Thinking of You Today Stacy Leigh

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

House Pictures

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

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

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

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!

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

Apron Making and Bread Baking

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? =)