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WAHHHHHHH!!! How did this happen?! He's BARELY even crawling! Until today he's only ever gone a couple of knees forward before dropping down to his MUCH preferred army crawl! Today we actually got to see him crawl across the whole living room! I thought I had lots of time to relish in baby-ness yet. Ok, ok, so he HAS been pulling his chest up off the floor when he's laying, and we've commented on how very strong he is. "A strappin' lad....just like his daddy" ;-) And over the last couple of days there has been a time or two where he has scooted over to me, pulled up to his knees, then pulled himself standing up to me, but I thought maybe the desire and comfort of momma was his drive. I guess not. Just look at this guy! Tell me, HOW can this be?!
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Today has been a jammin' day here.....literally.......and in more ways than one! It started out with everyone jammin' to the Discovery Toys "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" CD. Filled with songs such as, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Gonna Shake Out My Hands", "Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands", and many more, you're sure to be moving EVERY part of your body! Even momma got in on the fun, and I'm telling you, that's exercise!! Here's the girls doing, "I'm a Little Teapot"! Once that got to be too much for me I caught my breath and then dove into more jammin'! This time my my focus was on these! Mmmmmmm! Four buckets of ripe, juicy, mouthwatering, absolutely amazing strawberries that we picked from our garden last night. Our berries just started ripening last week. I did get to dehydrate a small bit, but up until now we've been eating most of our pickings! We've had lots of fresh berries as snacks, strawberry smoothies, and last night we enjoyed strawberry shakes. Today I finally got to make my first batch of jam! It's a good thing too.....we've been out for months! You can see the different one on the right. That one went right into our refrigerator. The rest went through a boil bath (the first time I've done that). I don't like how it all separated so I think I'll go back to my regular method for the next batch. I'm looking forward to more dehydrating, some strawberry smoothie popsicles, and a pie or two! Right now I'm getting ready to head over to a neighbors to trade her some strawberries for rhubarb. My next batch of jam will be a mixture of the two! Mmmmmmmmm!!! Harvesting and preserving your crops is SO rewarding......and yummy! |
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Sometimes as parents we can fall into this power struggle of always being "the boss" and we forget that there are things that we can learn from our children! Things like simplicity, thoughtfulness, and joy. I have been been increasingly convicted lately of being "busy". Yes, there are a lot of important things that need to get done, and as the homemakers, that can seem to get overwhelming and stressful at times. There's a sink full of dishes, there's a mound of laundry. There's dirt across the kitchen floor, and the living room is covered in dog hair. The babies need baths. The toilets need to be scrubbed, and the windows washed. Don't forget schoolwork, dinner, and by golly go feed the cat! Yes, those are all important things, but at what cost? Are those dishes more important than reading a book to your toddler? Or building a tower for your baby to topple? Is the toilet more important than playing a game with your child, or just taking time to chat about what's on their mind? Spending time with your children not only knits your hearts together, but it gives you opportunities to learn from them as well. As I see the gift of hospitality explode from Paige, I am learning to be more hospitable. Imagine that! She usually thinks to offer our guests a glass of water or a cup of tea before I do, and she's always trying to send somebody home with leftovers! Brianna is my lover. She is always writing us notes, or drawing us pictures. She always has a kiss or a hug to give, and at 9 years old she still loves to cuddle. Brianna simply LOVES people. She is burdened by the struggles of others, and is so thoughtful of their needs and wants. She's a giver of herself in time, and in prayer! Last week I was having one of those stressful days. I felt like there was so much to be done, and not enough time to do it all. I was overwhelmed, I was overtired, and I was cranky. I had a LONG list that I wanted to accomplish. The girls were being overly distracted with "playing" and not getting tasks done, Leia was being extra "naughty", and Nathan (who is cutting some more teeth) was extremely irritable. I know it wasn't right, but I was allowing my bad attitude to spill over onto my children. I was irritable, short tempered, and very unlovely. Looking back, I know I scolded Brianna a few different times for becoming distracted and drawing instead of staying on her tasks at hand. That evening when I went to put Nathan to bed I found two wrapped pieces of paper taped to my door. I'm embarrassed to admit that at first I flippantly thought of "another picture". Imagine my surprise, and the guilt that washed over me as I opened it and read the following: Dear Mommy, WOW! I felt like someone had just hit me in the gut! And at the same time the Lord spoke to me. This was a glimpse of his unconditional love. As I said (and as you can see) I had an ugly attitude! There was no excuse for it. I treated her unfairly, yet she thought kindly of me. I pushed her away, yet she reached out to me. I was unlovable, yet she loved me, and even prayed for me!!! How much more does God love us? Could I ever give this sweet daughter of mine to be sacrificed for someone as ugly as I had been? Absolutely not! Be He did. He gave His son. His ONLY son. For ugly me. I don't deserve it, yet he gives it freely and abundantly. What an awesome God! Not only does Brianna pray for us when we are discouraged and having a rough day. This was her note to daddy. Dear Daddy, Dear Jesus, At first it was another kick in the gut! I was feeling guilty that while I was the one needing prayer for my attitude, that he was being praised! Sounds like another ugly attitude doesn't it?! Don't worry....it didn't last long! I realized that she is recognizing, and is thankful for the hard worker that she sees in her daddy! That is something to celebrate, not be envious of! My guilt turned to thankfulness! Thankfulness for the godly husband and father that he is, and the example he is setting for our children, as well as a renewed sense of thankfulness for my sweet children, for the love they show me, and the lessons the Lord teaches me through them. Thank you my sweet Bri! You are a blessing and an encouragement to your momma, and I love you VERY much!! |
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Please lift up our dear friends, Tony and Dana. They are a beautiful family of (soon to be) 11. They recently took some time off to travel and visit family and friends and I just found out that there was an serious accident last night, involving their 10 year old son, Luke. I don't feel comfortable sharing any more details at this time, but it shouldn't matter. God knows all the details.
Please join me in prayer. I will update as I can. Thank you for your prayers! |
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I thought there may be some of you who would like to get some Discovery Toys without going through the hassle of hostessing a home show or book party. The company offered a webpage free for 3 months that I could set up for myself that will allow sales from it to be credited to me. I thought I'd give it a shot, set it up, send the link to family and friends, and see if it would be used before I committed to a longer term! CATHY'S DISCOVERY TOYS WEBSITE |
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I don't usually link to these things, but I just LOVE wearing my baby and this is a great contest!! Go HERE and enter to win a really great stash of carriers that would be perfect for the different stages of baby's growth! |
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Hip hip HOORAY......it's Discovery Toys day!!! That's right, our friendly neighborhood UPS man dropped off not one, not two, but THREE big boxes, each filled to the brim with fun new toys! Now before you go thinking I went crazy, let me say that not ALL these toys belong to us! Let's see if I can make this long story a short one..... My dear friend Sarah asked me to go to an expo with her. I can't remember why now, but I wasn't able to go. After she got home she told me she signed up to be a Discovery Toys Educational Consultant. "The toys are SO cool, and it was a great deal to sign up" she says. "You should really think about signing up." "Ahhhhhh, fun" was my response, but inside I was thinking "You're crazy", and "Now I'm GLAD I didn't go!" LOL! We had received some Discovery Toys in the past as gifts and have really enjoyed them, but that was the extent of my knowledge of the company. Back to the story.....so she's now a consultant. I look through my first DT catalog. Yah, there's some cool stuff in there, and I can get some cool free toys by being a hostess and having a party! Yah, I can do that! And I did! I made goodies, sent emails, made phone calls, and waited for the day to arrive. It just so happened that I planned it for the same day as the our nearby town celebration (which I didn't know at the time) so while we didn't have a huge turnout, we DID have a blast playing! It was so cool to see my children all rallied together, the big kids playing with the "small kid" toys and then turning around to help the small onesparticipate with the "big kid" toys. I was starting to see some added benefit to these things and didn't quite think of them as "just toys" anymore. A few days later I was at Sarah's house. We were again talking about the benefits of being a consultant. We then switched gears and I was telling her about some concerns I was having with Leia and her color recognition. She pulled out something called Busy Bugs and called Leia over. It took a few tries, but by golly, she DID IT! My fears were relieved and that was it! "What do I need to do to sign up?" So......in a moment of craze, I signed up to be a DT consultant. Ok, just kidding. I did think it over, and I did talk to Duane too. There were just too many great, and educational toys and games that I wanted for the kids. Signing up just made the most sense! There are a lot of cool development toys for Nathan, "brain games" for Paige and Bri, and I could have a near complete preschool curriculum for Leia through these things! So much for a short story huh? So back to today. Discovery Toys Day. The boxes were piled on my kitchen floor and the kids were EXCITED! What did I do? I sent them out to play with the Splash Rocket while I went through everything! After all.....there's surprises in there for later I'm telling ya, this is a SUPER COOL thing! I think every house needs one of these! Unless of course you live in Antarctica! While they were out getting soaked, I was able to sort through boxes, bag up people's orders, and pack away some games and toys that will make their appearance on birthdays, game nights, or special "fun days". Once they came in they went straight for the table where I had the remainder of our things. It was hilarious to watch them! Leia grabbed the new book that we got and sat down. Brianna grabbed the Boomerings! WAIT A MINUTE! Isn't that a BABY toy? Nope! She linked them together, pointing out how she had a section of "viking colors", then proceeded to do all sorts of crazy things with her chain!
After lots of tower topples we got to play Busy Bugs. This was the one we pulled out for Leia when we were at Sarah's house. Leia really likes this!! And LOOK.....SHE MATCHED THE COLORS!!
The funny thing is, I'm not much of a "toy person". In fact, I've been working hard to cut down and simplify around here, but as you can see, I'm totally sold on these things! It was even better when Paige said, "Thanks for the Discovery Toys Mom." Then Brianna came up, gave me a hug, and said thank you, and of course, Leia copied with her little, "Thanks mom." It was precious! Later on is hammer time with Hammer Away, and a family game of Quick Call! Not only that, but they are already talking about more pattern races! LOL! I wish I could show you the other cool toys, but right now they are safely packed away in my closet for those "special days." I'll be sure to share as they come out though! Anyway, I promised Duane that I wasn't going to go out and do shows, except for maybe one a year, around November or so, for the Christmas crowd. I am free to do some book parties since they won't take me away from family like home shows would! So, if anyone wants to have a book party for me and earn free products let me know! I could send you books, you could pass them out and collect orders, and we can chat via email or phone. As the hostess, the order would be shipped directly to you, and the best part is that YOU earn the cool, free toys! Of course, if I have a certain amount of sales in the first three months, I earn some more free products as well, so really it's a winning situation for both of us |
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When we moved in here 3 years ago we were thrilled to find that we had critters EVERYWHERE! There were TONS of deer, rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, turkeys, even some fox, and a timber wolf! Between Bailey, our faithful golden retriever, and BooBoo, our once indoor, now turned outdoor cat, everything slowly seemed to disappear. We've been talking about how disappointed we have been to not be able to watch those things from the windows anymore. There has been a bunny here and there, but not the playful families we once had. We hear the pheasants and turkeys calling from the safety of the swamp, but none of them come up to see us anymore. That was until yesterday, when I heard Paige gasp. I quickly followed the direction of her gaze out the window to see this: She seemed very curious about our chickens. She would put her nose down to the ground, as if to sniff at them, and when they would run away she would follow. She was practically chasing them around the yard! We all had a good laugh. Yay! It's about time we get to see some wildlife around here again! Brianna and Leia came to join us at the window and with Bailey in the house, oblivious to what was going on, we were able to watch this girl for quite a long time before she wandered back into the woods. I hope she comes to see us again soon. And if we're lucky, she'll bring some friends =) |
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Are your children a blessing, or a PUNISHMENT?! http://yoursacredcalling.blogspot.com/2008/05/punishment.html I'm not proud to admit it, but as many of you know our first daughter was born to us before Duane and I were married. In fact, I graduated high school with a newborn on my hip! Does that make her a punishment? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! In fact, it was because of that baby that we strived to make positive changes in our lives! Changes that moved us out of state, and eventually to the place where we came to know Christ! Imagine, that "punishment" led us to the greatest gift we could ever receive! Thank you Jesus! |
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Everybody loves shoulder rides! Babies..... Toddlers........ ..........and even stuffed doggies! And the biggest "Look Ma" moment of the week.......... Nathan's on his KNEES!! Oh, how time flies (sniff sniff) |
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Guess what we did yesterday? After after a fun morning with Sarah, her children, lots of yummies, and a discovery toys party, we all headed into our local library to watch "The Bug Guy". This is "Bruce The Bug Guy" Bruce is an Entomologist. He's very silly, and very good with groups of loud, excited children! Mr. Bug Guy loves bugs, and he has some really cool (and some pretty freaky) ones! Check these out.....and let's just say that I'm super glad that some of these are BEHIND the glass!!
Mr. Bug Guy likes to talk.......mainly about bugs of course. He likes to gross you out with stories of eating bugs, and he laughs REALLY hard after he scares you with rubber bugs. He plays with his bug puppets, shows you pictures of his favorite bug costume (that he dresses up in while he's at home), and then the REAL fun begins! First he reaches into his cooler and pulls out a peanut butter jar with lots of small wax paper envelopes. Inside are sleeping moths! After the moths came caterpillars. These ones were munching on lilac leaves. Let's pass them around. Look at them, touch them, but don't try to pull them off the leaves because they'll hold on so tight that you'll more than likely rip them in half. They're pretty, but that's NOT a pretty thought..... I like moths. I like caterpillars. This was really fun. Let's go now, huh? Nope. It's not done yet. Mr. Bug Guy has more to show us. I was afraid of that! Whoa! Look at THIS thing! A HISSING cockroach! See the large amount of orange color and the dots? That's how we know that this ones a male. Yes, that's Paige holding it! And Leia's little hand reaching out towards.....yuckness! Ahhhhh, that was fun! Now he thrills us with a giant millipede! What other cool stuff does the bug guy have up his sleeve....errrr.....in his box? How about a scorpion. He doesn't pass this one around either. They sting you know. Although he says that the stings from this one doesn't hurt as bad as a bee sting, he's not giving us the chance of finding out! I'm not complaining! I tried taking a better picture of it once it was secure in it's cage, but I think it was almost more freaky from in there! Look at those eyes!! Oh boy, we're not done yet! He saved the "best" for last! Meet Rosie, the Rose Haired Tarantula. Ooooooh, I can't even BEGIN to tell you how much I dislike spiders! They scare me.....nearly to death! I'm the momma who would rather grab a can of hairspray then to get close enough to try to kill them with my shoe =o It's embarrassing, but true! Just looking at these pictures send shivers up my spine! An interesting tidbit about that spider above. A girl knocked it's cage to the ground (with the spider in it). It hit the ground so hard that the spider was gashed open, spilling out it's intestines. Mr. Bug Man scooped that thing up, put it in the cold to put it into a deep sleep, then stuck it's little guts back in and closed up the wound......with super glue! Just look at it today.....good as new. Except for the small pink spot there. Now THAT'S some pretty crazy bug love!! Hey, did you know that tarantulas have silk? They don't spin webs, but they use it for patching things up around their homes, as well as for their egg sacks. All you gotta do to see it is go grab yourself a tarantula, pinch it in the butt, and pull! Or, I suppose you could check out this picture ;-) Cool huh? I bet you're wondering and the answer is yes, Rosie was passed around! All three of my girls took a turn holding her. Brianna was apprehensive, and Paige thought it was "pretty cool". Of course, we came home and she's still scared to open our mailbox because of the large, fuzzy, beady-eyed, black and neon orange spider that has taken up residence there. What about Leia? Leia LOVED holding Rosie!!! She had her turn, passed it on, and then kept asking for more! Who's child IS this?! LOL! Now for the shocker!! You'll never believe it.....especially since I don't have a picture......but.......I held Rosie! Yes, after MUCH prodding from my children I did it. I held out my hands and Mr. Bug Guy placed her in the center. I don't think he knows just how risky that was!! She was a nice thing. Pretty light, with soft gentle feet, but still way big, and way ugly! I was sweating, and I don't think I took a breath until she was gone, but I did it. She certainly didn't make a spider lover out of me, but Miss Rosie was ok. Still, I can't promise that if I were to ever meet her brother in an alley somewhere that I wouldn't introduce him to my Aussie!!
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I just couldn't resist sharing this picture! What a cutie =)
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