this goal was a bit too much of an undertaking for someone who has not sewn before....
However, I DID make us all jammie bottoms for Christmas morning. So here is a picture of our hommade jammies...

each of my kids got a baby... Steven got a boy baby and he just loves it....


And I won't post a picture, but he quickley decided to grab on of the shirts that he got as a gift and "match" his baby. So he was wearing his blue jammie bottoms and them added a nice red button up shirt to his attire so he coudl be a good "daddy".
The kids also all got new blankies.... they are so love-y. They each loved on them as soon as they figured out what they were...




 They have a soft side and a silky side... very comfy...
Well..... I will talk to you all soon...

Chiropractor anyone?

So after we did school work today, we cleaned up the living room and I started making lunch... I looked back to see what the kids were up to and found out that my son Steven wants to be a chiropractor when he gets big. But until then, he will just practice on his sister.
He is very comforting... reassuring... "you will hear a little bit of popcorn but do not be afraid"

Here he is measuring which leg his patient can lift higher in order to establish where the problem is... Notice that his arms are not long enough to measure... He figured it didn't really matter anyway ;-)
"Lift your leg as high as you can without bending the knee... Ok, good, now the other..."
You would think he has been once or twice wouldn't you?

the girls are making dinner

So tonight, the girls are making dinner.... Heather is making Pizza and Rebekah is making Pasta Salad. Then, they are both making brownies... No help from mommy or daddy. Right now they are trying to figure out the pampered chef can opener (no cut fingers) so they can put olives on their food. Oopp Rebekah is done with the can opener and is on to the pampered chef food chopper. This whole kids cooking thing would not be nearly as care free without pampered chef's cool gadgets. They cannot hurt themselves unless they really try. And if they want to get hurt that bad, I think they deserve it... ;-P
Ok, so Bekah really likes the chopper. Hitting things with permission is so much fun. Heather figured out the can opener without help... good for her. My mom can non even do that.
Bekah is stirring the noodles. She is doing a good job. Heather just put a TON of olives on a mushroom pizza. yummy.
Ok, Pizza is in the oven (she asked mommy for help) and they are on to the brownies... Heather reads and Rebekah is learning to follow directions from her sister. This should be good.
Oh look, now Rebekah is teaching Heather how to use the chopper. This is really cute.
I should take pictures... BRB...

Hahahha Heather is not tall enough to reach the top shelf to get a serving bowl out of the cupboard so she pushed the stool over and climbed on the counter and got it.... She is so resourceful. I will not mention that she learns best by example...

Ok, now we have olives in the pasta salad and itallian dressing too.
Eeww.. Bekah just snuck a heaping spoonful of pasta into her mouth to "test it" I think we will just not broadcast that.
ok, salad is in the fridge and they are on to the brownies. They have the brownie mix...
the eggs..
the water...........
Uh oh... we have a 1/4 cup and need 1/2 cup... what do we do? What do we do?!
Wow! I have some smart kids. They figured out the dreaded fractions.

On to the mixers... oh they really enjoy cooking. Especially when they get to lick the beaters. Oh look and mommy gets the bowl. Awesome! That is the way to spoil ones dinner... (like I said before... they learn best by example... I don't know WHERE they get this stuff ;-P )
Ok, I am going to lick my bowl. Talk to ya later.

Freckles... a sign of maturity

So my little boy is quite precious. Randomly throughout the week, he will get my attention and be VERY excited!!!
"Mommy, Mommy, look!"

"What Steven?"
"Look, mommy, I am getting a little spot on my arm, just like you and daddy!"
"Let me see this baby" (of course I had no idea what he was talking about the first time he did this)
"What spot baby? I don't see anything"

"The ones like you and daddy... Look like these ones" and he points to the freckles on my arm...
I had never realized that kids didn't come with freckles. ;-) Steven is quite excited that he is growing up and getting spots...

a well rounded conversation...

So in one of my last blogs I mentioned that I had a story to tell that had to do with my boys taking out the trash and I would come back to it later. Now that I have something else to write about I am remembering that I need to post that story so I remember it later. So here it goes...

A few weeks ago we were in between camping trips and had to clean the house for a stampin up party that was going to be here. My kids were a GREAT help to me and we were able to get it all done in time for the first guest with the addition of baking brownies to serve.... AWESOME!

While we were cleaning, my boys, (3 and 1) were taking out the trash for me. They have done this many times with their daddy so they knew what to do and I wasn't far behind them with more. As my 3 year old was walking out to the street, where we keep the trash cans, and his brother was following him, a police car drove by and saw them. He promptly flipped a U turn and came to see why two babies were walking towards the street. By this time, I am already out to the trash cans and the boys are more than half way back to the house. Mr Police man comes to say hi to me.... (The chat that I had with him was not NEARLY as exciting as the one I had with my kids afterward.) He gave all the kids pretty shiny stickers and headed on his way.

Now, little Steven who has become facinated with all things boy, asks "Mommy! Did that police man have a gun???" "Of course" I responded. "Mommy, I am so glad he didn't shoot any of us!!!!" (Now I have to add here that he is TOTALLY serious. I am not sure how much inflection you can read through the screen so I just have to come out with it. ) "Steven, The police mans job is to prtect people, not to shoot them." "In fact, that is what he was doing here. He had to make sure that you and your brother were not going to run out into the street. He needed to make sure that mommy was taking care of you." This satisfied my son. BUT my daughter who came out to get a sticker from the police man was listening close by and decided to kick in a few questions of her own....
"What happens if you weren't being a good mommy?"

So.... we got to talk about CPS. How some parents are NOT good parents and they do NOT take care of their kids and somebody needs to make sure that kids are ok. Then about foster homes. The next question out of my perceptive daughter was... "Is that where we are going to get kids from?" The kids have known as long as we have that they are going to have new siblings and that they are not going to come out of mommies tummy like everybody else has. The ones that can grasp the concept of adoption have heard that word. But now Heather understands it.
All of my kids seem to benefit from each others inquisitiveness.... They all piggyback questions. I guess this is a good thing. I mean, it lets me know that they are paying attention. Anyway, the other daughter decided to put in her contribution to the conversation at this point.... "Mommy... what happens if CPS comes and takes us even though we DO have good parents?" (Said with the most concerned of looks on her face)

So we also got to talk about an organization that we are a part of that remove fear from a situation like that.... HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association)

THAT was a well rounded conversation all started because my kids were helping me clean the house.... Got to love it. It all ended up good in the end and I think I did a good enough job representing each step of the process that the kids are not fearful, but have some background on where their new siblings will be coming from.
How would you have handled it?

What a helper...

I finally have something to blog about...

So yesterday morning our house looked like a camping tornado had hit it. There was clean and dirty laundry on opposite sides of the living room, kitchen stuff all over all of the counters in the kitchen (marshmallows, stoves, white gas, lighter fluid, dishes, cooking utensils... all of it), flash lights, tents, camp chairs, sleeping bags, glow sticks, you name it, it was destroying our house. And... I had a stampin' up party here last night, so it all had to be taken care of and pronto. I had a meeting that I had to go to at 9 am, so all cleaning was to be done between the hours of 2 and 5:30. We got home from town, (we live about a half an hour out) fed the kids, and laid them down for naps. All except Heather. She got to choose whether she wanted to take a nap, or help mommy clean. She chose to clean. She got to start where I would not likely get to... the bathroom! I was folding the 23 loads of laundry and Heather got to work. She swept the floor, cleaned the counter tops, the sink, the mirror, the shelves (organized) and then got started on the toilet. She cleaned the inside and the outside. She spilled a little water on the floor and decided to "mop" the floor. (With a rag and cleaner) I am not sure that bathroom has ever had as much attention paid to it. And little miss wasn't done... She came out to see what she could do next.

She cleaned the table while I unloaded the dish washer. Then she loaded the dishwasher. Now, when I say that she cleaned the table, I am not talking about 30 seconds and "ok, mommy, I'm done" No! we are talking 20 mins of looking through the light to make sure there are no smudges and attacking the ones she finds with vinegar and a dish rag. That table is very clean. then she loaded the dishwasher and I taught her how to add the soap and set it to the right settings. She started it and then started working on the counter tops. Remember I said that they were COVERED! I helped her put everything away and then she get her trusty vinegar spray and rag and went to town on the counter tops. Next she moved all the furniture away from the walls in the dining room so I could sweep and then moved them back again. When I finished sweeping, she got out her cleaning supplies again and attacked the obvious spots on the floor (spilled ketchup and scuff marks) While I vacuumed.

By this time the other kids had waken up from their naps and for some reason wanted to get in on the action. They were all handed baby wipes and told to clean the finger prints off of the walls and door jams. Jeremiah (the 18 month old) made it quite clear that he was plenty big enough to work along side his siblings so he got himself a baby wipe and got to work too.

Steven and Jeremiah helped me take the big trash (things that we don't put in the trash can like boxes and bottles) out to the street (another blog regarding this to follow) and the house was clean! Although it smelled like vinegar and we had guests due soon. So.... Heather and I decided to bake brownies. There is nothing like the smell of baked goods to make a home more welcoming!

Well, the house got clean, Daniel got home, I got in the shower, and before I got out again, the first guest arrived. AWESOME!!!! I could not have done it all on my own. I love having kids who like to help.

By the way, I do not think I have mentioned yet, that this was the first time I had let Heather do any of the things that she did. I usually want it done a specific way, so i don't let anyone (even Daniel) help. What a dummy I have been. Heather did an amazing job and I could not have finished without her.

Plum Jam

Read this or don't read this, it is for my own good that I am writing it. I have no idea where it will go or how it will get there, so enter at your own risk...

So I was so proud of myself today. I have been attempting housewifedom... (i know it is not a word, but for the sake of being mee....) I have been working on pajamas for my kids the last few days and I actually made progress yesterday. you know what, let me back up....

A few months ago (May I think) I found a going out of business sale at Vac-N-Sew and decided to go in. I ended up buying a sewing machine and enough material and notions to create a goal. (If I do not have a goal, I do not accomplish anything.) So I decided that if I could not make Christmas Jammies for my family by Christmas eve, I had to get rid of my machine. (If I cannot pull out the machine when I have a project in mind, I am no way going to just pull it out for the heck of it.) I have found a pattern to help me with the kids jammies and the grown up are just getting pants so it should be easy enough.

Anyhow, I have been working toward getting those sewn and yesterday I actually made progress. (You see, I have never sewn anything by machine before and I have never used a pattern by myself before. (My step mom helped me through one when I was 6, but that was a long time ago and she did most of the work.)) Oh yeah, I forgot to say that my best friend (and new neighbor) has been pregnant for some time now and her mommy came to stay with her for a while to get ready for and help take care of the baby afterward. So I decided to make use of her while she had not much else to do (hahahahaha) Eileen has been helping me find my bearings with the machine. Anyway... I got most of a pair of pants done yesterday and the really hard parts of the top. (the front panels, facings, and collar, and back panel) I was really excited.

Today I have been making Plum Jam. I have not EVER done this before. I have not EVER canned ANYTHING before. So this is very new to me as well. I hope I did a good job, but we wont know for a few weeks when it does or does not set....

Ok, so I asked Rachel (my best friend and new neighbor) to come down and be proud of me (first mistake) and then realized that I was completely interrupting her day and her plans and for no particular reason.... She did come and we didnt really have anything to talk about as my little one was wanting to be played with and her little one NEEDED to eat, so we kind of co existed for a while... (second mistake) So when she left I cannot help but think that she was feeling like she just wasted her time because she needed to get out the door. I rushed out after her and thanked her for coming and as I did, the words that came out of my mouth surprised me...

I told her that I was so appreciative for her coming to tell me that i did a good job because I wanted to hear it so badly and though my sweet husband wanted to tell me, he was not in a good mood last night (pre occupied with other disturbing things) so I didnt really get the "approval rating" that I felt like i needed...

Ok, THAT SOUNDS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE PRIDE TO ME!!!!!!! Since when do I care about an approval rating?! I started out on this hommaking journey to please GOD and be the best wife and mommy I could be. Not better than some other wife or mommy. And of course now that I realize that my motives have shifted, I look back on the last few days and notice that I have not been being a very good mommy at all. I have been making my kids "get out from under my feet, I am trying to do something!!!!" and not been paying any attention to them at all. I have NOT been trying to bring glory to GOD. No wonder I have been having so many hangups.... I have been relying on myself. I cannot do ANYTHING on my own. EVERY good and perfect gift comes from GOD!

Anyway, I am not sure what I intended to write, but I think my rant is over for now. I am going to spend some time with my LORD and pray that he fills me with his fruit. That I can then LOVE my family, find JOY in them and in the little things that I am able to do like learn to sew and can, have PEACE in my soul when the car breaks down while I am carting 5 kids under the age of 6 (like it did last night). That His fruit would show itself in PATIENCE with my 18 month old who just wants to be played with all day long and with my husband who also struggles with the complications of life. That I would still be able to show KINDNESS to my friends and neighbors even when I feel like I have nothing to draw from, and GOODNESS from deep within in situations beyond my control. That I would be blessed in such a way that I could show FAITHFULNESS to my God who really does want to bless me but i am too finite to see His plan in full. That I would be able to show GENTLENESS to my children when they need to be comforted because they have an owie that I told theme they would get if they didint stop doing what I told them not to do in the first place. And that i would show SELF CONTROL in situations that normally would warrent an all out break down...

These are the fruits of the spirit. These are the things that I lack when I do not spend time with my GOD. These are the things that my home needs to function... THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD...... I need to go be with HIM. If you have read this, please pray for me. Thank you friends.
Christina