Obviously, I've been a bit busy the last few weeks, and blogging has been very low on the totem pole.  We, and by we...I mean me...I have painted the entire downstairs and put up a very "me" type of border.  The house is so much more "us," now.  For a while, it felt like we'd just set up house in someone else's house...which, quite frankly, was exactly what we'd done. 

What's funny is that I thought I really liked some of the colors, and I really thought I'd keep some of them.  I have dishes that matched the yellow in the kitchen perfectly, and the master bedroom was a beautiful textured shade of red...that happened to look terrible with our dark furniture.  Anyway...without further ado...the before...and the after:

Breakfast area

Dining room

Master bedroom

alternate view

Mudroom

Kitchen

Alternate view

On a side note:  Hannah is doing great!  She still has seven of the nine stitches, but they assured me that toddlers always pull a couple out.  They told me not to worry about it as long as the wound doesn't reopen because of the absence of those stitches.  It hasn't.  Thank you very much for your thoughts and prayers.

Deron and I have made it through the last five and a half years without having to call 911 due to an injured child.  That was nice. 

However...all that changed Monday night.  It was a crazy night.  We'd just gotten back from the grocery store and the house a wreck.  The dishwasher is on its last leg and we'd been out of town for the weekend, so laundry was covering the place!  Deron had taken Hannah and Daniel into the garage with him and the next thing I knew, he was yelling for me to open the door for him. 

He came in with blood all over him and Hannah.  He yelled for me to dial 911 while he held the gash on her forehead closed.  While the ambulance was on the way, she kept trying to pass out.  Deron continued screaming in her face until the paramedics got there just to keep her awake.  The paramedics arrived less than ten minutes later, but it felt like an eternity. 

I sat there with her, hold the bandage in place, screaming and praying!  I don't know if I've ever been so scared in my life!  Daniel, my "worst-case-scenario" child, continued to tell me, "I hope she doesn't die!"  about a thousand times, but he did try to help me talk to her a lot. 

When we got to the hospital, she started throwing up (which is normal from what I understand), and Deron ran around and carried her inside along with the keys.  They took her back immediately, seeing that Deron was once again holding her wound shut.  I had to wait until a nice lady came and stood with the van for me so I could run in and get the keys from Deron.

My brother and sister-in-law rushed to the hospital and helped us with the boys.  The nurses let Grace stay with us.  I was so thankful for them.  They even ran by Target and picked up some clothes for Hannah.  The Lord was so good to us.  We'd never been to this hospital before, but last Thursday, I missed my turn coming home from picking up some things at Breadbeckers.  I remember being frustrated, but I rode right past this hospital that has the Pediatric Urgent Care Clinic.  So I knew where it was!  The Lord provided!

When I was, actually, able to go back there, it was just in time to be with her while they were numbing the cut for stitches.  She kept showing us her "boo-" a paper cut that was on her right hand from three days earlier! That struck us a little funny in the midst of it all since she was very concerned about that little paper cut.  The gash seemed huge to me, and let's just say that we could see that her skull wasn't broken. It took twenty minutes for the numbing meds to kick in, and then, they put her in a papoose to stitch her up.  She did great!  She even told the doc and nurse "thank-you" in Hannah-dialect.  I guess she heard us say it.  She has nine stitches and I'm hoping it won't scar up too bad, poor little thing.  She'll go back Monday or Tuesday to get them out. 

I wanted to slip onto the ol' blog and post a some new favorite blogs.

Money Saving Mom is such a great site!  The author is a young lady with two children and a third on the way.  She's my "hero" when it comes to money saving...a true inspiration!

Warm Pie, Happy Home is another favorite.  Her blog certainly sparks my creativity, and I just love her attitude about everything!  Another true inspiration!

Hope you all have a great Election Day! 

To my sweet Grace,

Five months!  You're the sweetest, softest little thing, and I love being your mommy!  Your smile is enchanting, and your attitude is very relaxed and easy-going!  I love to hold you and kiss your soft hair, most of which hasn't fallen out! (Good for you!)  You love to listen to us sing to you.  And I can tell that you enjoy your siblings....you're very patient!

You like to sleep in the laundry room with the dryer sound.  It lulls you, and last night was the first night in a long time that you woke up for me.  I'm such a better mom, person, etc when I've had my rest, so I thank you for that, my dear!

It's so hard to imagine that last year at this time, we'd just found out you were on the way!  And now, you're rolling over and laughing and "talking" to us!  What a miracle you are!  I thank the Lord for blessing our family with you!  You're precious, sweetheart!

I love you more than I can express!  Happy five months!

Love, Mommy

To my dearest little Daniel-boy...

Four years old.  What can I say?  Over the last year, you've changed so much, grown so much...  (and gotten so strong!)

Although I definitely think there used to be some sort of shell to you, it's gone now!  You have no trouble telling me every single itty bitty thought that pops into your blonde head!  Your sense of humor has blossomed tremendously as you tell me on a fairly regular basis, "I like to joke like Daddy jokes!"  

You want to be bigger than you are and stronger than you are.  I'm reminded, daily, that you are such an independent little thing.  You want to know the whys and wherefores about almost every thing.  And you don't forget a thing. 

You're as adventurous as little boys come, and there are many times I have to turn my head when you and your brother and daddy play.  We've had quite a time of disciplinary issues with you this year more so than any other year.  You seem to think you're already all grown up...{sigh} And you're still under the impression that the entire house will flood if you flush the toilet! 

Over the last little while, you've pumped up your tender heart a few notches when it comes to your sisters.  There are still times you consider Hannah a sibling not a little sister, but your gentleness is improving.  Grace is your little princess though.  You dote on her hand and foot, and you insist she's hungry if she ever makes a peep of a sound that's not quite all the way happy. 

First thing in the morning, I'm reminded of how young you still are.  You'll come to sit with me a lot and lay your head on my shoulder for just a little while, and I go back to the days you were a baby.  You'd look up at me with your big blue eyes, and you'd make my heart skip a beat!  My Daniel-boo.  It's been a long time since I called you that, but sitting here...thinking back...I just see this toddler learning how to walk, and now, you're learning how to read!  Where does the time go?  It's all passed by in such a blur.

I think I want to slow it all down...

I can't even express how deeply I love you, my son.  You are a blessing, and I'm so thankful God blessed our lives with you!  Happy Belated Birthday to you, Daniel!

Love, Mommy

This past weekend, Jabin, Beth, Lillie, and Becca came spent the weekend with us.  Saturday, my brother came to be our "official" tour guide, and we visited Amicalola Falls and found apples for a super-good deal!  I have a feeling that everyone we know's kitchen smells like apple-galore right now!   I just baked an apple cake...  more on that later!  We really had a blast!  Beth really did a great job with the photos on her blog.  (Thanks, Beth!)  Here are a few I found on my camera...

Before the trek to see the Falls!

So...uh...the grocery trip didn't happen last Friday, so we went shopping Saturday.  My Saturday recipes and ideas were pushed to the "backburner" for easier meals that I could put together in a hurry.

Friday's crockpot teryaki glazed chicken, stove top potatoes au gratin, peas, and carrots were a hit, and have continued to be a hit!  (a.k.a. We've eaten them as leftovers until they were gone!)

Saturday night, I fixed broccoli cheese soup.

Sunday, we enjoyed lunch at the Italian place with some of our church family, and Sunday night, we ate birthday cake for supper!  Deron went and bought me an ice cream cake!!

Monday, for lunch and supper, we ate leftovers.

Today, I made chicken pot pie for lunch, and we ate more leftovers for supper.

Tomorrow, we'll eat leftovers again, and I plan to prepare the taboulleh for pitas Thursday.

Thursday- Lunch- Taboulleh with pitas and feta cheese. Supper- Breakfast!

Friday- Supper- Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert.

Saturday- For breakfast, we'll have scrambled eggs (for those who can eat the eggs) and glazed apples over pecan pancakes. We're going apple-picking and plan to pack a picnic lunch.  Supper- Lasagna with side salad and leftover cheesecake or cookies for dessert.

Sunday- We'll eat leftovers for lunch and supper.

That's my general plan.  We'll see what actually gets prepared!

I really have started to daydream about what I want to prepare in the kitchen.  This is such a big jump for me.  I prayed and asked the Lord to bless me to be able to enjoy cooking and baking better, and He has.  I'd gotten to the point that I didn't enjoy it because suppertime was always "the quickest thing I can get on the table," and it never seemed like anyone really wanted to sit for a good long while and enjoy the meal.

Then, I realized, "So what?"  Who cares how long they all sit still or how long it takes to prepare the food.  With four children now, one of whom must nurse frequently in the evening hours if there's any hope of her sleeping a decent amount through the night... Wait, I lost my train of thought...Oh, yeah... With four children, I still have to make something in a short amount of time, but I've found so many wonderful possibilities!  I'm anxious to get in my room, a.k.a. the kitchen, and fix up some tasty dishes!

I think I'll share my weekend menu with you...

Tonight- Crockpot teryaki glazed chicken, stove top potatoes au gratin, steamed peas and carrots, whole wheat rolls with a homemade cinnamon honey butter spread

Tomorrow- Breakfast- fresh crepes with stove top apple glaze (no sugar); Lunch- Fresh taboulleh sandwiches on homemade pitas with turkey, feta cheese, and sweet banana peppers; Supper- Broiled lemon, herbed salmon, brown rice with herbs, and steamed veggies (whatever is on sale when I get to the store today!)  I may practice making a pumpkin cheesecake...if I have time.

Sunday- Deron will probably fix breakfast.  He's so helpful to do that on Sunday mornings!  Lunch will probably be a spread of leftovers, and for supper, I'd like to have Italian.  More than likely, we'll order out and bring it home.  We have a local place that serves pasta dishes as well as pizza, and I've been wanting to give it a try. 

I'll come back Monday and share our weekly menu based on how some of these new recipes turn out!  I can't wait to get to the store...we're out of everything!

Just a couple of shots of my kitchen helpin' chikadees!  We baked Snickerdoodles today!

"Mommy, what if money really did grow on trees?"

Another month has flown by!  Grace is officially a little four-month-old! 

Do you see her tryin to hold herself up in the picture? 

It was this time one year ago that we found out that our little family of five would become a family of six.  I remember feeling so overwhelmed and, yet, so excited!  We had no idea what changes would happen over the course of the last year. 

Last year, about this time, we still had all three of the children in the backseat of our Taurus.  All the carseats...crammed...in the backseat...buckled but crammed!  We bought a van!

Last year, about this time, we had no idea that Deron would undergo two surgeries, ten days apart, and endure twelve weeks of physical therapy!  We had no idea that he would accept a new position at a new company 300+ miles away. We had no idea we'd buy a new house and move two months after Grace was born.  We had no idea that I would end up in the ER repeatedly, either.  (Which btw, we think my childhood allergy to eggs resurfaced because every time I've eaten eggs in their pure form, I've ended up sick again.  No gall bladder issues or anything like that...just eggs.)

She likes to "talk" too!

And now, my little four-month-old is beginning to roll over.  She can hold her head up rather well and loves to get attention.  We're debating on whether we need to buy a new crib.  Hannah isn't ready to come out of her crib, just yet.  And Grace will be ready as soon as she masters this rolling over business.  We may let her sleep in the play pen because Hannah will be ready to come out of the crib soon!

Grace is such a  light in our entire family!  She's spoiled rotten by all of us...especially Ethan!  Oh- How he dotes on this little baby of ours!  She's not sleeping as well as she used to sleep, but again, she's outgrowing her cradle.  I don't think I'm ready for her to come out of it yet.  I don't want her growing up so fast!

Her first few months of life were filled with moving and settling and event-after-activity-after-event, and I'm just ready for all my children to slow this growing up business down!  I mean it.  I'm serious.  I can't believe my fourth baby is already spinning around on the back of her head like the hands on a clock!  She's such a happy baby, most of time!  She gets fussy when things get quiet.  She's used to feet pattering about on the hardwood floors.  She's used to the constant chatter, constant questions, constant talking of her older siblings.

She is precious!  She loves life!  She loves people!  We could all learn a lesson from Grace.  She's happy and content and can make even the saddest heart smile.  Oh how much I've learned from my babies. 

What a smile! 

The Lord was so gracious to bless our lives with her.  I'm so happy that she came along when she did!  My last two babies were 16 months apart, and there are days when my lap is very full.  I still have two babies!  In fact, my boys refer to the girls as "our babies."  But, if I had it to do over again, I'd do it...no question.  I don't care what Dr. SoandSo says about child-spacing.  I'm so thankful the Lord blessed our family, our lives when He did with these sweet babies!  I cannot even describe how thankful! 

Deron says I'm always very optimistic when it comes to my "to-do" list, and he's absolutely right.  I do enjoy doodling about what all I'd like to do.  I think I just enjoy projects.  Two weekends ago, we really did get a good bit accomplished that day, and last weekend, we worked in the yard for the better part of Saturday.

Well, now I've decided to paint the majority of the downstairs living areas and the masterbedroom.  I would like to gradually add decorative and vintage pieces for a country style kitchen.  I'd like to decorate for the seasons...eventually, and using more neutral tones will help in that endeavor.  Downstairs, I'll be using a dark, dark brown for the area beneath the chair rail, and in the kitchen, I'll use a medium tone brown.  Above the chair rail will remain the same.  The mudroom/office area is a rather bright shade of green, but with a few decorative items and wall art, it'll blend right in.  I have enough leftover grayish-green paint from our home in FL that I won't have to buy anything to paint our masterbedroom....except primer, that is, seeing that it's currently very red!  The red is actually a beautiful shade of red, but our stuff doesn't really "go" in there.  It's a lot cheaper to paint than buy new stuff!

I'm excited, and I plan to get busy here in the next couple of days.  We put off painting in FL, and then we moved and barely got to enjoy it.  I hope I don't put things off ever again!

So, today we'll be purchasing paint and going to the library!

Man, has it been over a week since I put anything on here?  I had no idea that it would take so much time just to do kindergarten and keep the house half way decent.  We've had a better week last week than we did the week before.  I was about ready to pull my hair out. 

Anyway, I'm so excited that it's Fall!  It's my absolute favorite time of year!  There's something about the weather, the wind, the color, the feel, the scents of the season.  I love to be baking in the kitchen and sipping hot coffee while watching the leaves fall from the trees!  I love this time of year!  I just love it!

Happy Monday, y'all!  (And for you, Aunt Jenn!)

Today looks somewhat dreary outside, and right now, I'm sipping a nice, piping hot cup of coffee deciding how I need to spend the day.  What's on our to-do list this Saturday?

1. General cleaning,etc... The bathrooms need a once over.  The floors need to be vacuumed and mopped. Items from various places need to be returned to their appropriate homes.  Laundry needs to get caught up (or as caught up as laundry can get).

2.  A new household notebook.  My "organizer" is no longer a help to me because our family has outgrown it.  I made it when we only had two children and weren't trying to "do school."  We're in a new season now, and even though we only have one child actually doing school, we needed a little more organization.  I came up with my own organizer because nothing I found really suited our family.  So instead of trying to make our family fit into someone else's ideas, I worked on figuring out what would work for us.  I got a few new materials, and today, I'll put it together. 

3.  Our garage needs work.  I'm not looking to perfect it by any stretch of the imagination, but it would be nice to sweep it out and straighten it up a bit.

4.  We're planning to hang up picture frames and art today.  Without those "homey touches", it sort of feels like someone else's house... Also, I plan to take Grace to have her picture made today, as well.

5.  Exercise.  I don't think it has ever been so difficult to lose "those last few pounds."  My clothes still aren't fitting very well, and I've decided that even with the last of the baby weight gone, my clothes will probably still not fit well.  I was 20 when Ethan was born, and even if I hadn't had children, my shape would have changed.  Our neighborhood doesn't have good visibility on our hilly roads, so I won't be running like I did when we lived in our flat-a-a-pancake neighborhood in FL...for fear that I'll get hit by some driver driving way to fast around a curve or over a hill.  I've begun hardcore weight lifting again, and I'm doing various forms of cardio.  I like to do the stepper while I read or watch full episodes of Monk or Psych online.  Deron and I do "The Pit" workout (or 20 minutes of it, rather) together, too.  It's a mixed martial arts training video, and I really like it which says a lot because I'm, normally, not a follow-a-video type of person.

6. We'll be making a trip to the library too.  Herbie: The Love Bug came in, and the kids love that car!  We'll probably finish reading Robin Hood, too, at some point today.

I think today will be a good day!