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Anna came up to me just now, and said, "Mama- my doll's bottom is broken. I think I may just throw it away because she is armless, legless, wingless, and buttless." For some reason, this struck my funny bone this morning. I must be feeling better after my LONG pregnancy - my sense of humor is returning! |
Rocks in my Dryer has a series going on right now where she has people of differing situations write about what they would like us to know. Last week it was from someone who had a stillbirth. This week it is on having a large family. Jenni from One Thing (see the link below) has 12 children... she has a wonderful blog - I encourage you to go visit! And she hits it out of the park in this article today. I agree wholeheartedly with everything said. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What I'd Like For You To Know: A Mom Of Many
It is quite an honor and a bit of a worry to be speaking on behalf of large families everywhere. More than anything, my prayer is that what I say will be heard with discernment and a hefty helping of salt. I don’t want to give the impression that my opinions are some sort of collective consciousness shared by all those with a veritable tribe under their roof. That said, however, I hope at least some of it will resonate! First, and perhaps most obviously, many people with larger families encounter negative attitudes almost daily. Snide comments from strangers, nosy questions about their private lives, or unsupportive extended family all combine to make the members of a big family feel more like a circus side-show than legitimate members of society. The announcement of a new pregnancy is very often not met with joy, but with condemnation (if you are on the receiving end of such an announcement, be the exception and offer a simple congratulations). I could compile quite a list of all the obnoxious things that have been said to those of us with a passel of young’uns, but I'd rather not go off on that tangent. You'll just have to take my word for it that for many people, there does not appear to be any sort of regulatory gizmo betwixt their brains and their mouths. Yet I persist in believing that it's really not that difficult to be kind, or at the very least, silent! Along those same lines, it often seems that families with lots of children are viewed with a more critical eye than those with the standard two. If a child acts up, it is of course because they come from such a large family and obviously don’t get enough attention. If their clothing is threadbare, it is because the parents must be financially strapped. If the baby has a dirty face, it is apparent that no one cares enough to clean it. Whereas a smaller family might be given the benefit of the doubt (all children throw tantrums at times, like to wear one item of clothing until it consists of three strands, and smear food upon their faces), for the larger family it becomes an opportunity to criticize. A mother pregnant with her second child is offered sympathy as she struggles with morning sickness and fatigue, but ask a mother pregnant with her fifth if she was offered any. This makes it difficult, even in a church setting, for those parents to share any difficulties they are having. I personally struggle with painful varicose veins that are aggravated during pregnancy. However, asking for prayer has sometimes been met with the attitude that such are my “just desserts” and so why would God heal me? I suspect the same attitude crops up when rebellious children, or money woes, are the issue. Parents of large families are not out to prove anything. We’re not vying for your admiration, we aren’t trying to win any awards, we don’t view childbearing as some sort of contest (someone asked my husband during our last pregnancy if we were trying to “beat the Duggars”), and we don’t think you’re less spiritual than we are if you have fewer than we do. We aren’t asking anyone for special treatment, but it doesn’t seem too much to ask for common courtesy. Resist the urge to count out loud as you see us go by. Don’t marvel that we do, in fact, know all of our offspring’s names (even—given a minute or two—their birthdates)! And for the love of all the little green men on Mars, don’t ask us if we know what causes that. We do. And we enjoy it, although not as often as is (oddly) assumed. Almost as difficult to deal with, in a way, are the effusively positive attitudes. Yes, this seems like a really strange thing to say in light of the previous paragraph, but having to decline imminent canonization is not pleasant. People who squeal, gush, flatter and insist that I must be, I simply MUST BE the most patient/organized/disciplined/loving/spiritual being ever to walk the earth wear me out. I have stopped volunteering the information regarding the numbers of my offspring mostly due to these reactions. I don’t have time to field a barrage of OMG!’s from the checkout lady at Wal-Mart while my ice cream melts. Plus, I don’t think it wins me any friends in the line behind me. Please don’t put me on a pedestal. Honestly, it’s really lonely up there. We are called to be iron sharpening iron to one another, and in order to do that we have to be able to get close to somebody. When the comments run along the lines of “You’re my hero!” and “I could NEVER do what you do! You’re a saint!” I have to wonder what, exactly, the commenters think I am doing that gives me that status. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a woman trying to do her best with the family God has given her, and I deeply value the support of friends who don’t expect me to have all the answers. You might be surprised to learn that the average mom-to-a-gob lives her days in much the same way as you do: she gets up, sees what needs doin', and does it. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other. On behalf of my children, I’d like to encourage people to try to focus on them as individuals. It ‘s easy to let your eyes glaze over when confronted by their sheer mass, but often it seems to surprise people when they discover that my children are actually different from one another. At some point, it seems a given that any child after three or four is simply going to be a carbon copy of one of the preceding progeny. If you know children who belong to a simply humongous family, make their day by assuming they each have singular personalities. Even saying things like “Aw! You guys look all alike!” makes them feel like they are clones, or part of the Borg. Get to know them! You might be amazed at how diverse they really are. In the end, what I’d like for you to know is probably not that much different than what anyone else would say: when in doubt, extend grace. Grace is the Melanie Wilkes to the world’s Scarlett O’Hara: it believes the best even when it doesn’t understand, and is humble enough not to insist on explanations. I don’t know of a single situation where it wouldn’t be welcome! You can read more of Jenni's posts at One Thing. |
Welcome to part four of the
      Many times I am asked how I "do it all" with 9 children. The easy answer is that I don't! There is no way I could do it all. We streamline what we can, the rest we pass up!But Laundry HAS to get done. Every day. Without fail. It waits for no one. If we do not get it done, it gets way backed up. So here's how we do it... All towels and washclothes get put on the door of the washer at night to dry out and not mold. These get thrown into the first load of wash in the morning. Each bedroom has their own basket, and we rotate through which bedroom does their laundry. The oldest child in the room is responsible for getting it pushed through, with the help of a little one if applicable. Usually it gets done in one load, but the girls room (with 5 girls in it) usually needs two. Yes, you saw that right. One load. We just throw it all together, no matter the color. We have never had a problem with it. They are hung out on the line, gathered, and folded by dinner. We rotate through the rooms... one or two each day, trying to get through them twice in a week, plus towels and sheets once. We don't keep many clothes, so this works well for us. Sometimes I will fold the clothes in the evening if they haven't been done. If I do that, I put the piles at the child's place at the table. They must be put away for the child to get breakfast in the morning. That's what Works for Me! For more ideas, go visit http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ ! For some reason I cannot make my links work - I am expiramenting with Firefox (which I really like, btw), so you'll just have to cut and paste the address! Have a great day! |
Forget the "bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens"... here are some of my favorite things:    Can life get any better than a sweet little baby to love and kiss? |
Hello from Sleep Deprivation Land!  Since I have not slept well for the past couple nights, I am having trouble typing... I think I'll just send some photos your way, OK?Like our Redneck Stroller? Yes, it's a wheelbarrow. The kids went out to pick blackberries and wheeled Sara and Nate...  Here's the last of our lettuce crop... and our cucumbers are going crazy. Tomatoes are just starting to come in, not too many yet.  A Sweet Photo of Bethany... she looks bigger here than she really is. I haven't gotten a really good photo yet.  A Tea Party the littler kids had:  And now the reason I am so tired... 3 children ages 3 and under:  Four ages 4 and under (And you just haven't LIVED until you try to get a good photo of 4 children ages 4 and under... I finally just took what I had and figured I'd deal with it.)  5 ages 6 and under : (Yes, Mercy is holding a cucumber. We got about 15 that day, and 24 two days later. That's a lot of cucumbers, even for our large family.)  6 ages 8 and under:  All 9: (Yes, Mercy has taken a bite out of the cucumber. Good thing our garden is organic as it hadn't been washed yet.)  So there you have it... some of the cutest kids in the world... we're having a great time around here! This will take long enough to download... I'll make another post of some of my favorite things... |
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You've asked, and we are trying to please... here is the photo gallery of the baby. Just a warning... we make really sweet babies. She'll make you want one or two... I know I look awful. I cannot believe I am posting this one, but who can resist the beautiful faces around me? All I can say is that it had been a rough 36 hours for me...
Nathan evidently forgave me for not having a boy. For some reason even though I have spent HOURS trying to get these photos small to put on here, the computer is not cooperating. If you want a link to the photo album I made, just e-mail me. I'm going to try again another day!
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Here is what Eric wrote yesterday to announce the Baby's birth... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello All! And, just for the record, Bethany won the baby poll. It was just coincidence that we picked it. Photos to come very soon. Right now I have a baby to fall in love with.
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[Don't forget to vote for my baby name poll! We are still undecided!] I am in the middle of nesting... as you have already seen in other posts. This baby is not coming as fast as I had hoped! So we are reaching the end of my original organizational list and I am having to look for more areas to get. Oh- there are always more! The cleaner the obvious places get, the worse the smaller places bother me! Of course, my One thing the children cannot really help me with is school planning. But I just cannot seem to get motivated to plan school for the next year! With 6 children in school this year, plus a 3 yo, an 18 month old, and a new baby, success will only be won with serious planning. And sticking to that plan, which is a whole other post! So I am looking forward to listening to this seminar, and hopefully getting myself together to get things going for school, which will start a few weeks after the baby comes. We have already taken off way longer than I every have before. Here's the info on Cindy Rushton's Seminar... hope someone can enjoy it! I am also linking this to Talk About Tuesday - http://www.laragallagher.com/blog/ And nope- no baby. Not a contraction in sight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you love to spend an afternoon--or a week--with another homeschool mom and plan out the details of your school year? Wouldn't it be great to have someone take you step-by-step through planning out your goals, choosing techniques for teaching those new studies, deciding upon your curriculum selections, setting up your daily schedule, and fitting in REAL LIFE? Well, beloved, this could be the most valuable resource you'll ever find, read on... http://www.cindyrushton.com/LGO2008.html
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Since wondering minds want to know, there is no baby yet. I have a midwife appointment tomorrow, so we will see what happens. If you want to keep up to date and know if something is happening, if you subscribe to my RSS feed it will show if there is a new post or not. I'll try to keep things updated. |
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Sara:
Nate:
Mercy:
Some of the Girls:
Hopefully my next entry will be announcing the arrival of baby Peterson, but until then, life goes on and we will continue to knock things off my to do list and try to not be too miserable in the meantime. Have a great day! |
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Now on to the garden progress... WE HAVE VEGES!!! Here are sugar peas. You pick them, then eat them raw. Oh so yummy.
Can you see the little bean pointing to the barn?
The corn has tassles, so it is as tall as it's going to get... still pretty short, but we planted it late. We'll see what we get.
Cucumbers are about ready to be picked...
My feverfew is doing well. It's about to flower. Anyone know how to process it to use as an herbal remedy for fevers?
Basil is doing great. I have to figure out what to do with it too... suggestions helpful.
And the parsley...
My peppers aren't doing so well... skimpy bushes without flowers. Any tips?
I didn't get photos of the ripening tomatoes, or of the green beans which are ready to pick. I think we can pick a couple of the cucmbers and enough of the beans to have them for dinner tonight... I cannot wait! In a month or so I think we will have enough to be able to have an entire meal of things grown/ raised on our little farm. That will be a neat sensation.
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No, not in the baby area. I am still pregnant... still miserable. Bummer. And today is the last day for a midwife until next Monday. So stop the prayers after 7 tomorrow morning.... I want her to stay in until a midwife is on duty. So what is this progress, you ask? WELL- Eric just got done with having a week off. (Have I mentioned how much I love his work schedule?! He works a week of 12-15 hour days, but then is off a week.) DISCLAIMER: This post, along with the following two posts are mostly for the family and friends who are following the progress of our "farm" (We are considering calling it "Wise Acres" - what do you think?!) If you are not interested in seeing lots of photos of fencing, animals, and gardens, please feel free to skip these, OK? Inside the house we have gone through all the clothes, gotten rid of a bunch since they could not be kept neat, and washed every last living item. Along with the sheets, blankets, quilts, pillowcases, and towels EVERYWHERE. I just needed it all to be clean. And we hung it out on our new clothesline which Eric installed for me. This should save money on electric since we discovered (after the clothesline was up) that the dryer was being turned on for 80 minutes for each load. Yikes!!! It was so nice to see all our clothes and things hanging out on the line drying. And in this sun and heat, they dry really quickly. We still have two areas which need to be cleaned and organized before Baby comes, but they both should be manageable. Outside, there was lots of progress. Our chickens were getting out of our chicken wire fence in their yard. Free range chickens are a nice idea until you want to find their eggs. THEN you realize that they are better at hiding them then you are at finding them. So we want the eggs. Currently we are spending about twice what it would cost us to buy the eggs just to FEED the silly birds. So either they start laying enough for us to break even, or we eat the birds and just start buying eggs. So we added a fence... here are some photos of the current "Peterson Poultry Palace" - By the way - I have tried a new thing with Photobucket... I tried to just plain resize the photos. Will those of you on dial up internet let me know if it takes forever to download these? It saved me a step or two to do it this way, so please let me know. We also had the boys scoop out the dust and poop on the floor of the henhouse. We lay down pine pellets each year, so the chicken house doesn't smell too badly. These pellets turn to dust, and we can use it for compost and fertilizer in the gardens. Don't we have some cool looking chickens?!
And although they look cool, a couple of them discovered the garden. I didn't want the rumor spreading that there was a buffet at the south end of the field, so we added fence to the garden too.
See that hard working man of mine? After we realized (at 6:30 p.m.) that we got the fence in rolls of 50 ft., and our garden is about 51.5 feet long, he decided he would be glad to get back to work today since it would be less work than being at home. I am not sure if he was joking or not. Here's a photo of my hard-workin', fence-buildin' man... I sure love that guy.
Two more posts with photos to come... but I didn't want it to take too long to dowload. |
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"It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted." Mary O'Connor I thought this was a wonderful quote to start the day... don't you agree? Don't forget to take my baby name poll... we are getting close to decision day... Of course, my husband has stated that we are NOT a democracy at this house, therefore, all poll results are not necessarily the name our sweet little Baby will end up with... Just thought I'd let you know his disclaimer.
The Works for Me for today is to share a 5 ingredient or less recipe... so I thought I would share our current favorite meal. I love this in the summer. I stock up on cheap chicken throughout the year so we can enjoy this every Monday on summer nights. - Grilled Chicken pieces... if these are bone in, I cook them before hand in the oven, then throw them on the grill for that wonderful taste. I love them marinated in Italian dressing. - Green beans (love them especially straight from the garden) - Baked Potatoes (We don't load them, just some butter or sour cream, one or the other.) - Tomatoes (again, from garden are best!) with some shredded mozarella cheese, and Italian dressing. I guess that technically has a couple more ingredients than 5 (7), but maybe since it is the whole menu, people will forgive me. For more 5 ingredient or less recipes, go to http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2008/07/works-for-me-th.html . Have a great day! I plan to!
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I took the baby countdown off my sidebar. I just couldn't stand looking at having any time left. It was too depressing. Thought I'd let you know! |
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As most of you know, I am "Great With Child". This makes it difficult to do anything but sit on the sofa and moan. Not that I do that or anything. At least much. There will be great rejoicing when this little baby arrives in the next couple weeks, let me tell you! But, with so many people in this house who all need to eat 3 or more times a day, have (relatively) clean clothes, and our basic needs to not live in squalor... right now things need to be able to run without me. So I have made "chore packs". This idea came from http://www.titus2.com - Managers of their chores, with a little of Flylady thrown in. I figured out what things needed to be done every day to keep the house decently clean. For us that means the floors vaccuumed, the toilets and sinks swiped, bedroom generally picked up, animals fed, etc. I assigned one task per child. (With 6 children this gives each person a 5-10 minute job...) I also made a little checklist for the things they forget (Like: Did you put the lid back on the feed bin?). Each child also has a zone to pick up several times a day. On Saturdays we do bigger jobs, and I always have a list of jobs they can do for commissions... we don't do an allowance here, but I do pay for them to work when they could have free time. We have done this for the morning routines, afternoon routines, and meal times. It has saved my sanity. I have each step written out on an index card, and the children just grab their pack and go to it in the morning. The key to success is that I check the chores... the better I do at this, the better they keep things. I will admit to being the weak link in the chain. But there is ONE thing I have done while not being able to move around a lot... I have sent the digital camera! They can take a photo of under their bed, show it to me, and I can delete it . Works Great! My house is not spotless, and probably never will be with baby #9 arriving soon, but it is a lot better than before. I am no longer totally embarrased to have people over. I know we get to it eventually. PS- Don't forget to take my baby name poll! |
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Good evening everyone! I see it is time to have another update... I have had limited time on the computer with all this nesting going on.
Yesterday we were invited to some friend's house to help them pick thier blueberries. We got 4 gallons in just a couple hours! They are so delicious. And the local grocery store had peaches for less than $1 a pound, so we got a bunch of those too. Today we made peach and blueberry jam, AND froze 15 bags of blueberries and 5 bags of peaches for baking in the winter. Mercy's Hemangioma may have started stabilizing... maybe. I have not seen huge growth in about a week, so I am hopeful. I am even more hopeful since an article came out early in the month that a blood pressure medicine is actually being found to shrink hemangiomas! I am placing a request with Dr. Adams to have her try this ASAP! You can read more about it here : http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docid=616440 . I am praying that maybe this option will be the way God uses to heal my precious little one. About little ones... I am (obviously) still pregnant. Baby is very active, but just not here yet. Although the ticker on the side of the blog says 31 days left, I have 37 and 38 week babies, so we are really just looking at a couple weeks left. No name yet... But participate in the poll and let us know what you think! We are pretty sure the middle name will be Hope. On to the Garden... I am so excited about how it looks! Enjoy the photos! Row 1:
Row 2 (Corn and Green Beans):
Beans Winding:
Bush Beans:
Row 3: (Tomatoes) 
Row 4 (Cucumbers, peppers, and a few tomatoes):
I have lots more photos, but I am tired. We have to weed our garden, and a friend's garden tomorrow, so I'd better go get some sleep. Have a great day, and drop a line and let me know how you are doing!
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Normally, my life strongly resembles the woman who lived in a shoe... Lately it's been Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. I know I am weeks from this baby being born, but boy am I grumpy. So tonight at the table, Eric stated, "I'd like to eat more, but I ruined my attitude with that strawberry shake." [He meant Appetite] I said, "I ruined my attitude about a month ago." Nate stated, "I think you're NUTS." There you have it. Truth out of the mouths of babes. If I am already not certifiably looney, I will be before this little one makes her arrival. |
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I'm clearing out the bookshelves to make room for new books. Also to make money to buy the new books! So here's a long list of things we have used, loved, and are ready to part with so we can love some new things. Feel free to make offers if you feel I have asked too high a price, but please remember that we both want good deals. I take Paypal or money orders, and would like shipping to be extra. ~~~~~~~~ ACE PACES: These do not have the tests with them. I would like $1 each plus shipping. Math: #1019 and 1039 Social Studies: # 1025, 1031 – 1034, 1038 – 1044 Lit. & Creative Writing: 1014 English: #1027, 1041 – 1048 English Score Keys: 1037 – 1048 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHRISTIAN LIGHT EDUCATION: These have the tests and quizzes pulled out and hole punches for a notebook. I am asking $2 each booklet. Reading 3 Doors to Discovery - #310 – 310 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABEKA: (I’d like $2.50 each) – None have been used. Spelling and Vocabulary 6 Spelling and Vocabulary 3 Spelling and Poetry 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sequential Spelling 1 - $5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reading Comp. and Test Taking Skills - $3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saxon Math 65 (Second Edition) – Text, Home Study Packet and Test Forms - $25 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Developmental Math Instruction Guide – Level 2 and 7 – Make an offer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BJU Math 3 Home Teacher Packet – Make an offer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Horizons Science 6 TM – Sterling Edition – Make an offer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Student of the Word Volume 3 paperback – NEVER USED!!! - $7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ US History Review Text – Make an offer – Bent Cover. Good for an overview of Am. History for High School. ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Beautiful Feet Books Early American History - Primary (Used condition, but still workable.) - $6 Beautiful Feet Books Early American History - Intermediate (Used Condition, but still workable) - $6 ~~~~~~~~~~ Map of Felicity’s World ( ~~~~~~~~~ Steward Ship Unit Studies - $4 each The Revolutionary War Colonial Times ~~~~~~~~~ Truthquest History – Excellent Condition – Ancient Truthquest History – Good Condition – American History for Young 1 – Exploration to 1800 - $10 ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Civil War Unit Study by Pat Wesolowski (This was WONDERFUL!!!) – Exc. Condition - $8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DK Eyewitness Books – (These are two different books on the Renaissance) Renaissance - # 91 – Paperback – This is on the art of the Ren. - $3 Renaissance – Hardback – World of the Ren. - $4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ History Pockets – Moving West – Grades 4 – 6 (Makes a great Lapbook) – Pulled out of binding for copying. $7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D’Aulaire’s book of Greek Myths – Hardback with nice cover. - $5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diana Waring’s Ancient Civilizations and the Bible – Volume 1 Book A, - $7 ~~~~~~~~~ Sonlight Curriculum Book of Time -One has 2 or 3 people written in - $5 - One has maybe 10 people written in - $4 ~~~~~~~~~ Heritage Builders Family Nights Tool Chest - $5 each – all in great condition -Bible Stories for Preschoolers – Old Testament - Bible Stories for Preschoolers – New Testament - An Intro. to Family Nights - Simple Science Family Night Tool Chest - Basic Christian Beliefs - Holidays ~~~~~~~~~ God Always keeps His promises – Student Bible Study (early Elem.) – Make an offer ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notgrass Publications: A Record of the Lifestyle of Learning – Student Planner - $5 Walking in Truth – A 30 Lesson Study - What the Bible Says about truthfulness - $5 ~~~~~~~~~~~ Keepers of the Faith Bible Studies – The Joy of Womanhood - $4 ~~~~~~~~~ The Hidden Woman of the Heart by Cindy Rushton - $10 ~~~~~~~~~ Managers of their Chores - $ 10 – Book only – in very good / exc, condition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rejuvenate your Life – Recipes for Energy by Serene Allison - $9 ~~~~~~~~ Building Thinking Skills Cards for Beginning Verbal – Unopened - $2 ~~~~~~~~~~ Veritas Press History 1815 – Present – Teacher’s Manual, Cards, and Tape of the songs. - $20 ~~~~~~~~~~ The Joy of Cooking - $5 ~~~~~~~~~~
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I just needed to brag for a minute, so please humor me. See, my children have the habit of needing to eat at least three times a day. And fruit and veges are really expensive, so our project for this year is a garden. We've never had one. And if you remember, I am 33 weeks pregnant, and reaching the ground is impossible currently. So- we made a plan for a great place for a garden. It was right outside our window in the living room, so I would see it every day and the weeds could not take over the plot. It was a great plan. Until it was covered with over a foot of rock when we plowed it up. And so was EVERY OTHER SQUARE INCH OF OUR LAND. Because our house used to be a barn... when the cows would trample the ground into mud, evidently they would just dump a load of gravel. This happened for over a decade. So much for major food production. We finally found a place (which is technically not on our land, but Eric has been mowing this section for our neighbor since the farmers cannot get a tractor in there.) It's not real convenient for a hugely pregnant lady to get to, but it'll grow. We plowed, tilled, and planted. And the plants are growing! I am so excited about this project! Here's a picture of our whole plot:
There are four "boxes" we blocked out in the dirt. Peas and Corn:
Beans and Corn (You can see how much the corn grew in just a couple days between the peas photo and this one!):
Tomatoes (there's not a photo of the whole line, but we have them in varying sizes to try to stagger when they are ripe. We have Big ones, Roma, and cherry):
And tomatoes, green peppers, and cucmbers in the last one. There isn't a photo of that. I also have plants of Mint (we made mint sun tea yesterday... yum!), basil, oregano, lavendar, and feverfew (supposed to help bring down fevers... I'll let you know next winter!). Now on to my brag... as if that were't braggin already. Yesterday I wanted us to get out to the garden by 6:30 so we could beat the heat. Eric left for work at 5 and asked if I wanted him to reset the alarm. I said that the kids always make so much noise that they wake me up, so not to worry about it. I woke up at 6:30 not having heard a noise. THEY WERE ALREADY OUTSIDE!!! They were quiet so they didn't wake me up (or the 4 and under crowd).
I was so proud of them... they took the initiative to do what was needed while being considerate of those around them. We had strawberry pancakes for breakfast as a special treat. Have you ever heard of such great kids?! In other news: Nate yesterday came to me plugging his ears... he said, "Mama! I can't breathe!"
Here's a photo of Mercy in her glasses. Isn't she cute?
Now if we could just keep them on her longer than 15 minutes at a time... Please continue to pray for her. It appears as if the hemangioma is still growing. I am hoping it is my imagination. We have another appointment on the 24th. That seems like a long time away. And here's just a nice photo of one of the horses in the morning light yesterday... just thought I'd share about what a beautiful place we live.
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My boys have my vacuum taken completely apart trying to figure out why it is not sucking anything up. Vacuum, screws, parts, drills, and screwdrivers are all over the playroom floor. I must be crazy. |