New Pics

We finally got a new camera and worked out all the glitches with uploading pictures. Its a cheapy digital camera, so the pictures aren't that great. We've lost two slightly more expensive cameras to gravity, and we didn't want to take a chance with that again.

8:55 AM - Sep. 16, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Tudes

"What are you looking at? So, I've got no shirt and a big bow. You got a problem with that?"

"Mom, will you please stop looking at me?"

"My pretty."

"We're not really interested in having our pictures taken!" And yes, that's laundry in the background. Usually its worse.

10:34 PM - May. 13, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Family Picture

Here's our family on Easter. We had a great time at mom and dad's house. We got to see my sister and brother-in-law and their horse-dog, Carter. His teeth could easily fit around my children's heads, but he is gentle  and playful.  I hope everyone had a great Easter.

11:15 AM - Apr. 14, 2009 - comments {6} - post comment

A Little Throwback

In honor of my baby sister, here's a video of the Amy Grant song "Emmanuel". Back in the dark ages, when we were little, we listened to this song over and over on my parent's record player. Yes, I said record player. For you youngins out there, records are big cds. Grin.

For my family, this was Rock N Roll! Sis and I loved it.

 My parents also had an 8-Track player. Unfortunately, the only tape they had was a disco compilation. Groan. But we loved it. What five year old doesn't love disco?  I don't know if my baby sis remembers this one, but here it is...

And another....this one was also on a record. In honor of the theme, my sister and I ran around the living room rug, which was an big green oval, pretending to race. I'm not sure if she remembers that, either.

4:25 PM - Mar. 15, 2009 - comments {2} - post comment

Media Fast

We decided to take a break from Media during the month of February. It was pretty easy turning the tv off, but the internet was much harder. In fact, I had to repent a few days into it.

I have not decided wether I will keep blogging.

12:42 PM - Mar. 3, 2009 - comments {7} - post comment

Busy Week

When I wrote that I would post a Virtual House Tour and A Day in the Life, I didn't remember how busy a week we had in store. Tomorrow we are leaving for the beach. Hubby has to lead worship and speak at a youth retreat. The whole family is going and we're very excited. But preparing for the trip, homeschooling, and housecleaning have taken up all of my time. So, no new posts until next week.

By the way, my  house has been clean since last Friday, with NO laundry on the loveseat. Flylady has her kitchen sink, but I have my loveseat. I'm so excited about this new way of life!

2:16 PM - Jan. 15, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment

Poop-Free Tuesday

Good Monday to you!

My almost-three year old gave me a couple of decorating ideas today. One was sitting right next to the kitchen trashcan and the other was stuck nicely to the wall in his bedroom. Apparently, he thinks brown blobs of poop look cool.

I disagree.

Tomorrow I will post pics of our house in a Virtual Home Tour...mainly because its pretty clean and nice-looking at the moment. At some point this week I'll post a "Day in the Life" of me, which, I hope, will not include poop of any kind.

4:40 PM - Jan. 12, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Handmade Smocks

My sister made the little boys each a smock for Christmas. They are so adorable. She chose colors that are bright and fun, and go perfectly with our schoolroom decor.

She also made my mom and I Chistmas redwork scenes. But I don't have a picture because I already stored it in the attic with our other Christmas stuff. My sis is so talented.

10:20 AM - Jan. 5, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Mom's Day Off

My wonderful husband, who must be the best one in the world, gave me the day off. He has the five kids at home and I am out goofing off around town without a care in the world.  I spent the morning at antique stores, thrift shops, and used books stores. Basically, the kind of places that you can't take five kids and a double stroller. It was an amazing sense of freedom to be surrounded by breakable items, but not worry that little hands would cause a crashing.

Now, I'm being uber-yuppie and blogging at Panera Bread.  I plan on doing a bit of shopping (Christmas giftcard) and getting a pedicure. What a lazy day. I did get a roast into the crockpot, so hubby wouldn't have to worry about dinner.

I'm off...have  a great day.

1:20 PM - Dec. 30, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

My Inner Pink

In my natural, pre-Christ state the celeb that I identified most with (or at least wanted to be like) was Pink...yes, the quasi edgy girl rocker shown below. She's funny and doesn't take herself to seriously. She's attractive without being cookie-cutter pretty.  She's rebellious and kind of mean looking

For some reason, I liked that. I admit too, that I love her hair. I had pink hair years ago (if I remember correctly it was right around the time I was picking up trash for community service while watching a fellow 'volunteer' freebase crack out of coke can...but that's another story), and I would do it again (the pink hair, not the community service) if I didn't think I'd get funny looks at chuch. If I could ty anything just once, I'd actually get pink dreadlocks. Wowza.

You have to admit, that looks pretty cool. Pink is such a nice color for hair. But, I'm a  mature housewifey homeschooley, momma. So no pink hair for me.

12:42 AM - Dec. 13, 2008 - comments {5} - post comment

Beth the Baby-Wearer

This weekend I spent a lot of time carting around Miss Darlin in my Baby Bjorn. I have a sling as well, but I haven't gotten the hang of it, yet.  I finally figured out how to carry Miss Darlin facing forward. She really liked it this way, and even fell asleep for a long time. I think I might even try taking her to church this way one day!

Yes, she is all dolled up. We spent the morning trying to get a picture for our Christmas cards. It is tons of fun trying to get five kids to look at the camera at one time.

12:55 PM - Dec. 10, 2008 - comments {5} - post comment

Popping the Standard of Living Bubble

Great article and so true. We all need to get used to the idea that stuff doesn't grow on trees. I am excited to see how this plays out. It really is a very exciting time to live in. Watch and see.

5:11 PM - Oct. 24, 2008 - comments {3} - post comment

Friday Fun Night

We're trying to get ready to have a family fun night here at our house. On the menu is homemade pizza, chips & dip, and homemade caramel popcorn. Yum. I've been looking for a great thin crust pizza recipe, and I just found one that will give me the crispy, cracker texture that I like. But, you have to make the dough 24 hours in advance. So, we won't be using that one tonight. I sometimes use tortillas, because they really mimic the crispy, cracker thing. But, I forgot those at the grocery store.

Oh well. Have a fun Friday night with your family.

3:37 PM - Oct. 17, 2008 - comments {2} - post comment

Fun Day...Not

We had family pictures this morning. Each year the homeschool group arranges for a local photographer to take 'school' type photos of the kids at discount prices. He does family pictures at the same time. Little Miss Darlin wasn't happy, and I'm 99% sure that this year's family picture will include her with her little ole' mouth wide open mid-scream.

Oh well.

The boys were adorable and well behaved. I forgot to get pics of them all dressed up. Its quite fun ironing four matching button up shirts, finding four white undershirts, dressing three out of those four, and slicking, spraying, and somehow making four buzzcuts look good. Ah...all in the name of posterity.

 Here's another of Darlin, just in case you haven't had enough cuteness in your life today. And no, the bow is lovely, not obnoxious. Thank you very much.

3:26 PM - Oct. 9, 2008 - comments {5} - post comment

What My Daughter Has Taught Me

Two weeks of having a daughter has already taught me so much. I'm thankful that God has given me the chance to raise a daughter, and I pray that He'll see fit to bless with me another one sometime soon. Once we found out that the baby was a girl, we started seeing life and parenthood differently. But I didn't imagine that my little darlin would teach me so much in just two weeks.

I wish I could be more like her. She entered our life and brought beauty, softness, and light. Just because God made her female and she hasn't had the chance to reject that yet. I've always been something of a tomboy, and its taken me awhile to understand and even desire feminity. My prayer for my daughter is that she will always embrace the amazing way that God has formed her, and live to fulfil his plan for her womanhood.

Being in awe of the wonder of womanhood is not meant to take away from the glory of masculinity.  To be able to watch, in my own home, the manifestation of both the created male and female shows me how amazing God is in His creation. He has a plan for everything, and I'm thankful that He's let me be a part of it for a little while.

8:00 PM - Oct. 5, 2008 - comments {4} - post comment

Why Do Women Like Shoes?

Why do women like shoes? I'm not sure. I hate shoes. And socks.

 A minute ago, there was a car commercial on tv. A lady was sitting in her car and all of sudden shoes started raining from the sky. The lady got out of the car and started grabbing shoes by the armful and tossing them into her trunk. Most women watching would be thinking "Oh, that would be awesome, all the shoes I could want."

Not me. The first thing I thought was "Yeah right. She has to find the match to each of those shoes."

See, that's how I roll. Too practical. That's why I don't like shoes and socks...because there are two of them. Do you know how hard it is to keep track of shoes and socks for four/five kids? I always struggled with finding one but not the other.  That's why my kids have one pair of shoes. Yep. One.

Sandals in the spring and summer.

Tennis shoes in the fall and winter.

They wear them to church and to play.

I have five pairs of shoes. But since March I have exclusively worn ONE pair of shoes.

YEP. ONE. Since March.

I wear these to chuch, with skirts, with jeans, to walk around the neighborhood. They are cute and feminine but supportive like tennis shoes. So, no, I can't stand bunches of shoes.

10:42 PM - Sep. 29, 2008 - comments {4} - post comment

Random Pics

A few tantalizing pictures for your visual frenzy. Just kidding. I have nothing to say today...no energy. So, I thought I'd just post silly pictures. Here's me and hubby (making a serious face). My picture says "HI, I'm fat, just take a look at my chin...and no, this photo had not been edited!"

2:57 PM - Aug. 22, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Busy Days

We've been busy, busy, busy here. We're in the middle of ripping up carpet so that we can have our concrete floors stained. It should look really beautiful when its all done. Our carpet is disgusting, and neither my husband nor I are fond of carpet with little children. We are 'converting' our dining room to our schoolroom/ library. The gorgeous schoolroom that my husband worked so hard on for us last year ended up being too small for all of us, and with a new baby coming we just need extra space for the six of us to fit during 'school'.

I hope to post pics of the boys' bedroom soon. It turned out really well, my husband is an excellent painter of 'stripes'.

I also hope to post some pics of a few of Amy's things in anticipation of her arrival, a few dresses that my mother has bought and some material that my mother-in-law is using to make the bedding. By the way, the crib bedding that I posted a month or so ago was just a joke. That's not our nursery. This little girl will be sharing a room with one of her brothers for at least five years (or until we have another girl), so there will not be a super-girly nursery.

I'll update more later.

10:21 AM - Jul. 15, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Busy Night

We've been painting our older boys' bedroom this evening. We took a break to let the first coat dry and went to see a movie. We saw Iron Man, which of course, is a total guy movie. Normally, I'm not a chick-flick kinda girl. I like espionage and cops and mysteries. I do not, however, like unrealistic superheroes. Hubby liked it though...two big iron robot-thingies battling it out...what could be better?

Adrian asked about using a mop to wash a car. It was totally my son's idea. He had recently used the mop to clean the top part of his walls (he has high ceilings) in preparation for painting. So, he decided it would work equally well for a large vehicle. I guess it worked. The truck looks a little streaky, but  I don't care. They had fun, and I didn't have to do anything but snap photos. Just the way I like it.

I'm going to bed now...its almost 2 am. :)

1:38 AM - Jul. 11, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

To the Commentor

I just wanted to let the commentor know why a particular word is starred out in my birthing post. I understand that the word is not dirty and that every woman has one. However, Homeschoolblogger automatically stars out any words that are se*ually explicit as to avoid the blogs coming up in google porn searches.

Sitemeter has an awesome feature that allows me to see what words people used in a search engine that got them to my site. You would be VERY surprised to know that one article I wrote on the HPV vaccine brought a few hits by people who were clearly searching for child pornography...just because I had the terms "11yo girl" and "s**" in the same artice. Disgusting.

So, if you see something starred out and you are wondering why I'm such a prude...its because its safer to do it this way.

4:28 PM - Jul. 8, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment