Ever So Blessed

2010-08-18T15:27:00.003-05:00

So I took these videos as requested by some family and thought I would share them here for you all to ~~gag over~~ see. We've had some reptilian family members in the house for a little while now and so naturally they eat insects and the like. Although I refuse to keep any animal that eats something else that can be kept as a pet. I have to admit that bugs don't give me any warm fuzzies so I don't feel a lot of sympathy for them. =)

I plan on posting pictures and introductions to all of our current pets tonight!

The videos:
They're kind of cut off but you can still see them

The Crickets

The Mealworms

And the much awaited for video. The Dubia Roaches!

Andrew is 6 weeks old!

2010-07-28T18:49:00.009-05:00

Okay, he was actually 6 weeks old on Sunday so I guess I'm a few days late. We had our 6 week visit today and everything checked out perfect! Andrew is now 9 lbs already! I thought that he *might* be squeaking up to 8 so I was really surprised.

Doesn't he look excited for his 6 week visit?

My midwife, Laurel. It's so much nicer than going to the hospital where they see dozens of babies a day and don't really have a personal relationship with them. She takes good care of us. =)

We shaved off 3oz for his diaper

Happy 6 weeks Baby Andrew!

Some more pictures =)

2010-07-25T20:33:00.019-05:00

So I really wanted to get a picture of all the kiddos together. None of them were perfect but I love them nonetheless. =)

You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

This one is the current desktop.

We also took some other pictures while they were all in a pretty decent mood

This is the best I could get of all the boys together, haha

The girlies. It's a little blurry which is sad because it's my favorite.

The girlies sans blur

The littlest ones wanted to hold the baby. Ella adores him. It's so cute to watch her love on him. She always says, "Mommy, I love Anjoon"

This is one of my most favorite pictures ever. In every single picture we have of Quinn and Andrew he's always pointing his little fat finger at him as if to remind us he's there. He's such a sweet boy and loves baby "Anjoon" a lot!

Lover baby!

Since Reece and Ella are starting to outgrow naps we have them lie in the living room for "rest time" during nap. Sometimes they fall asleep and sometimes they don't but either way I think we ALL (by all I mean me) need a quiet time after lunch.

We got them these nifty nap mats to make quiet time more official and also to (hopefully) try to prevent them from rolling on each other and putting their legs on each other and starting squabbles while the two littlest boys are sleeping.

They like them!

Baby Anjoon. He's such an excellent baby. So easy and not a bit of trouble. He's definitely a joy to have and we're so glad he's here!

Hahahahaha

Okay, so it's a dolly highchair but doggone it, that's the cutest thing ever. Yeah, we're those kind of parents. LOL. Hey, we like having fun with the kids. =P

Now Ella really thinks he's her baby doll

And my absolute most favorite of all....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
wait for it...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

He's smiling now! One of my most favorite times is when they first start smiling those new smiles while they're still itty bitty. I missed the really huge one he gave us but still got this sweet little one. =)

I hope you're all doing well, we miss everyone!

Sunday and the Sickies

2010-07-25T14:53:00.016-05:00

Everyone here is just getting over a case of the sickies. Marty, Jimmie, and I have yet to get it. Otherwise, everyone from Lexeigh down has gotten it. It seems to be some kind of summer cold. Fortunately it doesn't last long. Quinn got it the worst with a fever around 103 for awhile. He was one miserable little man. =(

Other than that things have been going pretty well. Marty will be taking Jimmie to Six Flags in a few days to see Skillet perform. Jimmie is crazy excited. Skillet is his favorite band. They're going with the church youth group. Since we have the passenger van now, Marty volunteered to drive and chaperone so the church will cover his costs. They're both really looking forward to it. Lexeigh is a little bummed because she really wanted to go as well but it's only for middle schoolers and up. She's been promised pictures though so she's excited to see those.

Also, I told her we'd take a "Girls Day" when the boys get back and that totally made up for it. She wants to go to a really nice spa here and have a makeover day. Sounds like fun to me! I'm looking forward to that as much as her I think!

Here's some things that made me laugh that I want to remember so I'm putting them here because I figured some of you may get a chuckle out of them too:

1. A little back story- Marty's unit has been on a detail for the month of July. They've been cleaning the area and Marty just happened to be assigned to our neighborhood. Well sometimes if he's close to the house he'll walk over and say hello. One morning, he walked over to the house and was telling Lexeigh and I that they were over behind the house cleaning up the park. Lexeigh said to him: "You were?! Did you get to swing?!"

I thought that was so funny because it just really showed her innocence. She was so serious. It didn't occur to her that they wouldn't break for a swing in the middle of work or that a group of grown men wouldn't stop to swing anyway. LOL

2. Ella walked up to me the other day and said: "Look! This is the sign for puke" and then proceeded to silently pretent to puke into her hands, tongue out, silent gagging at all. It was so funny!

And what's a post without pictures? Here's some of the most recent ones.

Jimmie and Reece. These two are hard to get pictures of so this one is definitely one to save!

Jimmie and Quinny. I love this one too even if it is a little blurry.

Dimpleface!

He always gets silly when I try to take his picture.

It's getting a lot easier to get him to sit for a quick picture. I have to remember to be quick though.

For some reason Andrew loves to lay on the changing table. He's always content there. This time he fell asleep right after a change so we left him there where he was nice a comfy. =)

I think this is funny. We call this the whistle face. Reece used to do it too. Quinn on the left, Andrew right

Jimzy

Sweet little Anjoon. Did I ever mention that Ella calls him that? When she says his name it comes out "Anjoon" instead of Andrew. It's so cute and the rest of us have been calling him that since he came home from the hospital too. Haha

Okay, these next couple are of Marty and Jimmie. This is what they do every. single. night. (almost). They sync their games together and play DS. They get really into and have a lot of fun!

Gamers

They noticed I was taking pictures of them and decided to let me know...

Jimmie was quite amused with himself as you can see. Haha

Here's a few of Lex and Andrew that I really like. He'd poked himself in the eye and it was all red for a few minutes.

She is totally the best big sister ever. <3

We had a little photo session this morning. I wanted to get a picture of all the kids together. I will be back today to post some more pictures. Until then!

Some recent pics

2010-07-20T12:44:00.011-05:00

Things are going pretty well here. We had a really nice day this past Sunday. We went to church and then out to lunch all together after that. We had a lot of fun. After that we headed to Walmart to pick up some groceries and other things.

The big kids being silly.

Jimmie's getting so tall! He's definitely going to be the tallest of everyone in the house.

Lexeigh Lulu

She's still in the midst of losing baby teeth and getting new ones. =)

Just wanted to show my new nook wallpaper, haha.

Jimmie loves to cuddle up with the babies everytime there's a newborn in the house. I have pics of him like this with all of his siblings.

Andrew's getting so big but he's still so tiny. He's probably a little over 7lbs now. He is such a sweet, perfect baby!

He's super smiley and smiles a TON in his sleep too. So cute!

I love this silly little smirk. Funny face boy =)

He must have been dreaming something funny. He actually made little giggling noises. I wish I'd taken a video.

I want to get some more pictures of all the kids, hopefully outside. I *really* want to (brace yourselves) get a good picture of all 6 of them together. I know, just the thought of it makes me a bit tired but I'm determined to get at least one pretty decent one with at least 2/3 of the kids looking in my general direction.

I hope you are all doing well. We miss you all and hope to come visit home as soon as possible.

Some Newborn Pictures of Andrew

2010-07-13T19:10:00.011-05:00

We recently had some newborn pictures of Andrew done. We didn't get all the ones we wanted to so we're going again this coming Sunday. My midwife's daughter is studying to become a photographer and is trying to build her portfolio. So in return for providing subjects for her to shoot we get free pictures. A win-win I say! =)

Andrew with the "Tree of Life" blanket Mom made him. This is the most amazing blanket ever. It's beautiful in person!

These close ups were afterthoughts. If I'd known his shirt would be visible I'd have put something different on him. I still like the picture though.

I added this one because I thought the popeye face was funny

My absolute favorite one

And in black and white.

I have to say I think this is one pretty little newborn. He is such a good baby and reminds me so much of baby Ella. Very passive and content. He never cries. He niggles a little if he's hungry or dirty or has gas but that's it. I'm so glad he's here. It's nice to have a newborn to cuddle again.

I'll post some more pictures after we have them done on Sunday!

Mad Babies!

2010-07-06T20:28:00.002-05:00

WOW, these two sure look alike when they're mad!

Click on the pic to see it bigger.

Whatcha think?

Andrew's Birth Story

2010-07-06T00:35:00.004-05:00

So before I forget I wanted to document Andrew's birth. This was definitely my hardest one yet. Ella's was pretty rough and Quinn's was really unexpected with the whole "breech/csection" situation. But Andrew's was long and really hard. I thought that being my 6th baby it'd be the easiest labor yet. Not so. He was the longest. 18 hours. And this was definitely the most painful thing I've experienced in my entire life.

As you all know, we had decided on a home birth this time. We hadn't had a very good experience with the Army hospital here when I had Ella and we didn't want to go through that again. I found two midwives in the area that work together and they took over my prenatal care. Marty and I both love them so much. They are WONDERFUL people and we all get along so well. One of them in the owner of an awesome little eclectic store not far from the house. They sell all things natural and homeopathic and I love it there. Sometimes we go there just to pop in and visit.

Anyway, on the 13th Marty and I ran to pick up a few groceries. I was having a lot of contractions that day and by 10:30 p.m. it was getting painful. Not doubling over painful but painful enough where you just weren't comfortable and needed to sit. I got home and started timing contractions around 11:30. For a few hours they were consistantly 2-4 min apart with a few of them coming as far as 7 min. Marty wanted to call our midwives but I kept telling him we should wait just another half hour to make sure. By the time I finally agreed it was 2:30 a.m. I wanted to make sure the contractions weren't going to go away because one of my midwives has 4 little ones and I'd hate to wake everyone at her house for a false alarm. When Marty got ahold of L she asked to speak with me. I got on the phone and she said, "Jaime, I told you to call me asap when you started contracting!" I told her I didn't want to wake her kids for nothing and she scolded me in a sweet way. =)

I walked around the house while we waited for the midwives and tried to keep myself busy. I picked up, did the dishes, whatever I could to kill time really. J and L showed up and checked everything out. I was 4 cm dilated and L said that was good progress but to be honest I was a little disappointed because it'd been about 5 hours already and I'd hoped to be further along than that. They helped us get the bed set up and we started filling the birthing pool. They went to rest in the living room for a little bit while I tried to rest in the bedroom.

Eventually things picked up and then they were right there with me. A lot of it is hard to recall since I was in such terrible pain. I remember looking at Marty and seeing him start to fall asleep around 5:30 in the morning. I can remember telling him to go ahead and lay down and rest for a few hours because the little ones would all be up soon. He asked if I was sure and I said yes because really, there wasn't much he could do and he needed to be rested if the kids would be up in just a few hours.

At one point I remember L asking me if I wanted to get back into the water to see if that would relax me a little. I said, "No. No water. YOU can get in the water". LOL. Lord only knows why the heck that came out of my mouth. I also remember them both saying "You're doing so good Jaime. Good job, you're doing great!". In my head I was thinking, "No I am NOT doing good. I'm doing terrible. I'm going to break in half and then I'm going to die. I'm NOT doing good. I want my mother and I want to sleep". None of that came out though thank goodness. =) Time seemed to go in and out and sometimes a minute would drag on for ages and sometimes it seemed like I'd close my eyes and 2 hours passed. It was kind of surreal.

Around 7:30-8:00 Reece woke up and I remember telling Marty that someone was in the living room. By this time I was in excruciating pain and crying and screaming. I was worried the kids would hear me and get scared and I tried to be quiet. I've never been the kind to get loud during labor but this time it seemed to hurt even worse than before. Now, I have had epidurals before but with Quinn I went through the entire labor with nothing. I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push when we realized he was breech. Even through that intense 2 hour labor I didn't scream or get loud. I did cry quietly though I remember. This one was different.

By around 10 in the morning I was completely dilated and effaced BUT.....Andrew was not dropping into the birth canal for some reason. My water had not broken and we couldn't break it because he was still floating pretty high. To break the bag would have put him at risk for cord prolapse and we didn't want that.

We tried everything to try and get him to drop. The all fours position, squatting, the water, etc. Nothing worked. He just would not come down. I was so exhausted by this point I was falling asleep between contractions. I started to fall off the bed. L asked me if I wanted to lean on her so that I wouldn't fall off the bed and I told her I was fine. I must not have been fine though because I woke up and she was behind me. I was laying against her chest and she was holding my head up with one hand. I love her for doing that.

After another hour passed J and L told me they thought that I should transfer to the hospital because I'd been fully dilated and effaced for hours now with no urge to push. They were worried that there might be a reason he wasn't dropping down. Maybe a short cord? Something else? We didn't know. But what I did know is that I trusted their judgement completely and if they said it was time to go then I was ready. Marty texted everyone to let them know we were on our way to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was almost unbearable. Marty drove and L hopped in back. We left in a hurry and I didn't take anything with me. No clothes, nothing for the baby, no toiletries, nothing at all. L didn't even have her military ID on her but thankfully the guard was convinced enough by my writhing and crying he believed we were on our way to Labor & Delivery. Haha.

We got to the hospital and it took me a little while to adjust from being at home to being in a hospital where there were rules and protocols. They wanted me to lie on the bed in the standard position so they could attach the electronic fetal heart monitors and watch the contractions. The thought of lying flat on my back nearly killed me. It made things so much more painful. A nurse came in and started trying to insert a heplock into my arm right in the middle of a contraction and I remember pulling my arm away and getting up from the bed and getting on all fours to try and deal with it. The resident OB and 2 nurses just stood there until it was over and asked if I was ready to lie back down, lol.

It was terrible having to be checked over and over by different nurses but thankfully the OB on duty that day was Dr. Diaz Lopez who Marty and I loved. He was super pro-midwifery which you don't find too often. He even offered to be our homebirth backup. So I was definitely glad to see him there that day. After a few checks and an ultrasound we found that Andrew was still posterior (sunny side up) and that his head was asynclitic meaning that his head was tilted sideways and unable to drop into the pelvis. To have not only one but TWO abnormal birth positions in one labor was definitely why I think things took so long and why I was in so much pain.

After an hour or so at the hospital I had an epidural. I was just so exhausted I couldn't relax and had been up for about 30 hours. I was finding it increasingly hard to relax which was just working against my body. Here's the crazy part: Within 15 minutes of having the epidural and being able to fully relax and rest he went from posterior to anterior and his head dropped into the birth canal. My midwives told me later that they think I just had such a hard time relaxing that it was keeping him from being able to turn.

Either way I was relieved to hear that it was finally time to push. Andrew was born quickly and easily and came out hollering. I pushed for under 5 minutes. He was small and perfect but so strong. I did have some trouble with hemorrhaging after the delivery which earned me two doses of pitocin but that's okay. I'd rather take the pitocin than the hemorrhaging. That's scary.

So things didn't go exactly as planned but the important thing I keep reminding myself of is that everything turned out well and we still had a successful VBAC. That was the most important part for me. One csection isn't so terrible but when you have multiple csections your risks really increase. I didn't want to deal with the recovery of a csection again either. Andrew was born at 4:40 p.m. and I went home that night. We had to jump through quite a few hoops to be able to do that but I'll explain all that another time, haha.

Oh! I also wanted to mention that our experience with the hospital this time was MUCH better than when I had Ella. The staff was wonderful and things went so well. We were really happy with the care we received there this time.

The only thing that went wrong (if you can call it that) was that one of the nurses misplaced and IV and didn't notice right away. Well that combined with the blood pressure cuff squeezing the heck out of my arm every few minutes ended up turning into a huge mess on my arm. After I came home from the hospital my arm started bruising terrible and got worse and worse and spread more each day. I found out it was bleeding under the skin.

This is what it looked like. Sick huh? I called L about it and she told me to take lots of Arnica. Arnica is a homeopathic drug used for bruising and muscle soreness. Marty picked some up the next day and it started improving after that.

Things turned out really well and even though they didn't go as planned we have a lot to be thankful for. =)

A mini update and some random pictures

2010-07-05T20:33:00.025-05:00

Fourth of July was pretty uneventful. We spent the day hanging out at home and in the evening I made a big bucket of puppy chow for the kids. We loaded everyone up and went to a field close to home to watch the fireworks at Hood Stadium. That was fun and they did a great job on the fireworks.

Ella wanted to watch from inside the van but everyone could hear her screaming for every firework. "OH. MY. GOOOOOSHHHHHH!!!!" "Look at that!!!!" "Did you see it?!?!!" "That one was purrrrrrrrrrrple!!!" Haha, People from the other cars were looking over because they could hear her hollering. She did that for every single one whether it was a small one or a big one. They had a really good time.

I recently uploaded all the pictures I've taken with the camera on my phone. I thought I'd share some of my favorite ones here. I don't have very long since I have one baby nursing on my lap as I type and one pulling on my shirt, lol. So I apologize for the total randomness of them. =)

Andrew all ready for his 2 week visit!

I love this picture.

Marty and Andrew out back

This one makes me laugh because when I had him all swaddled up like this Ella said, "Look! He's Mary!" Haha

He loves to be in the carrier. This is a Baby K'tan carrier that my midwife's daughter gave me and I *love* it. I've tried and own more carriers than any person should need but this is a new favorite. It's so easy to use and so comfy. Andrew likes it too.

Little teeny peanut!

Another one I love.

I love this one of his little face.

Baby Fat Fats

These next 3 are a result of Quinn trying to hop into Ella's bath with her. =D

Poor boy was soaked

This one makes Marty and I laugh too. Quinn was being really nosy and watching the neighbors through the slats in the fence for about 15 minutes straight!

Quinny in the baby pool out back

Another of my favorites. In fact, this one is my phone's wallpaper. This is what Quinny does when you tell him to "smile"

This one is an older picture. This is how we knew Ella was able to climb in and out of her crib. I did NOT put her to bed all tarted up, LOL

I call this picture "Ode to Sassy"

Reecey out back

Reece right after his bath. =)

I'll be posting some pictures of the big kids soon. It's so hard to get pictures of them lately with them always running off with their friends! I'm glad they have kids here to play with though.

Also exciting is we finally were able to buy a new vehicle to accomodate our family! It was really hard only having the kia. We could never go anywhere all together and that meant we missed out on a lot of fun stuff. I think we all missed church the most. We were able to go this past Sunday though. We went to a new church and REALLY loved it so we'll go back next week for sure.

Here's our new van!

It's not super fancy and it's not a luxury Eddie Bauer Edition Expedition (which the salesman showed us first) but it's perfect for us and we love it.

And just because I think it's funny and cute...our back window =)

I'm hoping to have some time tonight to post Andrew's birth story as well so hopefully I'll be back soon!

Big Picture Post

2010-06-27T10:35:00.014-05:00

Just wanted to post some pictures really quick since it's been so long. I'll be back later with a real update!

Baby Andrew is here!!!

He was born June 13 at 4:40 pm. 6lbs 6 oz and 19.5 in long. He is such a sweet baby and he never cries! We're all glad he's finally here.

He sucks his thumb a LOT. He finds his thumb one way or another every day. Love!

And some other random pictures of the kids from the past month or so:

I love this picture of the girlies. Ella climbed into bed with Lexeigh.

Quinny in the new mushroom longies I made him. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out since I was just winging it but I like them. I've started a matching pair for Andrew as well but I think I'll put an owl or something on the back of his. Maybe some sheep. =)

Dennis the Menace (haha) playing in the sprinkler.

Sweet little Ella Pooh.

I love this picture of Ella and Quinn. Marty was hiding behind the couch playing peek-a-boo with them.

This was right before bed so they were all ready in their nighttime wool.

These two are close to the same size now. Ella's still a bit taller but Quinn weighs more. Fatty. Haha. I always thought it was weird when we'd have them in the double stroller and people would ask if they were twins. I guess looking at this picture I can see it more now though.

I'll be back soon with a better update, I promise!

Made some more wipes this morning!

2010-03-27T19:08:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the wipes I serged up this morning. I made these with cotton knit and organic hemp fleece.

16 wipes for a total of 52. That should be enough to get us through a few days!

Some of the different prints I used this time

Front/Back

The hemp fleece has a more nubbly texture than obv but is still very soft. I wanted to make some wipes with it for those "icky" diapers.

I'm hoping to get some good pictures of the kids this weekend but I think we may all be getting a mild case of the sickies. Hopefully it'll pass soon. Have a good weekend!

Quick post on Fuzzi Bunz

2010-03-26T17:47:00.013-05:00

I love these diapers. I loved them when Reece was a baby and I still love them now. They've changed their sizing and design a bit since then but I still love them anyway. The new sizing is much larger and has a longer rise so they're a bit big for Quinn. But they fit him nicely, don't leak and he has tons of growing room in them. Perfect! Ella only wears them for nap and bed now and is still on the tightest snaps so these will be the last diapers she ever uses.

Here they are as they first arrived. We ordered 22 and have 2 more dark blue on the way for an even 2 dozen. I have to admit I was a little sad not be able to order at least a few pink or purple or daisy print ones for Ella but it just seems kind of silly since she won't be using them at all soon.

We also ordered a diaper sprayer with our package and let me tell you it is the best thing EVER!!! We've made our own before but these professional ones rock. It took about 2 min to install and works perfectly every time with no leaks. It has a really nice on/off valve and a holder that doesn't need any permanent mounts. It makes cleaning poopy diapers crazy easy. We just give them a quick spray and everything comes clean. Then we just toss in the pail and that's it! No touching or dunking or swishing. Ick.

Oh! I also wanted to add that although the initial cost of cloth can be expensive they really save you a lot and have a great resale value. We spent very little of our own money on the stuff we ordered above (and also 8 extra smalls that aren't pictured). Almost all the money came from selling other diapers/covers/wool/etc. we weren't using. I'm collecting more xs ones for Andrew as I can when I find good deals or sales and I continue to sell diapers and covers to fund them.

Ella was so cute. She sat inside while everyone else was out back and helped me unwrap and unstuff them all so we could do a prewash.

PS- Everyone else was out back helping Daddy set up the pool. Quinny's had a cold so I was worried about him getting chilly. Everyone else was dressed for summer so looking back at this picture seems really funny.

Anyway, back to my little helper...

She sat and helped until every paper was off and every insert was out.

And a side note. I LOVE Nicki's Diapers. They're so awesome. Free shipping and they ship right away. With this order we got a cute pair of babylegs as a free gift. With our 2nd order (some xs for Baby Andrew) we received a free Bumkins pocket bib. Awesome company.

Quinny in his new babylegs. So cute!

This is a picture comparison of the medium vs. xsmall fuzzi bunz. I think it's obvious which is Quinn's and which is Baby Andrew's. How cute is that! I love the teeny newborn diapers.

And I just love this picture. Fat little curly haired boy. =)

This and That

2010-03-26T11:09:00.011-05:00

Things have been going pretty well lately. The weather is getting nicer but we still have some chilly days.

We're still preparing for baby Andrew although there's not a terrible lot to do. I'm so excited for him to be here! I can't wait to hold a newborn again and fall asleep next to a basinette with a little bundle swaddled up inside. Those first few weeks are my absolute favorite!

We've also had our fair share of excitement which is almost everyday. =) Our most recent episode was what has come to be known as the "Block Affair".

Reece came out of his room crying the other night saying he had a boogie. Well Marty and I laughed at first because he was acting up so much over a boogie. Then I noticed he was coughing and sneezing over and over. It wasn't a boogie he had in his nose...

It was a bead block!

Why on earth do little children like to shove things up their noses?! Marty held him still while I pulled the bead out with a tiny crochet hook. I needed something to "hook" into the hole of the bead to pull it down and out.

The letter "K". I don't know whether to call it the culprit or the victim haha

He was so relieved to have it out of his nose he jumped up and hugged Marty and said, "Thanks guys! Thanks thanks thanks! No more blocks for me!"

Hopefully he won't try putting anything in his nose again anytime soon!

Recently Marty and I had discussed looking into a larger capacity washer and dryer. I do laundry everyday which I'm sure lots of people do. But we were wondering if a larger capacity set would bring the time I spent on laundry everyday down some. I knew I didn't want a front loading set as I don't care for them and they're not great for washing diapers in. So we went to look at a "super capacity" top loader and realized there isn't much difference in the size at all. It was hardly noticeable. So we decided to stick with what we have and be grateful they work well! Haha

Speaking of cloth, we recently switched back to cloth diapers again. We took a break from them while we moved but figured we'd start using them again now and save some money. I sold a lot of the things we weren't using and ordered some Fuzzi Bunz. They're my favorite. I also have some extra small ones on the way for Baby Andrew. Can't wait for that!

I decided to make some cloth wipes the other day to use since we're going back to cloth. They just make more sense. It's easier to just toss them in with the diaper laundry then to separate disposable wipes from your laundry.

I made 3 dozen. One side is cotton knit (like t-shirt material) and the other side is organic bamboo velour. Have I mentioned how soft OBV is and how much I loooooove it? It's booty luxury! Also, the wipes cost me nothing as I made them from materials I already had on hand.

3 dozen wipes. They're super soft and squishy and the little ones love to pet them, haha.

Here's some of the prints I used. Love these

Front and Back

Close up of the OBV. I don't think you can see well how soft this is but it'd be great for a baby blanket or something. Maybe I'll make Andrew a special blanket. =)

These would also be great for wiping runny noses or cleaning faces off after meals. I think I'll make some more today. I have some organic hemp fleece (not like regular fleece material, it's hard to explain but it's an absorbant fleece) that is super soft and squishy and would make some excellent wipes. Maybe we'll keep a stack in the kitchen for little faces or something.

Some little person ran off with the camera but as soon as I find it I'll be uploading some more pics. Enjoy your weekend!

Our Day at the Park

2010-03-14T21:30:00.018-05:00

We had a great time at the park after dinner tonight. It was still nearly 80 degrees out when we got home afterwards! We had a really fun time. The kiddos were all played out and ready for bath and bed when we got back.

In the wagon and ready to go!

It's a rare thing for all 5 of them to be in the same picture let alone where no one is running away. So I really love this one.

This playground is great because it has an enclosed "baby park"

Peekaboo Quinny!

Ella said to heck with the baby park and ran to join everyone at the bigger play area

She went to play with Lexeigh in the sand and copied her every move. If Lexeigh bent down, Ella bent down...

If Lexeigh stood up, Ella stood up...

Until Lexeigh started running around and Ella must have thought it wasn't worth the effort any longer, haha

Jimmie mostly stood around and chatted with Marty and I. I think he might be getting too old for the park. =(

Or not, haha

Check out those skinny little legs

They love the sand the most

This is another one of my favorite pictures from tonight

If you look close you can see Quinny's smiling. He LOVES the slides!

He got to get down and explore. He was curious and cautious about the sand at first but after a minute he was running all over giving everyone fistfuls of it.

I love it when the littlest ones laugh and play together. It's one of my favorite things to watch.

And this may be in poor taste but I just couldn't help it...

Hope you all had a good Sunday evening as well!

Clothes, Laundry, Organizing and Such...

2010-03-14T14:19:00.005-05:00

I've been going through clothes and organizing them lately. It's actually an ongoing process it seems since people are always growing in or out of something or needing something. In a weird way I rather enjoy it. =)

Our solution to managing clothes is really just to keep the washer going like other people do I'm sure. I used to loathe doing laundry but over time I really don't mind it anymore.

Our system for organizing and saving clothing is pretty simple. When someone grows out of something I bag it up into the 2.5 or 3 gallon Hefty or Ziploc bags. I then label the bag with it contents. Such as, "Boys 24 month-2T pants" or whatnot. Then I suck the air out of the bag so we can stack or store them in rubbermaid totes. This makes things so much easier than having a great big pile of outgrown clothing making a mess.

Here's a few of the tubs I recently reorganized and inventoried

I've also started doing this for the next sizes up for people as well. When I see a really awesome deal on something in the next size up I can pick it up and store it. That way it doesn't get misplaced or damaged before it's time to use it.

I really like doing things this way. It's a lot easier and really saves a ton of money. Saving things, buying things off season at a discount, and picking up clothes when you see a really good deal are awesome unless they aren't organized. Then it seems like everything gets heaped together, you have closets and drawers smashed full with things that are too small or too big, and it's just a frustrating mess. This makes things a lot easier...for us anyway. =)

Very Hungry Caterpillar Nursery

2010-03-13T20:25:00.008-06:00

We've been working on the nursery and I think it's just about done! I'd like to get a rug for it eventually and maybe a shelf for the book and caterpillar to live on. I've seen some cute Hungry Caterpillar puzzles at the store that would be cute to glue together and hang over the closet or window or something.

We decided to set up a "dorm style" nursery with all the little ones together. They all tried to huddle together in the same room at night anyway and we figured this way they'd be sure to be on the same sleep cycles which would help. We still have an extra room should anyone grow out of the nursery, haha. For now this works really well for us though and they like the company at night. =)

It was really hard to get a good shot of their room but I did the best I could.

Here is Quinny's side. I did the paintings on the wall. The egg on the leaf before the caterpillar hatches, and then the caterpillar and the fruits he ate through.

Reece's bed

Ella's side with the butterfly from the book

They even have a hook to hang the Very Hungry Caterpillar helmet on =)

And this is about the best shot I could get of everything together

The next room to do is Jimmie's. He hasn't decided on what kind of room he wants but he's getting a bit old for character type themes. I've found some really cool pre-teen/teen boy bedding so we'll see what he likes. I'll post pictures as soon as that's finished of course!

Lulu's New Room

2010-03-13T13:54:00.009-06:00

We've been working on redoing the kids bedrooms. We finished Lexeigh's today and I thought I'd share some pictures. They were sold out of the valances but she's so proud of her new room and I love it! We'll collect some of the other accessories over time. ;) Onto the room!

Here's the view right inside the room

Is this not the most adorable bedding ever?!

This is where Glory the horse lives =)

And this was the best shot I could get of the whole room from the doorway. Check out the cute hedgehog beanbag.

I plan on finishing our "Very Hungry Caterpillar" nursery today so I will post pictures of that as soon as it's complete!

What a Beautiful Day!

2010-03-09T21:29:00.010-06:00

Today was gorgeous out and the kids had a lot of fun playing outside. The last I checked (a little after 7 p.m.) it was still 75 degrees out. Here's a few pictures from our day:

We have this little circle behind our house that the kids like to run and play in. There's a park over to the right. I call this the "baby field".

We took the ball down here and kicked it back and forth for awhile. Reece is really good at kicking it straight at his target!

Have you ever seen someone who has legs that resemble bed pillows stuffed into little sneakers running on uneven ground? Let me tell you, it's FUNNY.

Reece thought it was humorous that he lost his shoe.

I don't remember what we were doing here but I know we were being silly. Reece was hysterical. This picture makes me want to laugh myself when I see it.

I hope to have some more pictures to post soon. We're redoing the nursery we set up for the little ones in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". I've painted some of the story on the wall already and we've painted the cribs/beds. Hopefully we can finish it up this weekend so that I can post some pictures. I'm really excited about this project!

One more quickie....

2010-03-08T21:31:00.011-06:00

I also wanted to share just a few pictures of Marty and the kids playing outside the other day. It was so nice and the kids have missed playing outdoors.

They invented some game although I'm not really sure what the point or rules were, lol.

Jimmie is getting so big so fast! I can't believe he's nearly twelve. TWELVE!!!

Lulu. I love her laugh. It reminds me of windchimes.

Here's Marty hiding so that he can ambush the kids without warning.

Quinny kept trying to escape. I think he just liked being chased. =)

Reece had Ella push him around the cul de sac nearly the whole time. She did it too, haha

Just added this photo also because you can see Reecey's little dimple in it. His aren't as prominent as Quinny's but you can see them when he smiles in a certain way.

And this one just because he's cute. Lover!

Another Blanket for Baby Andrew

2010-03-08T21:26:00.004-06:00

Just a few pictures of the new carseat blanket I made for Baby Andrew. I wanted something with silver or grey in it to match his carseat. I paired these two together although I wasn't sure how they'd look. I'm happy with how it turned out and I think it looks really boyish!

Ella's First Haircut

2010-03-08T20:59:00.015-06:00

And she even did it herself! Well, if you ask me I'm 100% positive her brother had something to do with it although he won't admit it.

During Mom's visit one night, Lexeigh ran out of the nursery with a clump of brown hair in her hand saying, "Mommy, Reece and Ella cut her hair!"

I ran back there and couldn't see too well in the dark. But I could feel. The hair on the sides of her head was gone! Pretty much to the scalp on the left of her head. I was so upset. Would you like to see? =)

Side 1

Side 2

She gave herself a complete MULLET. I think this was the most upsetting part of the whole ordeal.

All night long I fretted and worried over this child's half bald head. I couldn't even sleep. I didn't know whether to just leave it and get it trimmed monthly until it was even or to get it cut and try to have it "fixed".

I decided to take her in. The first salon I'd actually chosen was booked so I took her to a different salon. It was actually a day spa and was SO incredibly nice. Very chic and upscale. It was also a day spa. The place smelled expensive, haha. But I didn't care at the time, I just wanted to make sure her poor little head didn't get butchered any worse.

The stylist was super nice and really knew what she was doing. I was instantly glad I'd brought her there. When I went to pay the bill she had only charged me $12! That was awesome. I gave her a nice big tip for that =)

Here's Ella's hair after:

I actually think it turned out super cute considering what they did to it.

We'll be using lots of headbands and clippies until it grows out a bit! But that's okay, I like them. I'm going to make a bunch more tonight with Lexeigh I think. That'll be fun

Here she is being "scary". She always has to take a scary shot...

Oh! And I also ~~worried~~ wondered if cutting her hair would make her sweet baby curls disappear forever but since getting her hair cut it's curlier than ever. It looks very pretty in the back.

Here she is after decorating herself. In her own words she said, "Look, Mom...I'm booful!" Hahaha

I also think her hair this way makes her look very babyish which is just fine by me. <3

And of course she had to do her "scary" pose.

Will be posting more pictures very soon! Hopefully tonight!

A Baby Related Post and Some Other Pictures =)

2010-02-25T18:15:00.016-06:00

Just for fun I thought I'd post some baby related pictures of our preparation so far for baby Andrew.

Here's the carseat we bought for him. I got rid of Quinn's carseat thinking I wouldn't need it again so soon. You think I'd know better by now. =)

How cute is this bouncer?! Again, I got rid of Quinny's before we moved. Marty knew I really wanted this for him so he bought it on Valentine's Day because we decided baby Andrew should get a present too.

This isn't new or anything but it's special to me. This is the bassinet we got for Reece. It's been through Reece, Ella, Quinn, and now it will sleep baby Andrew until he's ready for a crib.

Here's some stuff we've collected for him so far. Again, I donated about 5-6 big boxes of baby boy clothing before we left Nebraska. Sheesh.

I included this picture because it struck me as funny. I think I may be the only one that has a growing collection of knitted junk for a baby that will arrive in the dead of summer. In Texas.

This is a bunny I knitted for baby Andrew. My plan was to sleep with it so it'd smell like me. I've read that's soothing for the baby. I guess we'll see.

This picture makes me laugh too. Wool bunny floating in a bath. Haha

And speaking of knitted things, here's a few things/sets I've been working on for him. I love how quickly newborn things knit up. They're so tiny and fun to make. I made all these things in a little over a week.

A little acorn cap. Is this the cutest pattern or what?! He can be a little gnome baby with his acorn hat.

A little froggy set

An apple set. It turned out a bit girlier than I intended but I still like it. The mitts look like strawberries, haha. Oh well. I dress my boys in purple so we'll use it anyway I'm sure.

A blueberry set. I might just bring him home from the hospital in this one.

A pouch sling I made. I think it's a little big so I might have to take it in some. I was in love with this fabric and was glad to find a good use for it.

Sweet Lulu

Ella in Jimmie's hat. She's so stinkin' cute if I do say so.

And Quinny with one of our old cell phones. See that big scrape on his head? We had some great weather the other day and decided to let him play for awhile. He fell down and skidded his poor head on the sidewalk. Poor baby, his first ever wound!

We miss you all and hope you are all safe and happy!

Reece's Sticky Situation

2010-02-23T19:41:00.009-06:00

Recently Jimmie had bought some gum with his allowance and given Reece a piece. Now, Reece isn't allowed to have gum but I guess he figured since Jimmie gave it to him it was okay.

I was getting ready to get into the shower the other night when I hear Lexeigh pounding on the door, "Hurry! Reece has gum smashed all into his hair!" I have to admit I thought about dealing with it after the shower but decided against it, haha. So I wrapped a towel around myself and ran to see how bad the damage was.

Hmmm, this didn't look too terrible...

Until he turned around

We tried icing it to work it out but it was in there really good

Awe, see how remorseful he looks??

We finally had no choice but to cut it out

I asked him why he smashed it into his hair like that and he said, "Because I wanted hairy gum." Yes, he seriously said that. He actually tried to chew it again after it was cut out

Hahahaha, look at his face. I guess hairy gum isn't nearly as appetizing as it sounds

Luckily his hair is so fine and lays pretty nicely so you can't tell it was cut at all. Marty thought it was funny I was taking pictures and I told him we'd want to remember these kinds of things one day. Don't you think? =)

E is for Ella and the boogie lip

2010-02-21T11:27:00.001-06:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A blanket for baby Andrew

2010-02-09T18:52:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share the blanket I finished for baby Andrew. The wool is Laines Magnifique in the "Retro Metro" colorway. It was going to be a pair of longies for someone but it ended up as this blanket instead. =)

You can click on the picture for a bigger view

Pictures and Something I wanted to Share

2010-02-06T20:32:00.012-06:00

Just a few pictures to share before I update....

I love this picture if only because of the look on Ella's face. Miss Sassypants. =) Reece set up this quadruple bunk for the chipmunks with matching bedding out of playsilks.

How cute is this?!

I love this picture too and I'll tell you why. When Reece showed me how he tucked his Simon into the basket with food and blankets he said to me, "This is baby Jesus' basket that he sleeped in. He said I could use it for my Simon." LOL

Quinny playing. We added canopies to the playstand to make more room although this isn't the best picture. Marty and I also made the little wooden ironing board and iron in the background. That was really fun to do. An identical one online would have cost us $80 and that's before buying the iron. The iron would have been around another $12 or so. Add shipping and it'd be close to $100. Our total cost? $12. It's so worth it to make things when you can and the kids love it!

I can't look at this picture without smiling.

Just a quick picture of some of this week's lessons. We've started on some music. The stuff at the bottom is form drawing. Practicing form drawing really helps Lexeigh with forming cursive letters, control, focus, and being able to copy forms (words) she sees properly.

And now, onto ultrasound pics! Please meet Andrew Taylor Farrell =D

The classic, semi-creepy alien shot. Haha. We had a really hard time getting a good profile pic because baby was just so active and wasn't cooperating much. I have to go back in a few weeks for another ultrasound because we weren't able to get all the necessary pictures. Maybe next time we'll have better luck?

Baby's foot

Baby's Hand

And I don't think this could be more obvious. I was so sure it was a girl but I was wrong! What a tricky little fella =) I saw it before the tech said anything. I gasped and said, "Oh. My. Gosh." Marty looked at me and said, "What's wrong?" and I said "THAT is a boy!". After that I just couldn't stop laughing. I giggled for about 5 minutes still on that table. I was really excited. I've never had two of the same gender in a row before! I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of looking forward to baby #6, I have to say we're very grateful for this blessing. He was not an accident, a mistake, or a surprise. Were we trying to get pregnant? No. But if God saw fit to send us this little one he was meant to be here. Period. Marty and I made a conscious decision to include the Lord in our family planning. I think that's the only explanation we need to give anyone.

So many people view children as burdens or expenses or "things" that take all of their personal time. It's sad really. I also notice a lot of people with this opinion of children are ones who don't want to take the time to parent their children properly. It's easy to be the kind of parent who doesn't discipline or expect correct (or even decent) behavior out of their children. It's harder yet to be a good parent. To not give in. Are we perfect parents? Absolutely not. We make mistakes and I'm sure we'll make many more. But I suppose people that don't want to take the time to train children properly might find it hard to believe anyone would want more than 1 or 2 because it seems too hard. It *is* hard, but it is worth every single second.

I've also noticed that some of the people who make negative comments about the amount of children we have are people who have only 1 or 2 children themselves. At most 3. So I don't expect them to understand. Also, most of these people have no faith or spirituality in their lives so again, I think it would be hard for these kinds of people to understand obeying the Lord because He has given you a conviction. Will our conviction always be the same? Perhaps not. But for now, we're following what we believe the Lord has asked of us for whatever reason.

There are many biblical readings and studies we've done on family planning and I don't have the time to get into them all right now. But one of the things I've always found fascinating was that God commanded the Israelites to multiply even though they were poor and wandering the desert. Wow. He obviously commanded that for a reason and intended to provide for these children. Marty and I have been amazed at seeing our faith increase as God provides for our needs in so many different ways.

I understand that some people say they are only concerned. I understand this concern when it comes from a genuine heart. One thing I've come to learn though is this: Children are not expensive, lifestyles are. What's important to you? My children are important to me. Not cars or computers or money or houses or boats or etc. etc. etc. I can't take any of those things to Heaven with me. I can, however, take my children. =)

We've learned to ignore the hurtful or ignorant comments from people about our family size. If we shouldn't have had so many, when should we have stopped? Which of our children shouldn't be here now? Quinn? Quinn AND Ella? Just Lexeigh? Maybe Reece and Jimmie. The answer is none of them. They're all here for a reason and each has enriched our lives.

I have to laugh at the birth control comments by now. Why do people assume that because you have more than the usual amount of children you must be ignorant about birth control?? Believe it or not both Marty and I have an IQ that does NOT fall between that of styrofoam and yogurt. ;)

In fact, many people who actually DO use birth control are ignorant to the fact that the pill, iud, and many others are actually abortifacients. They allow a woman to conceive the child, but make the uterus an inhospitable place for the embryo to implant.

But the purpose of my writings is not a vent about birth control. I digress.

The point of this was to get some things off my chest. This was a decision Marty and I made TOGETHER after prayer and research. Those who can't understand that, well, I'm sorry.

I have to say I am beyond eternally grateful for my wonderful family. I am so very, very blessed as are my children to have them. Even though a few of them may have expressed concern it was truly genuine and from the heart. They fully support us and welcome each precious little one with open arms and hearts. Each child is truly celebrated because we realize what a gift each one really is. Thank you for your support and love and understanding. It's made all the difference.

Just wanted to share...

2010-02-01T19:10:00.002-06:00

This cute picture of Ella having fun with the play silks. =)

Ella shares some songs

2010-01-28T09:05:00.001-06:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Quinny gets down

2010-01-27T23:20:00.002-06:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lots of Pictures!

2010-01-27T19:37:00.027-06:00

I really need to start updating more frequently. Otherwise I have too many pictures to post at one time and it takes all night. =)

The kids and I dyed some play silks recently. These are so much fun! The kids use them for all kinds of different things and they get played with every single day!

Here are the play silks setting in the dye. We left one white and ordered a black that aren't in the picture.

Here they are drying all over the dining room.

A pretty basket of silks all clean and dry and ready for fun!

Quinny especially loves them. He likes to dump the basket out, put them back, roll around in them, play peekaboo, etc. He smiles everyday when he sees me pull the basket down. So cute!

Ella and Reece use them for scarves, hats, capes, grass, water, blankets for their animals, and on and on.

Here's Lexeigh using a few for a "belly wobble" skirt. =D

We've been busy making a lot of homemade toys for the kids lately. This is definitely one of the most enjoyable hobbies I've ever found. I love to make fun things for them and see them get excited when they wake up to a new Mommy or Daddy-made toy. Marty and I have been having fun working on some of these projects together as well.

This is a set of finger puppets I knitted up for the kids. These were super fun and really quick. I made up the pattern for the elephant, frog, and bird. I'll have to make more of these soon.

Ella and the puppets

We've been wanting to get the kids some of the wooden animals we've seen online. The European toys like Holtziger and Ostheimer are just so pricey. So we tried our hand at making some ourselves first. I'm happy with how they turned out. Marty cut them, we both sanded, and I painted them. We have about 50 more templates to cut, sand, and paint. I'm excited to get some more finished. We're also going to make some trees and people.

They are lightly painted with a non-toxic paint to have more of a "wash" of color as opposed to being full out painted. Ella really loves them especially.

A rainbow stacking cave Marty and I made. They mostly like to take it apart at this point and use the pieces individually but that's okay with me. Haha.

And what can I say about the new curriculum we started Monday? WE ADORE IT! I look forward to school time during the day and so do the kids. I feel like they're learning what they need to know and I also feel involved. I know what they're learning and can see how they progress. This curriculum is so fun and the arts, painting, drawing, handwork, and stories that are inclusive with each academic subject keeps things so interesting. I wish we would have discovered Waldorf homeschooling a long time ago!

Here is where our books live currently

Here is a blackboard we made for the dining room/school area. We made it out of masonite board, primer, and chalkboard paint.

Here are examples of some of the work Lexeigh has completed this week:

A lesson in her Language Arts main lesson book. No textbooks are used at this grade level. As the children fill out their different main lesson books they are essentially creating their own textbooks of the things they've learned and the work they've done.

A math main lesson book entry

Science. To demonstrate the way the Earth revolves around the sun I slowly turned a ball around a larger ball (the sun), explaining that everytime the Earth makes a full turn it equals one day and everytime it revolves completely around the sun it equals one year. I think this really helped her understand the concept better.

In history we're studying Ancient Hebrew. This has been really fun and there's lots of enrichment projects we can do with this. We read about the Tower of Babel. She illustrated the story and wrote about it. She also wrote the Hebrew alphabet and vowels.

Close up. She's still getting used to writing without lines. =)

She's been working on finger knitting as part of her handwork. She's really good at it already!

She made this flower. We're going to work on a bunch of them and make a vine of flowers for her bed. We'll hang some fairies from the railing and maybe some twinkly white lights and make her bed a beautiful fairy garden. She can't wait!

Here's some of Jimmie's recent work:

A map he drew of Africa, Asia, and Europe. I think he did a great job. He'll be adding to this throughout the year.

For grade 6 we're currently studying the Stone Age. This is really really interesting. We talked about the clay figures cavemen made of people and animals and also about cave paintings. This is a human form Jimmie made out of earth clay.

Today we spent some time making a Stone Age tool. We used rock, stick, and leather. Here is Jimmie attatching the stone to the rock with the leather.

Tying it off...

Finished. This was really cool to do and really made him think about the cavemen lived. It brought up lots of questions about the Stone Age. It was nice to see him engaged in his work.

We've also started watercolor painting and we love this. It's so relaxing and a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll have some more time to paint again tonight. The kids really enjoyed it.

Lexeigh working on a painting

Jimmie trying to decide on which of the many ideas he had in his mind to paint.

A painting I made with the kids. Can you see what it is? I like the softness of watercolors and how the paintings can have so many different meanings. Mine is a woman looking over a baby. I had a great time trying this out with them for the first time and look forward to doing it again soon.

I have some more pictures to post and I also would like to post a few videos as well. Jimmie is performing a dialogue tonight of one of his assignments on the Stone Age (we thought it'd be better to wait until the little ones were in bed and he wanted Marty to be home for it). We made some wooden figures to go with it and they are really excited to perform it. I'm hoping to get a good video of it to share.

Love you all!

Tree Blocks!

2010-01-21T11:20:00.005-06:00

Our tree blocks arrived yesterday and the kids have been having a blast with them. When they came I was immediately impressed how well Marty had done cutting some of our own. Aside from the difference in wood they were extrememly similar! So we will definitely finish up all the ones we have started and add them to the set.

All the tree blocks mixed in together. We found some branches that look like they came from a birch tree. The bark was really interesting so we used some of those. We also used some other various branches that had already been cut.

These are so fun and make great little treehouses for gnomes and fairies! =)

Nature Walks

2010-01-19T21:10:00.006-06:00

We had such a fun day yesterday! I checked the weather around ten thirty and saw that it was already 63 degrees outside. It was so nice out so I decided it'd be a good day for a nature walk.

We left the house a little before lunch and I left a note for Marty. As we were leaving the neighborhood the kids saw his car heading towards us and everyone started shouting for him. He turned around and parked on the side of the road, hopped out of the car, and joined us. Yay!

We found some really interesting things for our nature table. Everyone was really excited to find special rocks, leaves, and twigs. Pretty soon the basket was full.

Here are some pictures of our afternoon:

Reece and Ella holding hands right after we left the house. This wasn't even staged, I promise!

Reece found this leaf. He was undecided about holding it. Haha

Ella running ahead. I didn't mind her running a bit because her short little legs just can't keep up and this way we could all walk at a normal pace. =)

Lexeigh choosing some rocks for the nature table.

Jimmie and I found this awesome flatrock and knew we had to bring it home.

Okay, now this one was staged. =)

Reece said these flowers smell good although I'm not sure they were flowers. I was sure however, they were pretty dead. Haha

We brought along our drawing paper and block crayons to draw some things we saw. The big kids were to pick a tree each so we could identify them at home. They also made some pretty textured drawings on the trail.

Ella found it was much more entertaining to make a tower with the crayons...

Even Quinny found something!

We found this burrow and thought it was pretty neat. We tried to imagine what kind of animal lived in there.

Marty and Reece way down into the trees

Getting a ride from big brother

Everyone else going to join Daddy and Reece. I stayed back with Quinn to clean up since he was in the stroller.

I love this kid

Lulu

Jimmie and Marty on their way back. See that log Marty's carrying? He fell in the creek getting that thing. He wanted to get some wood to make some homemade tree blocks for the kids.

Later on we went back to collect more wood for the tree block project. We found some acorns and acorn caps which was super exciting because acorn caps make adorable little hats for woodland gnomes =).

Marty and I worked last night cutting and sawing and sanding and sanding some more. We have about half of them done and I'm really excited because they look great! He did a good job cutting them. I'll post some pictures of them later.

Our new curriculum is do to arrive today and the kids and I can't wait. Have a great day all!

Waldorf

2010-01-18T19:28:00.014-06:00

I thought I'd create a post on Waldorf philosophy and education since I reference it so often. I could write for weeks and probably still not cover everything so I'll be brief and try to touch on the main points.

The principles of Waldorf were founded by Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. He also founded anthroposophy. We'll get to that in a minute.

Basically, Steiner believed in educating the child as a whole. "Head, heart, and hands". Children learn through the arts, music, literature, handwork, imagination and creativity as opposed to rote memorization and dry textbooks. In fact, children educated through Waldorf curriculum or Waldorf schools don't even use textbooks until 5th grade. For example, with our new curriculum, I will do the days lesson with Lexeigh and she will then do her work into a main lesson book. A main lesson book is a blank book where children can put their paintings, stories, math practice, poems, etc. By the end of the year they will have many books filled with all of the things they learned over the year. I think this method works because it interests the child. Everyday each subject is incorporated with painting, drawing, stories, handwork, clay modeling, etc.

Waldorf aims to teach children responsibility, respect for others and society, individual thinking, truth, beauty, love of learning, and compassion among other things. Waldorf education teaches children in 7 year stages according to their various stages of development.

I'm very drawn to the fact that Waldorf education not only educates the child intellectually, but also educates their heart, spirit, and nature.

Now this is where I find some things I don't necessarily agree with. In a nutshell Anthroposophy tends to be at the root of all things Waldorf and Waldorf education. Steiner professed and taught such things as clairvoyance, reincarnation, and karma. He believed in a spiritual world although this is not the same Biblical spiritual world we believe in.

One of the stranger beliefs of Waldorfism for example is that elementary children not being allowed to use black crayons. Children in Waldorf schools also celebrate many of the festivals that tend to be pagan. They also do circle times and say certain verses I'm not completely comfortable with.

There is so much more to Waldorf than this but I only have so much time, haha. Needless to say, there are some parts of the Waldorf lifestyle and education that are intriguing, beautiful and wonderful for children. Other parts do not encompass our beliefs. The good thing is we can pick and choose what we like and only implement the things that fit for our family.

I love the Waldorf principles for early childhood as well. The use of calming, relaxing colors and spaces. Providing them with only natural, open-ended toys. Engaging them in activities that inspire creativity and learning. These are some of the things that are important to us.

The new curriculum we have ordered is the Waldorf curriculum from Oak Meadows. Lessons are assigned in blocks and are developed to be executed through painting, drawing, writing, handwork, etc. I think if children are captivated first, then learning comes easily. My children tend to be kinesthetic learners. Lexeigh really seems to be capable of learning in many different ways but Jimmie is definitely a "do-er". And some of the most memorable lessons I have from school are the ones where did projects or I was really interested in the way the lesson was delivered.

The curriculum we have coming is pretty strictly academic. I wanted to be sure it didn't include anthroposophical beliefs of any kind. So we will learn in a Waldorf-inspired manner and continue to use our current Bible curriculum daily. We are so excited to start this new program!

Here are a few examples of typical wet on wet watercolor paintings done by young Waldorf students. We can't wait to start learning about this.

Here are some examples of regualr daily work done by Waldorf students: (I don't have a pic of 4th grade for some reason).

First grade
Second
Third
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth

The things they do are just amazing and I think this program will really enrich life and learning for all of us.

A lot of homeschool families and Waldorf teachers do chalkboard drawings that have to do with daily/weekly lessons. These are really neat as well and so beautiful. I looked at some online and I made one for the first time for the kids based off of one I found:

It's a time wheel of the seasons and I added the verse from Ecclesiastes since I found it appropriate since there are so many changes coming up for us. =)

We've also been moving towards eliminating plastic and electronic toys. I've ordered some playsilks that we're going to dye in pretty colors. Playsilks are a great open ended toy. They can be capes, parachutes, water, baby buntings, anything at all. We used to have a bunch of them when Reece was little but after so many different moves they've gotten lost.

I also ordered some of these tree blocks:

How cool are these?! I love how they still have the bark on them and look as close to their natural state as possible. I think Reece especially will have a blast with these.

This has been a really great experience for us and I've enjoyed every bit of it so far. It makes me feel good to do this for the kids because I really feel it will enrich things for them in so many ways.

So, anyone care to discuss? =D

Block Crayons

2010-01-15T14:36:00.012-06:00

Two posts in one day?! Really. I have some time on my hands while the little ones are napping.

My appointment went well today. Baby looks okay but the placenta seems to be lying pretty low. I have another sonogram scheduled for Feb. 4th so we will know better then. We'll also find out gender then as well. Can't wait!

So when I ordered the kids' new curriculum, I also ordered some block crayons. Mainly for Reece. (I'll be updating soon on the changes we're making to our homeschool program. I'm *very* excited about that!) Well a charter school had ordered everything that Oak Meadows had so ours are on back order for a week. What's a person to do? Make some ourselves!!!

If you're not familiar with block crayons they are mainly used in Waldorf schools and in Waldorf-y type settings. They are introduced to younger children before regular stick crayons. There's many interesting reasons for this but I have to admit some of the highlights for me were normal, common sense things. My little ones are forever breaking crayons. Then we have little bits here and there and it drives me crazy. Block crayons are pretty impossible to break. They don't roll off the table. They're easy for little toddler type people to hold and draw with.

Also, the things that can be done with block crayons are simply amazing. This dvd here looks really neat and I plan on ordering it for the kids sometime in the future. You can watch a trailer for it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqnb39BxgWI
Check it out, it's very cool.

The block crayons we ordered were the beeswax version made by Stockmar. They're a European company that makes beeswax stick and block crayons, paints, supplies, etc. I love them very hard. But they can be pricey. For the set of 8 block crayons we ordered it was $11 before shipping. Now granted, they last for a very, very long time and don't snap like other crayons.

So until the little ones learn to show some reverence for their "good" crayons and supplies I'll be collecting for them, we've made our own block crayons. These work great and will definitely be nicer to deal with than having bits and pieces rolling all over. And better yet, a set of 18 cost me $1.07! Waldorf meets frugality. =D

On to the pictures!

Step One: Employ some eager young volunteers to peel those pesky crayon wrappers off.

Step Two: Break into pieces and place in lined muffin tin. You don't necessarily need to line the tin if you intend on making crayons in the shape of the tin. I did this because I needed to be able to pour the hot wax into the molds.

Step 3: Send your poor husband out to local sit down restaraunts to explain that his crazy homeschooling wife needs lots and lots of single serving jelly packets to use as crayon molds and may he please take a few? (This is where our only cost of $1.07 came from. Ihop charged us. The waitress at Kettle laughed so hard she couldn't ring it up and waved at Marty to take the bag. Said she'd never heard of a soldier asking for little jellies to make crayons. Ha)

Step 4: Put the jelly into an old baby food container. Who wants blackberry jam on their toast?!

Step 5: Once the crayons are melted in the oven pour each color into a clean and dry mold.

Step 6: After your crayons are hard (we put ours in the freezer), they'll pop right out of the molds.

Voila! Block Crayons!

Find a box to keep them in where you can set them on the table for the little ones to use.

And finally: Find yeerself a purty little toddler to try them out. They're easy to hold and easy to use.

This was a really great little project to do. Very easy and fun. I think it'd also be really neat to get some interesting candy molds and make different shapes. We might also try this again and layer the colors to get some funky, crazy colored crayons. =)

It's Been Too Long...

2010-01-15T11:18:00.008-06:00

Since my last update. It's increasingly harder to find time for the computer. We've made some changes in what we'll be doing in our homeschool. Some really big changes. I'll save that post for a different update. Today, I have some pictures to share!

As promised, here is a picture of the completed Craft Room. Initially it was going to be a Computer/Craft Room but we decided to keep the computer armoire in the living room to better monitor the kids activities. Also, they have a lot of movies on the computer that they all watch together so it just made sense.

I really love this room. It's probably my favorite place in the house. Lexeigh almost always comes in there with me to craft and chat. We've done a lot of fun stuff in here!

I keep some of my favorite wool and fabrics in the wicker baskets. I like to look at them and they make me smile. =)

This picture is a bit blurry but it's of an inspiration board I made for above the sewing table. I really love this. As you can see it needs some more "inspiration" haha. But still, I like having it up there to stick new things on that I find pretty or encouraging or creative.

These are two mini quilt type projects. I found the general ideas for them on the SewMamaSew blog during their Scrap Buster Month. I tacked them up on the wall just for fun.

Here are two dolls I made from two separate patterns I drew myself. I'm happy with how they turned out. I've made so many for the kids already but felt like making more because it's just so fun. They are going to live in the craft room. Marty's going to put a shelf up above the ironing board so I look forward to filling it up with some fun, crafty things.

I've also been helping the big kids make their own Waldorf dolls. They did amazing! We have the dolls completed, including embroidered faces, making and sewing on the wigs, etc. They did a lot of the work themselves and I'm really proud of how well they did. We just have to make some little clothes for them and they'll be finished. I will definitely post pics of that when we are done.

I also whipped up this little "star baby" awhile ago. For the new baby perhaps? It can live in the craft room with the other dollies until then. =)

Quinny in the bath (pre face washing, see his spaghetti mustache?)

Ella

Reece

Ella calls this "cozy". She always gets out and says, "Make me cozy Mom!"

I love this picture. They were giggling together after bath.

Love this one too. He was walking down the hall. He walks everywhere now! He hardly ever wants to waste him time crawling. Seeing him try to run on his tree trunk legs proves to be very comical.

Reecey and the big kids watching a movie

And a blurry picture of my most recent ultrasound pic. Taken around 13.5 weeks. It always amazes me how perfect their little bodies are at such an early stage. Even more amazing is how some people can look at that perfect little form, the beating heart, little legs kicking away, and say it's not yet a living person.

I have another appointment today. Some of you are aware of the issues I've been having this pregnancy. I think things are looking up. We're still praying for the new baby to stay safe and sound. We'll hopefully find out more about it during today's visit. I will update what we find out. Also, I was told they'd want to do another ultrasound today so that would be great as well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

I will be back as soon as possible with more updates and pictures. I hope you are all doing well. Enjoy your weekend!

Big Picture Post. Not Dial-Up Friendly =)

2009-12-29T18:44:00.014-06:00

Our first Christmas away from home went really well. We had a good day and the kids had a lot of fun. I have to admit I was a little worried about how to keep things busy and full all day so they didn't feel like they were sitting around on Christmas day. But we just spread things out and it turned out great.

Christmas morning, Jimmie and I were the first ones up. I was awake at around 5:30 a.m. and was too excited to go back to sleep. Jimmie was up right after that and we made some coffee and waited for everyone to wake up.

By the time it was 8 o'clock and the girls were still not up we decided to go and get them. Marty and I jumped on the bed and Jimmie and Reece followed us in and we sang a Merry Christmas song to wake them up.

The kids opened their stockings first and while they were munching on their treats Marty and I got things ready. We brought a big box inside to throw paper into to try and help corral the mess.

Soon it was present time. We did our presents first, then took a break to eat. The kids spent some time playing with their new things and we helped them put everything together. By the time that was finished it was naptime. After nap, we had Christmas dinner which came out really well! That was a relief, haha. We waited until that evening to open presents from family and I'm glad we did it that way.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

We made Russian Tea Cakes the night before Christmas Eve. They didn't turn out as perfectly as Nanny's pretty little dome shaped ones but they tasted the same!

Christmas Eve we had a picnic in the living room. That was a lot of fun and we all watched a movie.

This is a little set of woodland gnomes I made for the kids to play with. They like playing with little characters and people and things. I have some rocks collected and plan on making them a gnome abode, haha.

Here's the gnome teething ring I made for Quinn. This was one of his Christmas presents. The head fabric is organic cotton tricot stuffed with cleaned and carded wool stuffing. The body and hat are made with organic bamboo velour....the softest material ever!!!! I wish you could all feel it. But anyway, I definitely wanted to make sure it was safe for him to chew and gnaw on. =)

This is the scrappy hat I made for Lexeigh. It looks super cute on her.

This is the London Beanie I made Jimmie. The wool is Mosaic Moon's "Blue Goblin" colorway. For all you knitters, you have to see Mosaic Moon's colorways, they're beautiful! Definitely one of my favorite dyers.

A set of hand puppets I made for Ella which she really liked. We plan on adding hooks to each end of the play stands (pictured below) so that we can hang a puppet theatre front onto it with a dowel rod. When we get that finished these should come in handy!

Here are the Waldorf play stands that Marty built. I think he did a great job! We ordered the rainbow silk scape from threesisterstoys.com. I love their website. They sell all natural toys. They do sell play stands there and other places online but we saved a lot of money by making them ourselves. I really like the natural look so we left them unpainted and I used a non-toxic, eco-friendly beeswax and orange oil finish on them. It made the wood look beautiful and smelled really pretty too!

ETA: The basic concept of a play stand is that it can be many different things. It's a very open ended toy and can be anything the child imagines. It can be a hospital to play doctor in, a house, a fort, a store to play shop, a space ship, etc. Definitely a multi-purpose toy!

This is the baby that I made Ella using the Waldorf materials I ordered. I really like using the skin fabric. She still needs a name. =)

Marty and I took the baby to Walmart to find her a little sleeper so she wouldn't be naked. I wanted something solid colored but this was as close as I could find. She fits into preemie clothes perfect.

Lexeigh wanted me to make her a Waldorf mermaid and I had wanted to try making one anyway so it was the perfect excuse to whip one up! She wanted her mermaid to have a rainbow tail so I used LWI (low water immersion) to dye this piece of organic bamboo velour for her mermaid's tail.

Here she is. I think she turned out pretty well. I ordered the "mermaid hair" from Weir Dolls and Crafts. It's a mixture of different natural fibers and gave the hair a really neat texture.

I also gave her button jointed limbs so that they'd be movable.

Lexeigh named her Nerissa which means "daughter of the sea". An appropriate name for a mer-person I think.

She's slept with her everynight since. Ella calls her "that fish baby" haha.

Part of our Christmas surprise to the kids was to redo the play area for the kids. I really wanted to give them a Waldorf inspired play area with some natural, open ended toys. We replaced their plastic kitchen with a wooden kitchen I ordered from Oompa.com and they play with it much more than they played with the other one. I think the other one was too distracting with all the lights and buttons and sounds. Simple toys just seem to keep their attention much longer than the flashy, electronic toys that think for them instead of letting them think for themselves.

Here's the new play area. The easel, kitchen, playstands, and cradles are new. The cradles were gifts from Aunty Shelly's family to the girls. They love them! We recycled the bookshelf since it wasn't really being used. I also recycled the wicker baskets from elsewhere in the house to put their toys in so they can easily choose what to play with and so that things are on their level. This picture was taken on Christmas Eve after everyone was in bed so the baskets and shelves are mostly empty waiting for the new Christmas toys to fill them up!

Quinny on Christmas morning. He didn't know why he was so happy but he saw that everyone else was so that made him smile. Haha

The first thing they did was head into the play stand. Before Reece even opened one gift he said, "Oh thank you Mommy!" So sweet.

There's nothing like Christmas chocolate at 8 in the morning.

Ella made a hearty effort to eat every single thing that was edible in her stocking.

And also tried to force her baby to do the same...

Jimmie used his own money to buy presents for his siblings this year which was so very sweet of him. Lexeigh loved her present and nearly knocked him down with gratitude.

Ella and one of her presents.

This is the only picture of Reece not in his knickers. Haha. He likes to feel wild and free...

After he opened his skateboard and Very Hungry Caterpillar helmet and pads set he shed those pesky jammies because he said, "Those jammies aren't working. Only my feet work on my skateboard". LOL

Jimmie modeling his new hat. =D

When Ella was first given a present I don't think she quite knew what to do with it. She must have forgotten how to open gifts since her birthday. What a short memory a two-year old must have, haha. She sat and smiled at it till we showed her how to tear into it.

I had ordered some wooden play food for her to use with the new kitchen. Only the company sent it in a cute little baggie. I had to use a Jiffy corn bread box to put them in. She opened it and stared at the box and Reece said, "OH! IT'S CORN BREAD!!!! Ella you like corn bread don't you?!?!!" Hahahaha

Then almost immediately after that he took the box and asked me, "Why did Ella get CORN BREAD for her present??"

Daddy helped Quinn open all his presents.

He got the coolest toy from Oompa.com. It's a wooden pounding toy with different colored wooden balls. I just might take a video of one of the kids playing with it if I can because it's really neat. Quinn's only interested in the balls yet though.

I love love love this picture. Ella really liked her hand puppets and always asks me to help her put a new one on.

Lexeigh and her new ruby slippers. Haha.

Quinn during Christmas dinner. He swept most of it onto the floor to the dogs so how did he get so much of it on his face? I'm not sure but either way he was wicked happy about it.

I love this picture too.

This is one of my favorite pictures from this Christmas. I think because no one's pulling any weird faces and because it's near impossible to get pictures of Reece let alone pictures where he cooperates, haha!

I hope you all had a great Christmas. We were thinking of all our family that day and wishing we could be there. But we kept busy and had a fun time together. I hope yours was a Merry Christmas!

Handmade Christmas...again

2009-12-10T22:37:00.004-06:00

Just a few pictures tonight of some recent projects. =)
This isn't a recent project but it's still cute. Quinny fell asleep on the living room floor in his bear suit. He was tired so we let him sleep. He stayed there for about a half hour before he woke up smiling and sweaty.

Here is Jimmie's elf as he requested. The lighting in the room wasn't very good so the leaves on his vest aren't showing up well. I still need to bind off his feet. Jimmie pointed out the hair at Hobby Lobby one day and said it looked like elf hair. So I picked it up the next time I was there alone.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was waiting on a Waldorf making dvd. It was worth every penny! I can see a difference in using Joy's techniques already. She just retired though and I'm sad to have found her almost too late.

Here is Reece's boy. I think this is my favorite so far. Traditional Waldorf dolls don't have noses because the features are meant to be as simple as possible but some of the bigger dolls do. I decided to make this one with a nose and really like it.

Reece wanted his boy to have "lellow" hair like him so that's what he got. I made the t-shirt with some fabric I had that I was originally going to use to make some trainers or knickers for Reece. I made his pants out of a pair of recycled jeans that didn't fit anymore. I may make the little boys shirts like this, it was very easy and cute!

Kiddo Pictures and More Handmade Christmas

2009-11-30T01:05:00.005-06:00

We all had a great time during Nanny's recent visit to Texas. The kids really enjoyed spending time with her and even Quinn remembered her! He smiled right away and held his arms out to her as soon as she came into the house. I plan on doing a larger update on Thanksgiving and Quinn's birthday but there's lots of pictures to resize and upload so that will have to come a bit later. For now here are some recent pictures of the kids!

Here is the doll I made for Lexeigh for Christmas. She turned out better than Ella's. I can see that making Waldorf dolls is a craft you get better at each time you do it. Marty let me order the dollmaking dvd from Joy's Waldorf Dolls. I'm so excited to get it! I'd love to make these more often. I'm also going to make a few more before Christmas for the rest of the kids. Yes, even the boys. Haha. I've seen some adorable boy Waldorf dolls and some are elves and whatnot. Very cute.

Here she is. I did a few things differently with her and adjusted the pattern a bit from the way I constructed Ella's. I also did the hair differently and used a different wool for more realistic hair. Mom helped me crochet a cap for her that I sewed onto the head so I could latch each piece of hair in individually. This was probably the most time consuming but wasn't hard. I made some coffee, put on a movie, and by the time the movie was over she was finished!

Lexeigh picked the fabric. Although she didn't know what she was picking it for. =)

She needs a name too. Any suggestions? I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I miss you all!

Handmade Christmas

2009-11-23T13:21:00.004-06:00

Every year I try to give the kids at least one gift I've made myself. I really love doing this for them and look forward to finding new ideas. They seem to really like it to and it's something that's special to them. Usually they get a few "made by Mommy" gifts each year.

I thought I'd share the one I just finished for Ella. (Actually the first one I've made yet, haha). I've always loved Waldorf dolls and thought they were beautiful. I really want to start making them. I may order the dvd's on them since I think they'd be really helpful. If you've never heard of Waldorf dolls you should google them. They're really neat.

So anyway, I decided to take a stab at making a dolly for Ella for Christmas. I learned a lot and think she turned out pretty cute. It's a good thing Ella's only 2 and won't notice any mistakes I made! =P Her dolly. We thought it'd be fun to give her cute, pink hair.

I made her clothes out of one of Ella's shirts. I chose this particular shirt for a few reasons: 1) She received it for a gift for her 1st birthday and it's now a year later. The time went so fast! 2) The shirt was a gift from her Nanny so I hope that will be special for her too. I made the skirt out of some fun fabric I had.

Total cost for the dolly: $0. I made her from things I already had in my craft stash. Doing many different crafts paid off this time! I still need to add a little blush to her face to make some cheeks.

So what do you think? She needs a name. Anyone want to name her? =)

Cell Phones Hate Me

2009-11-20T20:28:00.002-06:00

So I am AGAIN without a phone. I don't know what happened. AGAIN. I put the phone down, and when I picked it back up it was off and refused to turn back on. I've tried everything to get it to turn on. Charging it does nothing. Even though it was charged when it "died". I don't know what on Earth could have caused it to do this. Nobody touched it. Everyone was napping (even Jimmie, Lexeigh, and I). When we all woke up it was off. How strange.

I guess I'm going to have to try and get the other phone unlocked and reflashed but that might be expensive. So in the meantime if you need to reach me you can do so here or through paperdaisies04@gmail.com.

Smallish Update and Creepy Ella

2009-11-17T21:50:00.007-06:00

I haven't been updating much lately due to the fact that I've been pretty nauseous and exhausted. Early pregnancy is no fun for me. Most people are surprised to hear that I don't enjoy being pregnant. Having more than the average amount of children I guess people just assume I like pregnancy, lol. I can say it's definitely more than worth it but, all in all, I just don't care for the pregnancy part much.

I seem to only get sick when I'm pregnant with girls. I never had morning (afternoon, evening, night) sickness with any of the 3 boys but did with both girls. Maybe that's a sign we're having a girl? Or maybe just a very tricky little fella. =)

It would be great to have a girl so we could continue our nifty "boy-girl-boy-girl" pattern. It would be awesome to have a boy because I've never had children of the same gender back to back before. It's a win-win either way I say!

Lexeigh has a friend up the street whose mom sent this stroller down thinking we might be able to use it. I thought that was nice of her. We already have two strollers though so I let Lexeigh have it to use with her baby dolls. Sometimes she puts her brother in it though, haha. Real babies are more fun!

She is such a great big sister. She's always trying to help the little ones and is never, ever mean or spiteful to them. She's a great little mommy to Quinn.

Ella after her bath the other night. It's finally long enough to make a teeny little baby braid!

Of course by morning it didn't look quite so tidy. =D

Now, I have to add this here: Ella has been pulling this strange, creepy face at people for the last week or two. We're not really sure where she learned it but she points her face downward and stares up with her eyes. She doesn't blink, or talk, or move. It's pretty funny. Especially when she does it for minutes at a time!

Here she is at lunch the other day giving Lexeigh "The Look" across the table...

And then to Jimmie....

And at me tonight before going to bed. It's the funniest thing. Silly girl!

I need to get some pictures of the other two boys. One insists on taking silly photos and one won't stand still long enough for me to get a picture. He usually just ends up as a blur in the side of the photo. You guess which boy is which, haha.

Reece's 4th Birthday

2009-11-09T10:52:00.010-06:00

Reece had a great birthday yesterday! I can't believe he's 4 already. On the other hand it seems like he's been with us forever. I can honestly say he's a true joy to have. He's such a funny boy and makes me laugh all the time. He can definitely be a handful and is very spirited as you all well know...but I believe his personality will serve him well. One day. =)

So we went to Toys R Us when and bought him a train table with his birthday money. Marty brought it home and he was so excited! We spent the afternoon putting it together. As soon as it was done Reece promptly collected his cars and tracks and trains and took them to his favorite spots: his bedroom and the windowsill. *Sigh* So we dismantled the train table and took it back. Boo.

This time we took him to the store and let him choose for himself. Now I have to give you a little backstory here...Reece had had a long obsession with the Wizard of Oz. Mainly the Wicked Witch of the West. At first it scared him but he then decided he loved him. (He thinks the witch is a boy haha). So everytime we go to the toy store we have to spend a lot of time at the Barbie display looking at the commemorative Wizard of Oz dolls. EVERY time. Well what do you think he wanted to choose first out of all the thousands of toys available? The Wicked Witch of the West! Marty and I spent the whole time trying to talk him out of the "Barbie" but to no avail. Finally we just decided, "It's his birthday money, let him choose what he wants". So he did. And he's been dragging it around with him ever since.

On the way home he said from the back, "Mommy, the witch said I can hold his broom. He did. He did say that to me."

This is the other, more "normal" toy that he chose.

Reece on the morning of his birthday. The presents in the white bag are from "Ooey Gooey Nanny" haha

For the past year I've been promising this child a Wiggles cake for his 4th birthday. I took a stab at it and this was the result, haha. Oh well, he liked it!

I spent most of naptime getting it ready so I could surprise him when he woke up

It was really hard for the little ones to have to wait until after dinner for that cake though!

I went to get Quinn up from his nap and returned to the kitchen to find this vandalism. I didn't see a soul in sight so I yelled, "Reece Martin!". I heard a little voice from behind the couch in the living room say, "I didn't do it!". I said back, "Didn't do what?!" and his reply was...."Eat my cake. I didn't. I didn't eat my cake Mommy!" Hahaha. They are so easy get the truth from at this age. They give themselves up

See the green icing on his lower lip? Evidence!

I told him it was okay. It was his birthday cake but he had to tell the truth. He said okay and gave me a big smile.

Finally cake time!

Blowing out the candles!

He wanted the red "R" in Reece. He said it was the "Murray" letter. (Murray is the red wiggle and also Reece's favorite wiggle)

His birthday isn't for another 2 weeks but how could we leave him out? He loved the cake too!

Happy Birthday Reecey!

And I just added this pic because it makes me laugh. Babushka Baby!

Our Family Closet and ChorePacks

2009-11-08T17:39:00.013-06:00

So here is the promised post of our Laundry Room/Family Closet. I decided to use a family closet because keeping up with laundry was always a challenge for me. Even at my best attempts to fold things right out of the dryer, some distraction would prevent delivery of the items to their various locations around the house and before you knew it we were just grabbing things out of the basket itself. That did not work well.

My second motivation came from a sweet girl who shall remain nameless who likes to change her clothes. A LOT. I don't know why we even bothered with hangers for that child since her room was carpeted in her "floordrobe".

This works out so much better for us and makes it extremely easy to keep up with laundry. Everything to be put away is right there in the room that it gets washed in. Except for towels, blankets, and sheets which go in the linen closet.
Here is what you see as you enter the laundry room. To the left in the picture is another door that leads to the garage.

Next to the washer and dryer is where we have our changing station. Love this. We use it to house both our current rotation of cloth diapers and disposables.

If you turn right at the changing table you will see our "Family Closet". Hanging garments to the left. Each person's section is labeled with their own divider which makes it easy to hang things up and grab someone an outfit when needed. The dresser is for the kids. Everyone has their own except for the little boys who share one. In their drawers they keep pj's, knickers, and socks.

Above the dresser are where Marty and I keep our pants, tshirts, pj's, etc.

To the right on the long shelf is where we keep the kids' "folding clothes". Bottoms (pants and shorts for the boys, pants and skirts for the girls) and tshirts. Each person has a section from youngest to oldest. One pile for bottoms, one for tops. Under that shelf is all of Marty's uniforms and pt stuff and a basket for each Marty and I. Knickers, socks, etc.

On the ground is a blue tub for boys clothes that have been sorted and are waiting to be grown into. Same thing for the purple tub for the girls.

Closer pic of the hanging rod Marty installed. The kids also have their own color of hanger to make things easier as well.

Quinn: Light Blue

Ella: White

Reece: Dark Blue

Lexeigh: Pink

Jimmie: Red

Marty and I: White adult hangers

The dresser and parent shelves

The kids folded clothing

This is just a view from the family closet area. See that ice cream container on the dryer? That's where I keep my homemade laundry soap. It works great and equals out to about a penny a load!

Now onto our ChorePack system. I posted this pic a little while back of the kids chore packs. I've taken some other pictures to better explain how they work. (The Chorepacks, not the kids. Haha)

Here are their chorepacks. From left to right: Jimmie, Lexeigh, Reece. Each morning they put on their chorepack and follow them starting with card 1. When that chore is complete the slide it into the back. Then when they reach card 1 again they know that pack is finished. They have a pack for after lunch and after dinner as well.

These are Jimmie's chores for the morning. After card number 5 we have breakfast and they finish the rest of their morning chorepack afterwards.

Jimmie's after lunch pack. They both have "clear hallway" as mumber 3 so they can work on that together.

Jimmie's evening pack

Lexeigh's morning pack

Lexeigh's after lunch pack

Lexeigh's evening pack

Reece's morning chorepack. These are just basics to get him used to following directions and learning to be responsible for expected actions without reminding. He does have other small chores in the day to help with such as feeding the dog or putting the silverware away.

These are the chores that the kids do once weekly.

That's a pretty basic rundown of how the chorepacks work. While the kids are doing their packs in the morning I am usually working on laundry and working along side them to help them get things done. Our goal is to have them be able to complete their tasks efficiently without help and in an appropriate amount of time. That takes a lot of work! They are good about helping and are definitely a blessing to me around the house. They are my biggest helpers. =)

I will also be posting Reece's birthday pictures soon. Maybe tonight but probably tomorrow. I have a few pictures left to upload of him blowing out his candles that I didn't want to leave out. Thank you for all the cards! He was very excited to get them and I have pictures of some of the presents he bought with his birthday money. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Love and miss you all.

Thinking of You Today Stacy Leigh

2009-11-06T07:59:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday sweet Stacy. You're missed everyday angel girl.

House Pictures

2009-11-05T10:43:00.008-06:00

So here are a few pictures of the house. I didn't include pictures of the sewing/computer room yet because it isn't finished. I also didn't include pictures of my bedroom yet because really, there's nothing in it, haha. The pictures I posted of our recycled night stands show pretty much all there is. I have plans for those rooms though. Oh yes, big plans. So I will post update with pictures when they are complete.

Our house at the moment looks pretty sparse and I have to say we LOVE it that way. It's such a refreshing change from where we just came from. We had an overload of possessions. Clothes from years back, things people didn't wear, toys, etc. When we moved here we reduced our "stuff" by at least 50% if not 60%-70%. It was a blessing in disguise that we were sent that smaller than expected Pod. It really forced us to evaluate what we truly needed.

Having the house sparse the way it is also makes it MUCH easier to clean and keep clean. We can get the whole house clean and presentable top to bottom in about an hour. It's great! So without further ado....

First, we have the corner bookshelf in the entryway as you enter the house. Notice there aren't any pictures after the first 3 shelves. Little hands like shiny things and faces. =)

Here is the left half of the living room.

And the right half where the kids play. We used to have the big dollhouse against the other wall along with a basket of toys but when I realized they weren't being played with as much off they went. I'm afraid of clutter now...

Here are the things they play with most often. The armoire on the right houses things they use daily and we keep a lock on it to prevent toys from being scattered all over the house. They have to come to me when they want something new to play with and also have to show me they cleaned up the toys they were playing with first. This has been working really well for us.

Puzzles, clippos, and other things in tubs. Play food, dollhouse furniture, wooden blocks, cars, railroad tracks, play-doh, etc. I've taken pictures of each tubs contents so that I can put them on the front to make putting things away easier. Maybe I'll print those out today.

Another random shot of the living room from the play area

Jimmie's bed. I still need to get a picture of the rest of his room. He has a cubicle to the right with his books, toys, etc. and a closet to the right of that.

This is the best shot I could get of the girls room. They have their pink cubicle and tv (which is really Jimmie's since the girls' princess tv is in the living room right now) and some other toys along the wall to the right.

Girls bed. They really love this bunk! We plan to get a red or blue one for the little boys when Quinn grows out of his crib.

Reece's side of the little boys room

And Quinn's side. I haven't put up any of their cowboy decor yet but will post pictures of that when I do. Of course!

The bathroom is just a bathroom and pretty boring. But here it is nontheless. The shower and tub are to the left in the picture.

The kitchen. Pretty plain but I love the uncluttered-ness.

Hanging in the kitchen in the entryway to the laundry room, across from the pantry, are the kids chorepacks. Jimmie is red, Lexeigh white, Reece blue. Reece does not have multiple chore packs yet and his are pretty basic and simple. Once daily they do a "weekly chore" which is posted above their chorepacks. They have 3 chorepacks per day. I plan on making a separate post about their chorepacks and how they work for anyone interested.

Here is our dining room. It was hard to get an accurate picture of this room. It seemed a lot bigger until we put our big table in there, haha. But we're grateful we have a place to eat together that a) we can all sit together and b) is NOT in the living room!

So there you have it. Most of our home ;). I didn't think anyone would really care about the garage or backyard or linen closet or whatnot. I'm going to make a separate post for the laundry room because we also use it as a "Family Closet" which I love. I thought that deserved it's own special post. =)

Precious Moments

2009-11-04T16:10:00.002-06:00

I have some little people with fine hair and rosy cheeks,
They giggle and they squeal quite as often as they speak,
They climb on me each morning and chase me through the day
Asking lots of questions and begging me to play.

It's easy to get busy with the things I need to do
Forgetting that their playful days are fleeting and too few
O, Lord, please help me notice what's important and what's not,
To cherish precious moments and to mother as I ought.

Please keep me from distractions that would rob me of the joy
That you have planned to give me through my precious girls and boys.
Please help me teach them of Your ways, this is my highest aim,
I long to see my children live to glorify Your name.

O, help me be the model that would draw them to Your throne,
Let me make for them a haven that would turn their hearts to home,
And in these fast and fleeting years, please help me not to miss
The treasures that you give me in each cuddle and each kiss.

When I am old and looking back at every blessed year
I will rejoice that I was there to share each joy and tear.

By Val Hallaran

"The Noticer" by Andy Andrews

2009-11-04T08:11:00.003-06:00

This is a book review for "The Noticer". Part of being a member of the Thomas Nelson book reviewers. Definitely give their website a look!

The Noticer

The story begins with the indroduction to our character (and author) Andy Anderson. He is homeless, jobless, alone, and has nothing to live for. A mysterious old man (Jones) appears out of nowhere to give him a little "perspective" about his situation. Jones, as well, appears and disappears to deliver his unique perspective to all the people of the town without anyone ever knowing who he really is. They only know that his words have life changing results.

This book was definitely a quick read as I finished it in one day, which was refreshing. I have to say I myself have never really given the idea of "perspective" much thought. To read something that gives me a new way to view obstacles that we all face in life was definitely welcomed!

What a Day

2009-11-02T19:30:00.002-06:00

We had a really busy day today. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of my listed housework done because we were out.

I called the post hospital this morning to ask about an initial ob visit. They told me to come to the lab, have a test done, wait an hour, then go to Women's Health for the results and to set up an appointment. So I did all of the above. Well the line was really long as most things are since this post is so over crowded and I decided to take the kids home for lunch and nap and call to make the appointment.

I get home and spend 20 minutes calling and getting a busy signal. Finally it rings. They tell me I called Women's Health and not Women's Health "Appointments" so I call another number. They then tell me I need to make an appointment with my civilian pcm so that she could refer me to them for care. Even though they are the ones who did the lab and gave me the positive lab result to deliver to her. *Sigh*

So I call my pcm, and go to see her at 3:50. She was running almost an hour and a half behind and by the time she came to see me none of the kids felt like being there anymore. I handed her the lab paper and she put the referral in. She saw me for about 4 min.

It seemed so silly and such a waste of time to me to go back and forth. I'm glad it's over. Going by some rough estimates they gave me a due date of approximately July 6. We'll see if that changes once we have an initial sonogram to determine gestation.

I hope everone is having a peaceful evening!

That's a Positive Alright!

2009-11-01T22:51:00.002-06:00

Took a second test just to double check. I think it's pretty clear. What do you think? =)

Apron Making and Bread Baking

2009-11-01T18:40:00.007-06:00

Lexeigh and I have been learning how to cook new things together. Jimmie has also shown a real interest in cooking and is actually really, really good at it! So we decided to whip up some aprons to wear while we cook, bake, and clean. We really like them and wear them everyday now.

This is side one of my apron

And side two. It's nice to have it reversable in case I need to switch it around in case it gets dirty.

Here's a picture Lexeigh took of me in my apron. She said she needed Uncle Jerry to help her take good pictures. I said I needed Aunty Pooh to help me look presentable. =)

Lexeigh loved this apple kitchen towel I had. Since it was brand new I decided to transform it into an apron for her.

As you can see she really liked it!

Here we are putting our new aprons to good use and making a couple of loaves of bread. This was really easy, really fun, and REALLY yummy.

Lexeigh stirring in the yeast...

And kneading the dough...

Our loaves turned out great and not like bricks at all! We ate a whole loaf right out of the oven. We'll definitely be making this again very soon. Anyone want to come over for some fresh, warm bread? =)

Costume Pictures

2009-11-01T11:14:00.010-06:00

Here are some pictures of the kids from last night. They had a great time!

We had the perfect ready made costume for Jimmie! He was a soldier with a genuine costume. Marty and Jimmie share a lot of their shirts now. Haha

Batter up!

This is as best we could do with the boy who didn't want to wear a costume, lol.

The cutest little Raggedy Ann on the block. =)

And last but not least, the fat little octopus boy. He was so sweet last night and enjoyed watching all the people.

All the kids before we left. We went to a neighbor's church before we went trick or treating.

He was so happy to ride around in the stroller. He didn't make one peep all night. He would get excited and kick his legs and all his tentacles would kick with him! It was really cute.

There was a little boy dressed as Michael Jackson that was always about one house ahead of us. Everytime Reece finished with a house he'd come back down and say, "Where's Michael?" HAHA

Getting ready to check the candy

Quinny's first taste of Halloween candy

Standing up! Quinny said it was a fun night. =)

Things that make you go hmmm

2009-11-01T11:09:00.003-06:00

Marty just told me something he heard from one of his Dave Ramsey cd's. God only gives you what you can handle which is something we do believe. Well, Dave Ramsey made the point that if you're not managing what money He's already given you properly, why would He give you more of it? Something to think about for sure.

Heavy stuff...

What do you do when you need new furniture...

2009-11-01T08:12:00.008-06:00

and it's not really in the budget? You get creative! We needed some night stands for our bedroom really bad. We both read at night so we always have books, book lights, and other things shoved under our pillows. Marty stays up late every night reading and listening to his best friend Dave Ramsey. Haha.

So anyway, we found some old end tables on Craigslist for a good price. They didn't look very attractive and had a bad paint job but they were interesting.

So we removed the hardware, lightly sanded them down, and got them ready for primer.

Some paint and new knobs and they were like brand new furniture! We're really happy with them and they're being put to good use. Also, they cost us much less than buying them new. Being frugal is the new black. =)

I'll be posting some pictures of the kiddos in their costumes later!

Oh! And Also!

2009-10-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

Big news! Maybe not surprising news but big nonetheless, haha.

How Are We Doing You Ask?

2009-10-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

We're doing great! We love our new house and it's a much better fit for us. The kids are really enjoying being in a neighborhood with lots of children to play with and have already made quite a few fast friends. With the move keeping us so busy they had a lot of homeschooling work to catch up on. We made a deal: Work as diligently as possible, get everything done and caught up, and we'd have an ice cream party! Well they did and we did and they had a blast.

We also forgot about the terrible ants that live down here in Texas. Reece stood right in a huge mound of them and got eaten alive. Poor boy just stood there and screamed, "ANTS! ANTS!" instead of trying to get away from them. We rinsed him off as fast as we could but we were too late.

(Just pretend his nails aren't painted a flamboyant, sparkly red). We thought he'd be fine so we slathered some anti-itch medicine all over the bites and gave him some Benedryl. Very shortly after he looked like this...

Marty was worried and took him to the ER which wasn't a great experience. We've never had much luck with the hospitals here and this time was no exception. After 3 hours in the ER, Reece had still yet to be seen. His face and body had cleared up by that time and after lots of prayers he was fine. Marty asked for discharge papers and brought him home.

He was back to his silly self in no time and has been busy ever since keeping us on alert. =P

The big kids are doing well and are learning lots. Quinn is getting so very big already and is so proud of himself when he stands up all by himself. His hair is really growing and getting so curly!

Ella is still serious and sensitive. But she also knows how to be silly. She makes us laugh every day. She's talking LOADS! And she's also doing really well in her big girl bed. The other night she heard the front door open. She threw her piggy down next to her, covered him up, and said: "Piggy! Go nigh night! Daddy comin'!" Funny girl.

I have so much more to update and lots and lots more pictures to share but it's been a long night and Mommy is tired. We have lots of little ones to bathe and get dressed in the morning before church. I hope you are all doing well and having a great weekend!