Thoughts, Ponderings, Musings...

Happy New Year!

2012-01-24T15:03:00.001-05:00

At least it's still January! It has been quite a busy post holiday month around here. Well...busy and not.

Here are Katie and Noah showing off their finger-staches.

And Noah and Ruby playing at the new coffee table on the new rug! (Christmas gifts!)

Ruby has a love/hate relationship with food right now. She got in the habit of eating a LOT of it! So much that she cut down on nursing and had terrible tummy problems for a while! We finally realized that the baby food she was loving actually had CREAM in it! UGH. Why would they even do that?! So...we are starting over.

We went to the park on one of the many unusually WARM days we've had lately. Ruby absolutely loved the swing!

She is pulling up on EVERYTHING now and has stood by herself a couple of times for a few seconds at a time. Her 8 month birthday passed on Friday. We missed the 7 month one with pictures so we decided to just do the 9 and 12 month now. She is babbling CONSTANTLY. Crawling everywhere like a pro. She is the sweetest thing! Even when she is sick!

Katie brought her in their room to play. I think Katie enjoys having a real baby to play house with. :)

We celebrated my parents' birthdays last weekend.

Noah has been playing basketball. But I have no other pictures of either of those things. :(

The biggest event around here has been the sicknesses. Noah started out with a cold, then it got better, then it got worse, then he ended up with pink eye as well. So he has finally been on medication for that since Thursday. Ruby also had a cold. She was sleeping miserably. So, after we had tried ALL our home remedies, and after Noah ended up on an antibiotic, we decided it was time to take her in. She also got an antibiotic but the night after the doctor (a Friday night of course) she ALSO came down with pink eye. We made it through the weekend, then she finally got drops for that yesterday.

Last night we had our best night's sleep yet. She slept two really long periods with only one tiny coughing fit.

ALSO, she has not had her reflux medication the entire time she has been sick. AND I have added dairy back to my diet! So, all seems to be looking up now!

Here's a picture of her from this morning. She was sleeping so sweetly and soundly.

And in all of this, Katie has not been sick at all! She has developed a cough the past two days, but it is really nothing. I am so thankful that she didn't get sick. Because, oh yeah...I forgot to mention..in the midst of everyone being sick and not sleeping? I was ALSO sick with a cough/cold. And Corey was feeling worse with it this morning. But the saying is true...I would much rather the two of us be sick than the kids!

We have signed back up for e-mealz because I got a really good groupon ($29 for a full year!) and we are loving the ease of having a meal plan again!

Corey is doing fantastic with his school work, even though it is much harder this semester.

We are slowly but surely making our way through the school year. I am predicting we will NOT be finished in April like last year, HA.

But, really...life is good. We are blessed.

Christmas 2011: The Year of the Tornado

2011-12-28T18:46:00.004-05:00

Thanks to a couple of tornadoes in the area, we had our traditional Birthday Party for Jesus...sans electricity!

We had to put off the meal we had planned (hot dogs and french fries) and grab dinner out. We debated what to do when we got home to the power still being out. The estimated time it would be back on was 11am the next day. So, we went out to the dollar store and stocked up on batteries and candles and went through with our plans. The weather was mild...not too hot or cold.

First we had a cupcake and sang ♫Happy Birthday ♫

Ruby enjoyed the candlelight as well.

We switched the camera over to using the flash to get better pics, so just imagine the rest with the same look as those first few. ha ha.

Then we finished our "What God Wants For Christmas" Nativity Set.

Ruby checking herself out in box #7 (a mirror! ooops spoiler alert!)

Our advent wreath...isn't it beautiful? We did a mix n match wreath last year but this year we got a real one! :)

Then they opened one gift. New school clothes...er...I mean pajamas! ha ha. We let them each pick a pair to wear to bed and this is what they picked. They each had more Christmas-y ones, but oh well.

I also opened a gift, a new knife block set, and Corey opened a gift, two tees from 80stees.com.

Ruby's first gift ever. She was SO excited when we put it in front of her. Finally, all that being pulled away from the gifts was over! And.....she just wanted to bite it.

Opening gifts by candlelight. You have to imagine this like the first few pictures. They really couldn't see anywhere except where the flashlights were shining.

Christmas 2011! Ruby picked the right pjs!

The power came back on earlier than expected at 6am, so when I got up with Ruby we came to rearrange the gifts for the next morning. She got a little sneak peak/taste of the family gift.

YAY! Katie finally got up so Noah could come open gifts!

Noah's "want" gift: a remote control motorcycle.

Katie's "want" gift: a new doll and canopy bed for the doll.

breakfast! bacon, eggs, pancakes.

A little gift from Katie to keep Ruby busy at the table. It was a math mitten.

Opening the family gift together...a Clearplay DVD player.

"Santa" brought a stocking full of many yummy things for Ruby.

Ruby's "want" gift: a ball popper.

Santa found many a great value on Amazon this year!

Doll accessories and furniture, video games, and LEGOS!

We had a very memorable start to the Christmas season this year. Now to find somewhere to put it all! :)

Christmastime is Here

2011-12-10T14:01:00.001-05:00

As we were out and about on Black Friday, we drove by a storefront where a woman was painting the windows with Peanuts characters. I really loved it and wanted to do it on our windows. We've been so busy I didn't have a chance to do it until today. This is how the panels are arranged. Because of the way our porch is set up I had to take individual photos and put them in a collage.

Corey then added multicolored lights around the window.

Christmastime is here!

Right Now

2011-12-09T21:25:00.001-05:00

I'm totally copying this from a friend who posted this today. I've maybe done a post like this once or twice. What I WISH I was posting is pictures from my brother's wedding last weekend, but I have none. :( It was beautiful and fun, and I hope to see some pictures soon!

So, here we go:

right now i am…

watching: Noah put up his DS before bed.
eating: nothing at the moment, but about to dig into the cookie dough again.
drinking: not enough water. <--same as my friend.
wearing: gray and yellow striped pajama pants, white socks, black nursing tank and nursing bra.
avoiding: cleaning.
feeling: happy that I stocked up BIG time at Aldi today. Very productive day in the food department which reminds me I bought a hummus "quartet" sampler....maybe I'll try some of that too!
missing: Corey. It's been way too busy around here. Between the wedding last weekend, his school work, and his practices for the church Christmas play, I've barely seen him at all lately!
thankful: for the full cupboard, my sweet healthy baby, my smart healthy children, and for Christmas fun!
weather: 45 is the high today. TDC. (too dang cold) <---same answer as my friend. She's my neighbor. :)
praying: for a peaceful December.
needing: to clean the house and get some homemade Christmas gifts started/made!
thinking: about the latest experiment in getting Ruby to stop waking up randomly in the night. Hope it works!
loving: cooking (lately).

Giving Thanks 2011

2011-11-24T19:08:00.001-05:00

God is Great

God is Good

Let Us Thank Him...

For Our Food.....

By His Hands.....

We Are Fed....

Give Us Lord our Daily Bread.....

Amen.

6 Months Old (Serious Photo Bomb!)

2011-11-20T16:53:00.001-05:00

In honor of Ruby's 6 month birthday and the upcoming holidays, I made an attempt to get a good shot to use for Christmas cards. :)

Some photos were better than others.

Things got pretty intense.

I think these (above and below) may be the best smiles from Katie and Noah. (of course)

And sometimes Mom, Meme, and Grandpa just ask way too much of a person....

I have no idea how we are going to continue with the paper heart tradition.

It's quite difficult to get her to not follow/grab/want the heart.

The wagon we used was Katie's wagon. Ruby decided she would like to try pulling herself up on it.

Some sly looks...

and trying to pull herself up!

The one above totally cracks me up!

She is such a pretty girl, just like her brother and sister.

Ruby has been with us for 6 months! I can't believe it!

She is pulling herself along the floor in an army crawl. She is babbling a LOT making more intentional sounds. She has tried avocado (twice), peas (once) and cereal (once) and did not care for them at all. At the time of eating OR later in the night.

She loves her stacking toy, her brother and sister talking to her and making faces at her, playing with her sippy cup, and watching everything around her.

We are very thankful that Ruby is in our lives. This will be a blessed Thanksgiving indeed.

On the Move!

2011-11-17T11:31:00.001-05:00

Catch Up

2011-11-14T21:21:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time!

Busy busy BUSY BuSY is what we are these days!

First of all, I never posted anything on Katie's ACTUAL birthday. It was definitely a good plan to have her party early, as we've been running non stop ever since!

I have attended three wedding showers (one that I hosted), gotten my dress fitted, (it looks great so far!), taken the kids to and from various activities and classes, folded 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, help fill, label, and rubberband 145 shoeboxes!! (Yay we exceeded our goal by 20 boxes!), taken Katie and myself for eye exams (with the other two in tow!), gotten my hair cut and highlighted, and I can't remember what else, but it is a BUSY month. My brother's wedding is December 3rd and there are wedding related activities and plans going on all the time as the date approaches. All four of us are in the wedding party, and Ruby is also having a dress to match Katie's dress. I am very excited for them. I've never been in a wedding at all (besides my own), so all the wedding events are new to me.

The next Saturday we have open is December 17th! ha! That is including December 10th when Corey has our church Christmas play that he and the kids are in.

In other news, Ruby is almost SIX MONTHS OLD!?!!!!
We tried cereal mixed with breastmilk a few days ago but she did not like it. We tried avocado again tonight and she didn't really seem to want much to do with it either. I thinned it out a little more this time to maybe combat some of the reflux affects that it seemed to have last time. Here are a few pictures.

She slept 10 hours straight the other night! Still a complete and total joy. We now have a 9 year old, a 7 year old, and a (almost) 6 month old. This will surely be a fun season of holidays!

Celebrating 9 Years!

2011-10-22T18:41:00.001-04:00

Due to having a very busy weekend planned next weekend, we celebrated Katie's 9th birthday a little early.

I made her cake. :) She requested a rainbow cake.

We met at WOW Cafe for wings, Katie's choices.

The birthday girl. I can't believe it's been 9 years since......

She was a baby. :)

Uncle Ben and the future Mrs. Uncle Ben

Lots of fun gifts from Nanna and Poppa..

from Noah...

I thought this was funny of Ruby looking around.

from Noah...

from Ruby

from Uncle Ben and Jennifer

from Meme and Grandpa

and from Mom and Dad (us)

gifts from Meme and Grandpa for Ruby and Noah

time for cake!

The inside of the cake was rainbow! I am very proud of how it turned out!

After cake we attempted to take some family photos.

Ruby was thinking about grabbing Katie's hair. Guess how I know that...

My favorite

We had a really fun time. Katie loves all her gifts.

I will do another post on the 28th when she really turns 9 years old. :)

5 Months!

2011-10-20T21:48:00.000-04:00

Five month old girl. Photo session.

Background compliments of Memaw and Grandaddy. :)

Headband made by a friend, at Mandamades.

We'll start with a little action....

She sees something that makes her smile.

See the look of determination....of happiness?

I must have it!!!!!

It makes such happy noises!!!!!

MUST HAVE

SUCCESS!!!!

This dog belonged to Katie and Noah also.

The five month picture with Katie and Noah

And the rest of the photos.

And the discovery of the 5 month heart made by Katie.

Hmmm...done with posing?

Ruby is, as you can see, sitting up pretty well. The boppy pillow is underneath.

I gave her the new nickname of "Nosey Rosy" because she is just IN TO everything that she can get her hands on. As much as a non crawler can be. She is scooting herself all around on the floor now. Doing the inchworm and loving it. She tried some avocado two nights ago and didn't hate it. :)

She is still sleeping well, with the exception of the past couple of nights when she has been fighting a little bit of a cold. But she is already getting over it and took a really good nap today.

We think she has outgrown the screaming in the car seat at night. I took her to church by myself week before last night and she did fine! Whew!

She absolutely loves toys and music and being talked to, and pretty much everything!

She is a very happy baby, full of joy and a blessing to us all!

First Solid Food

2011-10-18T21:05:00.002-04:00

Ruby had her first taste of solid food tonight! We had planned for her to have some avocado on her 5 month birthday which is Thursday. But, we had nachos for dinner tonight and we were having avocado with it...so we gave in to the temptation.

These pictures are all out of order but I am too tired to fix it right now.

Corey fed her some on a spoon. She did NOT spit it out. She made a funny face but then acted like she wanted more. :)

The first thing we did was put some on her tray. She pushed it all around, mushed it, squished it, but did not put it in her mouth.

A teeny bit came back out at one point.

Overall, she really seemed to enjoy the avocado.

The original plan had been to wait till she was 6 months old. Up until a year, she really only *needs* breastmilk. It's the very best thing for her. Starting too many solids early on can cause early weening which could affect her health. So it is important for us to not overdo it. She is getting the most perfect food in the world which keeps her healthy and her brain growing strong.

But, in the past couple of weeks she had hit many readiness signs for experimenting with food. She is holding her head up completely well (been doing that for a LONG time), reaching out and grabbing things, especially with her fingers (pincer grasp). She is sitting up pretty well for a minute or so at a time, unassisted. And she has been particularly interested in our food, smacking her lips and smiling at us and watching us eat. I was fairly certain that her tongue thrust reflex was pretty much gone as well. I was right when she didn't just try to push the spoon out of her mouth and immediately thrust the food out when it was put in her mouth. So, with all the readiness signs there we decided to go ahead with a little mushed up bit of avocado. It is the newest fad in perfect first foods. :) It is really a very healthful food. All kinds of goodness packed in there.

Since she has already shown a tendency toward food intolerance (milk and peanuts when I eat them), we are going to be very slow, very observant and thoughtful about what/when/how much we introduce. This will probably be the only food she has for a while. There really isn't a rush. But the first pictures and experience were pretty fun for everyone! Katie and Noah were excited to see her eat, and I know Corey enjoyed feeding her something too.

But I am in NO hurry for her to eat very much more.

I want her to stay my sweet nursing baby for quite a bit longer!

UPDATE:
Well.....it looks like I will get to keep my baby little for a while longer.
It is 4:19am and I've been up with little Ruby since 1:00 am when she woke up coughing and choking.
:(
Her symptoms are exactly what they were during her roughest reflux period. I did some internet research while I'm sitting here awake and yeah...it looks like in some babies introducing food can make reflux worse. I will definitely not be in a hurry to try again any time soon. Say a prayer this passes quickly!

Friday Phone Dump

2011-10-14T16:33:00.000-04:00

Going through pictures on my phone so I decided to share a few. This top one is from this morning. Such a happy girl!

I had to take this picture in the bath the other night. I think it was Wednesday. Her mullet is outta control!

Doing so well at sitting up!!!! For a couple of minutes at a time.

We took this picture in the car at Rock City. She was waiting to be fed before we went in.

We visited Mawmaw last week. It was a great visit!

LIFE is our new favorite family game. We played on teams last time.

Football Sunday at church. The first year we have participated.

These are older pics...Katie and Ruby watching tv.

Katie and Noah played restaurant.

The first time I caught her sucking her thumb.

With Katie's baby doll.

Now they are all out of order. This is a shot I took of the ornaments I was helping to cut out for the Operation Christmas Child tree at church.

Another shot on our corn maze/rock city trip.

She LOVES the exersaucer now!

My lunch one day this week. Tuna melt and salad.

Katie's babydoll.

She is trying her very best to crawl! STOPPIT!

Another from a while back. This is how I found her after a nap. Her arm all the way in the shirt.

Fall Weekend Fun

2011-10-10T10:34:00.000-04:00

We took our first journey through a corn maze this past weekend.

It was actually pretty challenging. Corey couldn't even see over the top.

Katie and Ruby and I split up from the boys and got lost. They had to come back in and get us. ha ha.

The maze was located in the valley below Rock City. You can see the viewing point up there, and if you click to view bigger you can probably see the 7 flags which represent the 7 states you can "view" from that point.

There were two parts to the maze. The second part went much quicker than the first.

Ruby slept through the maze. It was my first time wearing her on my back. It was so convenient and comfy!

Corny!!!

After the maze there was a hay ride.

The best pictures we could get of the three of them. ha.

It was pretty hot in the valley.

Then pumpkin painting.

I painted a teeny pumpkin for Ruby. I didn't get a picture of it yet.

Last activity at the corn maze: corn cob slingshots!

The farm also featured a Rock City barn.

After the corn maze, we met up with Nanna and Poppa up the mountain at Rock City for "Rocktoberfest."

From the top viewing point you could see the maze from above. If you click on this you might can see it better. Noah said from the viewing binoculars he could see the people walking around the maze, particularly on the bridge that was in the middle of the maze.

Silly girls!

They had traditional German activities..like this lady playing the accordion.

This picture cracks me up!

A silly family picture.

And a picture with Nanna.

I am glad we have the family membership to Rock City. They have many different seasonal themes which will make it fun to visit year round. Next, I believe, is the Christmas lights display!

Dedicated: Set Apart, Consecrated

2011-09-28T12:21:00.001-04:00

Ruby:

a ruby red jewel

Faith:

confidence; belief

Ruby has already been such a wonderful blessing to this family. Even before her life began, her name was working in our lives.

This past week we got to publicly declare that we will continue to raise her in family of faith.

Ruby was dedicated this past Sunday. We consecrated and set her apart.

She will be raised to know God. She will have the support of her blood family and her church family who will be an example and a source for her to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God and His Word.

Many family members came to visibly show their support.

(click on the pictures to see them larger)

Ruby was happy.

We all prayed for God's hand to be on her and evident in her life and her life's purpose.

It was a very special day for us. I remember the last baby dedication I happened to attend at church. How I longed to be up there. How I imagined I would have been up there with those new parents by that time of the year. Yes, God is faithful. I knew we would be dedicating a baby, and when the time came for us it was so very special and blessed.

Faith truly IS the substance of things hoped for.

It is the evidence of things not (yet!) seen.

Ruby is a happy, healthy, and blessed baby! We had her four month check up (a little late) today.

She is 14 pounds, 10 ounces. 27 1/2 inches long.

Absolutely perfect!

4 Months Old!

2011-09-20T22:42:00.000-04:00

Ruby is 4 months old today!

Her biggest accomplishment: finding her VOICE!

She likes to YELL. Not angrily. Not upset. Just talking REALLY LOUDLY. :)

She is sitting forward more when given a little bit of support, and of course....

everything goes straight to her mouth.

She is loving her thumb.

Rolling back to front every single time we lay her down.

She even inches along a little bit by squirming around while on her belly.

Still a great sleeper (most of the time, as long as I am good on my no dairy diet) and wakes up happy.

She is also enjoying her toys on her tray while we eat dinner...and constantly throwing them in the floor. Noah, ever looking for a reason to get out of his chair and not eat,

is eager to gather them for her, time after time.

This Sunday is her dedication at church. She outgrew the outfit we were going to put her in (Katie's dedication dress), also outgrew the second choice, and isn't big enough yet for the alternate second choice. So....she will be getting something new to wear after all! :)

Happy 4 months Ruby!

Two Posts in One Day!

2011-09-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

Here's Ruby, enjoying her exersaucer. :)

Mountains 2011

2011-09-15T15:29:00.000-04:00

Ruby's First Vacation! The kids first trip since 2008 I believe. We stayed in a cabin with plenty of games anda fantastic view! We visited Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies ($7/each with homeschool discount!). I had some dairy free fried apple pie, Corey got to eat fritters with apple butter, and a GREAT time was had by all!!!! Here are some pics

A Big Day!

2011-08-26T21:52:00.000-04:00

hahahahaha!

2011-08-26T13:56:00.000-04:00

Laughs!

2011-08-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

3 months

2011-08-24T14:13:00.000-04:00

Ruby has been here (only?!) 3 months?? (already?!?!)

I still don't think it really feels like there are three kids in the house. Maybe because #3 isn't mobile yet! ha!

We took some photos Saturday, on the 20th, her 3 month milestone day.

She has lost all the hair on one side of her head! Thus the headband.

She has a very expressive face, especially her eye brows.

LOVING her fingers still. They are her favorite things!

She lifts her head very well. She moves all around the blanket on the floor, scooting on her back. She can arch her back up really high! But, no rolling over yet.

Last night she spent her first night in the bedside co-sleeper. She did great! I wasn't resting well anymore with her windmill moves all night long and with rolling over coming soon, this seemed safer for now. I missed her while I was going to sleep, but not while I was sleeping. We both slept 7 hours straight, then 2 1/2 more!

She's just 8 inches further away, ha ha.

Family picture. Corey joked that he looked like he was plotting against the family. But this is the best one we got.

Lots of laughs and cooing. She still loves bathtime.

Katie and Noah are the best big sister and brother Ruby could ever ask for!

School is going great. She sleeps still a lot in the morning so we get most everything done during that time period. Then when she is awake they work on their independent paper stuff.

This baby is 100% JOY!

More Schoolwork

2011-08-17T23:30:00.000-04:00

Katie's math page from today......

Her math pages always end up a little bit enhanced with doodlings from her imagination...

or in this case...from Spongebob.

She also took it upon herself to answer all the problems with the written out words.

I'm not going to complain...whatever....at least all the answers are correct! HA!

Checking In and a Little Bragging. :)

2011-08-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

Well, Ruby is growing like a WEED! Time needs to slow down a little bit I'm telling you!

I have been writing every little thing down on our calendar on the fridge. I noticed that last Thursday I noted that she had finally gotten a toy with her hands and pushed it up to her mouth. I was a teeny bit hesitant to write it down because it was almost accidental. But I'm glad I did. Because today, I noticed in just a week's time, that she has become an expert at purposely grabbing things and putting them up to her mouth. It's amazing how quickly new skills are perfected! She can get from her back up to her side, but not all the way over, yet I'm sure that the rolling will happen soon also.

This week, I had a really bad day. And Corey happened to be out of town. I had gotten Ruby fed and asleep and I laid her in the middle of the bed so I could jump in the shower.

Well...of course what happens as soon as I get in? She starts crying of course. I am rushing through my shower and after a minute or two she stops crying.

I get out of the shower and see this.......

Big Brother reading her a story!

He was quick to assure me that he did not pick her up. In fact, he was eager to demonstrate how he had rolled himself underneath her by lying down on the bed and scooting. ha ha.

They are such fantastic helpers. Most of the time. It seems while I am cooking dinner...the only time I can't actually hold her and do what I am doing, they want to scatter to their room and leave her to sit alone. They quickly saw the benefit of my being able to cook so they are better about helping me now.

School is going great. We are finishing up our 6th week tomorrow. They both started their class this week as well. On Mondays from 1pm-5pm they are taking a Marine Biology class at the Education Playstation.

We chose to put them in a class together this time. I have a feeling I am going to really value those 4 hours when I can run errands and get groceries with just the wee one in tow.

They are learning cursive handwriting this year. I bought the books last year but after just one letter I realized they were not ready. But this year is going great! I am especially proud of Katie, because print handwriting hasn't always been her favorite thing to do neatly and slowly, ha ha. Here are their papers from today:

Noah didn't put his name at the top:

And Katie's. She is also learning capitalization and punctuation rules, thus the name choice at the top, ha.

The heat has us going a little stir crazy. It's supposed to be a little milder this weekend so we hope to get out and do something away from the house for once. I hope the weather cooperates!

Noah Putting a Sock on Ruby's Foot

2011-08-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

What Baby?!

2011-07-29T17:07:00.002-04:00

Ignore the Silly Mommy Voice in the Video!

2011-07-26T20:34:00.001-04:00

She's been cooing and "talking" back and forth with us. Usually the first sign of the phone camera makes her stop and stare. I managed to catch a little tiny bit today. :) And remember the title of this post!

Shrinky Dinks!

2011-07-22T18:33:00.000-04:00

We completed our third full week of school today. And we celebrated with Shrinky Dinks! I found this kit at a toy store a couple of weeks ago. I put it up in anticipation of a particularly stir crazy day. And with the extremely hot weather lately, it didn't take long!

After work was done for the day, I got them out. The entire family gathered round the table.

Ruby was entertained watching Katie nearby.

i had to zoom on that one!

Tracing and coloring...

Then cut....

and bake!

(purple oven??)

We have many ideas for using the rest of the shrinky paper. It was a great way to kill some time indoors!

July 20th!!!!

2011-07-20T16:10:00.000-04:00

Two months since I gave birth to this beautifully cute little girl!!!

She is very responsive. She will "talk" back and forth with coos and sounds.

She smiles and laughs at everything!

She went to her second movie yesterday: Winnie the Pooh. She went with us to see Cars 2 a couple of weeks ago. She actually seemed to enjoy Winnie the Pooh. She would get excited when the music played and start kicking her legs and smiling!

Constant kicking is her new favorite thing. When she gets excited the legs go crazy! It's getting messy giving her a bath because of it.

The new thing for this month is: reflux.

If you know me at all, you know that I do NOT like medication. Well, ever since we brought Ruby home she has had this tendency to choke. So, from the first night pretty much, we have had her elevated at night. As her episodes grew more frequent I was relatively sure that she was suffering from reflux. I read online and did everything I could do naturally to treat it. I was keeping her at an angle while nursing. Keeping her upright for a long period after feeding her, we got a carrier that was comfortable so I could wear her as much as possible during the day, I cut out dairy. I did block feeding. Anything and everything I could find to try, we tried. She didn't cry a lot with it, it was just scary because of the choking and how miserable she would seem after eating. She would stay squirmy and you could hear throaty sounds, she seemed to be chewing on something in her mouth all the time. And she would randomly scream like she was in pain and it would pass.

Well...this past Sunday morning she had what is referred to as a "stop breathing" attack. For about 10-15 seconds she was choking to the point that she wasn't even taking breaths. It scared me to death. So, on Monday morning, she and I, and the entire family, were at the doctor's office. And now she is on Zantac, to hopefully prevent that from ever happening again!

She will probably outgrow it when she starts solid foods...but for now this will work for me. :) We should know soon if the medication is going to be what will work for her.

I guess that is all the new stuff for month two!

Noah made the cute little heart sign for this month.

I will repeat: TIME FLIES!

Adventures in Cloth Diapering!

2011-07-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

Back way before we got pregnant (this time around), I was introduced to cloth diapering. Modern cloth diapering that is, ha! With everyone trying to be more green, it has become quite "in fashion" to use reusable diapers. I started researching all the options. mostly from an economical standpoint, not necessarily to be green. Cloth diapers range from the very basic kind, (like we are using) to very chic and "upscale" custom made with fashionable prints, patterns, and all in one designs. Googling cloth diapers can be completely overwhelming. In deciding which route to take, we almost went the route of a pocket diaper, but fortunately I have a friend and neighbor who tried it first. She gave me her spin on it and I decided to go with what she ended up liking best. The good old fashioned prefold/cover!

This is our basket of diapers. To the right, a stack of Econobum brand prefold, flat diapers.

To the left, the Econobum covers.

We got a great deal..buy one diaper with cover set and get one free. I bought 12 and my mom bought 12 for us for a gift, so we have a complete set of 24 diapers. More than we go through in 1-2 days. The entire stash, with tax and shipping, is about $140 worth.

Here's how they work.....

First fold the diaper over itself. These fold the short way for younger babies and later will fold the long way when she gets bigger.

Lay the folded diaper in the cover like so......

Place the diaper under the baby and just fasten the snaps to the right size. These diapers and covers, when unsnapped all the way, should fit her through her entire life of diapering.

It took one poopy diaper for us to figure out the right way to make sure it is tight around her thighs. lol.

Yes, they are bulkier than a disposable diaper. But she doesn't seem to mind.

And it doesn't keep her from fitting in her regular sized clothes! :)

Fluffy butt!

They fit great. They are extremely easy to clean!

We wash about every other day. Just toss them in a bin on top of the dryer and when we get about 6-8, we run a load. It hasn't been extra work at all.

They are easy to put on, and the biggest advantage: CHEAP!

We have been using them for about 2 weeks now.

We will break even on what we spent on them in about 1 1/2-2 months.

Then after that....we are saving ourselves about $20/week on diapers!

And...I can't believe I'm about to even type this, but...

I am about to make the plunge into cloth wipes as well. Here's why:

It's VERY inconvenient to use a wipe and have to go throw it away instead of just wrapping it up in the diaper! I have to go to the trash can and dispose of it and in the mean time it is just lying around on the blanket or wherever I am since I can't just throw it in with the diaper. So, for that reason alone, I think I am about to make my own or purchase some material to use to make cloth wipes.

I can't believe how green we've become, but I can't take too much pride in that because it's really just because I am cheap. :)

Celebrating

2011-07-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

Here we are...exactly ten years later!

Corey gave me this beautiful necklace at exactly midnight last night. It was the first time I have every gotten a gift on the exact intended special day! It is a tin cup necklace...commemorative of the ten year anniversary.

We went out as a family for dinner. We had a nice meal and red velvet cupcakes for dessert.

I wanted to get some pictures of us on our actual anniversary so we stopped by Corey's parents' house on the way home so she could get a couple. I am happy with them! Even though I am definitely still spotting the only 7 weeks postpartum ...um..imperfections.

Ruby decided to cry for a little bit, and then go 180 degrees into a very silly *laugh!*

It was hilarious...her extreme mood swing.... as you can see here:

She just started laughing last night. And tonight she decided to do it again and it is so spontaneous that as you can see I was quite ridiculous lookingly entertained by it!

It was a sweet celebration.

10 Years

2011-07-07T00:22:00.000-04:00

Today marks ten years of marriage for me and Corey!

I have never regretted our super small wedding!

And we have more than made up for our small honeymoon. :)

On our first anniversary I was five months pregnant with Katie.

And now on our tenth we have a seven week old newborn.

I could have never ever understood the overwhelming joy that I have experienced in spending these ten years as a wife to Corey. The family we established ten years ago has grown into a home filled with lots of laughs and the love of three wonderful children.

10 happy years!

Life is nowhere near what I thought it would be...it is SO MUCH BETTER!

I love you, Corey!

Looking forward to many more years together!

Noah turns 7!

2011-07-06T10:30:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Noah's 7th birthday...almost two weeks ago! oops!!

Our first ever homemade birthday cake...a double doozie. Not nearly as good as the one his Nana made for me, but it was pretty good. :)

Goofing around, waiting on....

the Happy Birthday song complete with sombrero.

And of course, lots of good gifts!

He enjoyed a great birthday and has been playing with all of his gifts a lot!

He also enjoyed spending some birthday money on Amazon.com (we are teaching him that you can get better prices and don't have to go out to the store! ha ha!) and he loved getting the packages in the mail.

I can't believe my littlest boy...up until recently the "baby" has turned 7 years old!

Tune in tomorrow for another very special post and celebration. :)

1st Day of School

2011-07-02T00:29:00.001-04:00

School is officially in session!

We started on Friday, July 1st, after taking a spring/summer break from the week before Easter until now.

Above: Katie on her first day of 3rd grade.

Below: silly pose

They are sporting their official school uniform: pajamas.

Below: Noah on his first day of second grade.

The day went very smoothly, in spite of breaks to tend to Ruby.

She slept for the first long session of reading for our history/geography and Bible time.

The first week will be mostly review, getting their brains warmed back up to math especially.

We started on a Friday because I had planned to the first week of July and with Monday already being a holiday it made sense to just go ahead and get a first day in with time to break again right before the rest of the first week which we will start on Tuesday, after the 4th.

It was a huge relief to get some structure back in our day. The kids I know were better off with some tasks and work to do rather than just sitting around being bored.

I can't believe how big they are. This is our 5th year of having school at home.

It was funny to look at Ruby throughout the day and know that she will always be schooled at home. That is the plan anyway. When Katie and Noah were newborns, we had no idea that we would homeschool. It's quite different looking at her and having the peace of knowing she will be with us when her time comes as well! :)

Play time

2011-06-30T15:53:00.000-04:00

Staying awake to play some during the day!

Noah and Katie both watching over nearby. :)

6 weeks old tomorrow!

On Katie and Noah's first day of school 2011/2012 (2nd and 3rd grades!)

Such hard work.....

The mirror is very fascinating...or the person in it maybe!?

She is so much fun!

And she finally got to hit the rings and toys to make them move.

Not on purpose, but she enjoyed the results!

June 20th!

2011-06-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

WOW! Ruby is already a month old! Almost...in about an hour and ten minutes. :) Like everything else after you are a grown up time has seemed to crawl and fly. I am really enjoying every single minute. Ruby seems to enjoy herself also.....

Noah loves her and asks to hold her often.

Katie is the entertainer. Though last night she asked to go play instead of entertaining her while dinner was being prepared. Oh well...

She is the cutest thing ! Everyone in the house agrees!

She loves sitting with us at the table at dinner...the bouncy seat on the floor wasn't cutting it. So, thanks to a gift from Memaw and Grandaddy, we got this booster high chair that attaches to a regular chair. We are five around the table now and it is awesome! I thought of taking this photo last night after I pulled the chair over near to where I was making pancakes for dinner. She was getting really impatient for her own dinner, so no smiles in that shot, ha ha.

Katie made this sign for me to take her one month photo. Right on cue this morning, Ruby started really cooing and responding to our talking to her. She has been very attentive since birth, and also smiling, but today she really has seemed to be talking back regularly with sounds and smiles.

She is sleeping great! I usually get at least one 4-5 hour stretch of sleep each night. Then she settles down easily for another 3-4 hours. No complaints here!

All these photos were taken with my phone. I also took the same photos with the better camera but they are still on the memory stick. One day we will get them off and I'll post some better shots.

We have another milestone this week, Noah is turning seven!

A Month!

2011-06-15T14:24:00.001-04:00

My blog has been neglected over the last month. With good reason.... So much has happened including saying goodbye to two families of friends....the Freemans who are (once again) relocated with the military.

The stairsteps out of order.....ages 6, 7, 5, and 8. Oops, Canaan had his birthday, so now they are 6, 8, 5, 8, left to right. We will miss seeing them on a weekly basis! Also the Welch family who have permanently relocated to North Carolina! We will miss them too!!!!
Katie and Noah both had end of the year recitals...Noah for his Science combo class, Katie for Zoology, and Katie had a play that she worked on with her drama class. Her play was the week after Ruby was born. Thankful for friends who helped us out with all the rehearsals, etc that were going on at a very busy time!

OH and we finally became a family of five with Ruby's much awaited arrival on May 20th!

We've been adjusting very well!

Number three has been the easiest baby of all! It could be that we are much more relaxed or that she is just a good baby. Or maybe because of the age difference between the last two. Katie and Noah are a huge help...with Ruby and with doing some of the chores around the house. It may also have something to do with the fact that Ruby sleeps at least 4 hours at a time at night and many times up to 6. I realize that is subject to change at moment's notice though, I will enjoy it as long as I can! It has definitely helped in these first few weeks of recovery. Speaking of, I am recovering very well also. Feeling totally normal already!

The complete birth story is posted on the baby blog, but I will be posting here from now on. Back to the regular family blog.

We will be getting ready to start school in July. I wasn't sure I would be ready to start early again, but it turns out, I am! I know that it will be easier now than when she gets older, so may as well get to marking off those 180 days again! I can't believe I have a 2nd and 3rd grader! Our supplies are all bought and ready, I just need to get the first nine weeks planned out. I had hoped to get that done before Ruby was born, but I didn't.

I am motivated to get going on the planning.

So that's what has been going on with us...

Guess who was born today?!?!?!?!?!?!

2011-05-11T15:44:00.000-04:00

31 years ago?!?!?

Corey! My husband!

Guess who seems to be in no hurry to arrive, for her due date, Daddy's birthday, or any other special event?

That would be Ruby.....

Needless to say I had no special plans for Corey's birthday today since...um... I thought we would be busy with a newborn and just get pizza takeout. So what did we do? Pizza takeout...at work with Dad!

Ben's special gift for Corey. A 5 second "face touch." Ben hates to have his face touched...lots of back story....brothers confuse me.

Father and son

The family. Sorry I'm looking rough. I need more makeup on.

Corey and I have had pre baby hair rebellion.

Father and daughter...

Individual Ben and Jerry's ice cream cups. Following Mellow Mushroom takeout.

Happy Birthday Corey!

Hopefully my gift won't be too much later in arriving......

Flowers!

2011-05-06T11:16:00.000-04:00

I got an early Mother's Day gift from my kids yesterday. :) Wonder if the third one will be here in time for the holiday?!?

The tulips are beautiful!!!!!!

I love being a mom!

Update: Part 5

2011-05-02T10:24:00.001-04:00

1. Get all the baby stuff organized in the baby room. DONE
2. Buy stuff needed still on our must have list. DONE even though we didn't get everything I listed last time, we have what we need so I'm not stressing.
3. Get bags packed for me, baby, and kids. DONE
4. Buy supplies we/I need to have on hand post partum at home. DONE
5. Get the flower bed area in the front yard presentable for post baby visitation. DONE the worst of it.
6. Wash baby supplies (esp the cloth diapers) to have ready when we get home from the hospital. DONE
7. Finish getting house deep cleaned and keep it up! ha! DONE
8. Get sheets for the bed in the baby room! um...there's a quilt thrown over the bed! ha!

Corey being supervised while digging up a huge dead bush that we've been meaning to dig up for a while.

They found TONS of worms in the dirt.

Noah actually held one!

While I was inside deep cleaning the floors. Corey moved all the furniture and I just had to run the cleaner, so it wasn't that bad. The floors look so much better now!

So the only thing we haven't gotten done that I would like to get done is to get sheets for the guest bed. But that really is NOT a necessity for before Ruby comes. Just soon thereafter in the next few months in case Corey has to travel and I need help. In other words...we're ready! Clean house...packed bags.
I even used some birthday money to get new pretty bathroom furnishings for our bathroom so it will be nice and inviting for me upon arriving home! :)

My 30th Birthday

2011-04-28T22:17:00.001-04:00

Well......I didn't have my third baby before I turned 30.

But it's okay because I got to eat THAT cake tonight! :)

It is a double doozie cake....with plenty of buttercream frosting between the layers and on top.

My wonderful family of four! (for a little while longer!)

The inside! YUM with a glass of milk!

Perfect follow up to dinner out with Corey at one of our favorite places: Appalachian Grill.

It was a wonderful evening....celebrating my 30th which really hasn't been that big of a deal today since I am really counting down to something a lot more eventful....

The day that this bump decides to makes her way into the world!

30 years old, and 38 weeks pregnant! A milestone day for sure!

Update: Part 4

2011-04-23T23:03:00.002-04:00

We're making a little bit better time on this to-do list than the last one, ha. I guess we are really feeling the pressure with 38 weeks looming!

1. Get all the baby stuff organized in the baby room. DONE
2. Buy stuff needed still on our must have list. (changing pad for dresser, robe for me, nursing bra, replacement parts for breast pump) part done. still need changing pad, robe, and pump parts. I also realized today that we don't have any baby washcloths. I really prefer using them especially at first because they are so much softer and their skin is so delicate.
3. Get bags packed for me, baby, and kids. started
4. Buy supplies we/I need to have on hand post partum at home. DONE
5. Get the flower bed area in the front yard presentable for post baby visitation. nope
6. Wash baby supplies (esp the cloth diapers) to have ready when we get home from the hospital. DONE
7. Finish getting house deep cleaned and keep it up! ha! started
8. Get sheets for the bed in the baby room! um...there's a quilt thrown over the bed! ha!

Side list (need to accomplish but not urgent)
1. Get Katie's costume together for her play at the end of May.
2. Get homeschool stuff/records from this year put away and stock cart with next year's supplies.

Well...I guess I thought we had gotten more of that stuff done, ha. But, #1 and #6 were biggies! Quite time consuming. Today Corey helped get some heavy chores done that I can't do. Since we are finished with school now, I can spend my mornings when I actually have some energy, accomplishing these other things. The packing will probably be done really soon. We also got the sheets we needed for the co sleeper which was a big priority. The cloth diapers are all prepped and ready so we can start using those as soon as we feel brave enough to give it a go! :) (After the meconium stage has passed anyway.)

Basically...the house just needs a good cleaning now and the bags packed and we're ready to go!

Wrapping Up 2010/2011

2011-04-20T13:22:00.000-04:00

We are halfway through our last week of homeschooling for the year 2010-2011!
We began on July 5th, 2010 and will complete our 180 days this Friday, April 22nd, 2011.

Even though I was very sick during September and October, we have still been able to stick with our books and stay on schedule. This has really been the best school year we've ever had in my opinion. We've completed everything and stayed consistent with our work throughout the year. We had plenty of breaks, an awesome trip to Chicago full of great experiences and field trips...and I am very proud of all three of us!

For the first time, I ordered and completed a standardized test with each of them. I used Seton Testing Services because it was very affordable and concise. It only covers Reading, Language, and Math. The basics. We may or may not use the same company next year, as a test like the ITBS gives a lot more information as far as grade level equivalents, and since more kids take it it's easier to see how they compare. But this test was a great introduction for them into the world of testing at only 1st and 2nd grade.
We got their results in the mail today and I am thrilled that they both scored above average in every category except one subcategory of language mechanics/expression! And even in that they were both at the very upper edge of average on the scoring! I am very happy with how well they did. Especially since they only missed one or two in each section at that!

I will be slowly sorting through the papers and records for this year...storing them away. My goal is to go ahead and get our school cart stocked up with next year's books/supplies and get the first 9 weeks planned out...in hopes that having that already done will make it easier to go ahead and start our year on time with a newborn in the house!

Update: Part 3

2011-04-17T19:52:00.002-04:00

1. Laundry closet cleaned out, upper shelf organized for linens/sheets. DONE
2. Hallway closet cleaned out, reorganized for board games and school supplies instead of linens. DONE
3. Kids toys moved into their new room, organized on shelves. DONE
4. Noah's clothes moved into Katie's closet with new closet organizer rods in place. DONE
5. "Playroom" reorganized into baby storage space with extra bed set up. DONE
6. Our closet cleaned out and reorganized. DONE
7. Our bedroom completely cleaned out and readied for painting. DONE
8. Paint our bedroom and bathroom. half DONE

Look at all the stuff that is DONE on our list! YAY! But how is it that we still have what seems like a million things left to do?!?!?! ha ha.

We JUST got the bedroom furniture set up in the baby room. It looks so beautiful! Corey and I are both having last minute panic about "she" turning out to be a "he" but it's probably just finding something to worry about.
I'm not sure the bathroom is going to get painted/done before she gets here. But our bedroom looks so much better with the fresh beige covering the marker scribbles that Noah bestowed upon them as a toddler.

Time to move on to a new to-do list:

1. Get all the baby stuff organized in the baby room.
2. Buy stuff needed still on our must have list. (changing pad for dresser, robe for me, nursing bra, replacement parts for breast pump)
3. Get bags packed for me, baby, and kids.
4. Buy supplies we/I need to have on hand post partum at home. (assorted pharmacy and Walmart items)
5. Get the flower bed area in the front yard presentable for post baby visitation.
6. Wash baby supplies (esp the cloth diapers) to have ready when we get home from the hospital.
7. Finish getting house deep cleaned and keep it up! ha!
8. Get sheets for the bed in the baby room!

Side list (need to accomplish but not urgent)
1. Get Katie's costume together for her play at the end of May.
2. Get homeschool stuff/records from this year put away and stock cart with next year's supplies.

Giveaway!

2011-04-15T14:56:00.000-04:00

My online friend is hosting a Giveaway of a great scrapbooking album that is the easiest kind in the world to do! Go enter!!! And if you win, then you can pass it on to me! HA HA HA HA!

CLICK HERE to visit the Unworking Mom and enter the giveaway. HURRY the contest ends tonight!

Update: Part 2

2011-03-29T21:40:00.000-04:00

1. Laundry closet cleaned out, upper shelf organized for linens/sheets. DONE
2. Hallway closet cleaned out, reorganized for board games and school supplies instead of linens. DONE
3. Kids toys moved into their new room, organized on shelves. DONE
4. Noah's clothes moved into Katie's closet with new closet organizer rods in place. DONE
5. "Playroom" reorganized into baby storage space with extra bed set up.
6. Our closet cleaned out and reorganized. DONE
7. Our bedroom completely cleaned out and readied for painting. mostly done
8. Paint our bedroom and bathroom.

WOW! Okay, so the two more things we've done....#6 and #3 are BIGGIES! I just this evening finished reorganizing all their stuff from the other room...into their new combined room. It was a tight fit, but it seems everything finally has a place. A few things boxed up to take to Meme and Grandpa's house, and a few things going out the door to donate, and a few things set aside for a yard sale. It's all still in the house, but it isn't piled up in their room anymore.
The goal is to get #7 done before Saturday, and # 5 and #8 done on Saturday.
I am so excited! Even though the house is a complete and total wreck because the hallway and extra room and living room all have "stuff" that was cleaned out during these projects...all we have to do is get IT to where it needs to go, whether Goodwill, or downstairs for the yard sale, etc....at least it is out of the crammed up closets!
There IS a light at the end of this tunnel! And hopefully we'll reach it Saturday!
Then, I can get to the fun part, which is prepping the baby supplies (washing, folding, storing), and packing some stuff for Delivery Day!

Update

2011-03-21T11:54:00.001-04:00

Well, we've had part of two weekends to work on some projects. It is very slow going. Here's what we have accomplished so far:

1. Laundry closet cleaned out, upper shelf organized for linens/sheets. DONE
2. Hallway closet cleaned out, reorganized for board games and school supplies instead of linens. DONE
3. Kids toys moved into their new room, organized on shelves. Kind of
4. Noah's clothes moved into Katie's closet with new closet organizer rods in place. DONE
5. "Playroom" reorganized into baby storage space with extra bed set up.
6. Our closet cleaned out and reorganized.
7. Our bedroom completely cleaned out and readied for painting. partially done
8. Paint our bedroom and bathroom.

I have accomplished another goal which wasn't included in the original list. I've cleaned out from under and cleaned out both bathroom vanities (well, Corey did one) and now have towels and washcloths stored under them. I also cleaned out a shower that we weren't using in our bathroom that had become the cleaning supply closet, ha ha. We also cleaned the junk out of our bedroom but did not get to the closet. The extra stuff that needed to go to the basement was moved out and some furniture moved around so we have room for the co-sleeper. Number 5 on the list is getting closer. The toy reorganization is extremely slow going. And Corey will need help moving all the furniture out of that room before we can set up the extra bed.

Only 7 more weeks till due date time! Which means.....about 5 more weeks to get this stuff done!

Scripture, etc.

2011-03-09T18:31:00.001-05:00

I haven't updated my scripture memory in a while because I am STUCK on this passage! I don't know why it is so difficult, but the phrasing keeps getting me confused. So, I'm still working on the one from the second half of January. Since it is three verses perhaps I'll console myself with the fact that it will just take me three halves of a month to get it, ha ha. But, that would mean I gotta have it down in....six more days. (edited: I just went to change my sidebar and realized it's already been 3 halves of a month. Oh well) Maybe I'll try teaching it to the kids, that usually helps me learn something. They are pretty quick at memorizing.
Speaking of months...it's only six more days until it has been an entire month of no updating on this blog. I've been updating the baby blog weekly though.
We're plugging along in finishing up our school year.
We are making next to NO progress on any house projects in preparation for Ruby. I am simply and completely lacking motivation. I guess I feel like I don't want it to get done too early, HA! Then it will have a chance to get messed up again.
Here's what we need to get done:

1. Laundry closet cleaned out, upper shelf organized for linens/sheets.
2. Hallway closet cleaned out, reorganized for board games and school supplies instead of linens.
3. Kids toys moved into their new room, organized on shelves.
4. Noah's clothes moved into Katie's closet with new closet organizer rods in place.
5. "Playroom" reorganized into baby storage space with extra bed set up.
6. Our closet cleaned out and reorganized.
7. Our bedroom completely cleaned out and readied for painting.
8. Paint our bedroom and bathroom.

Hmmm....doesn't seem like quite as much with it only being 8 things. BUT, so many of those things involve cleaning "out" and "organizing" which involves a whole lot of dragging out of huge messes and stuff. Time consuming.
OH, and our neighborhood is having a yard sale April 9th, so I want to be ready for that also. We basically just need to pull out some stuff from the basement and throw it on the driveway, ha ha.
Not to mention that there are a few to do things on my personal list, like pack my bag for the hospital, order the supplies I want for post-partum, make an Ipod playlist for labor on Corey's Ipod, and also pack bags for the kids for their time away from home when Ruby is born.
Wow...so much to do! And only 8-10 more weeks to do it! Actually, we need to be ready in about 7 weeks just in case.

Projects

2011-02-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

Katie and Noah went to spend some Christmas money this past weekend after our very long Babies R Us outing. Noah chose a building set...the one above.

Katie picked a cooking set for her American Girl doll.

Here's Katie with some of the baked goodies.

I wanted to share these pics of the project that Noah built with his kit.

It's a toolbox.

The kit uses heavy duty foam and sturdy plastic nails and screws, tools, etc.

He measured, sawed, hammered, and built this toolbox pretty much completely on his own! I was so proud.

I highly recommend this brand of toy building kits. It was fun for him and he was so proud!

School Update

2011-02-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

Time for a school update!

As of next week, we will be finished with our third nine weeks of study for 2010/2011!

I just finished writing out the lesson plans for the final semester. We are on schedule to finish the week before Easter, right on time!!!! Ruby is expected to arrive less than a month after. Could it be any more perfect?!

In other exciting school news....

Today I was able to order all the curriculum for next year! As soon as it arrives I can start getting that first nine weeks planned out so we won't delay. I will have my hands very full this summer, so having everything ready and planned will be a huge help!

I was able to get *every single thing* on my school wish list today! YAY!

We will be diving into some good history/geography this year with Sonlight History/Geography 1.

This is an introduction to World History. We will use a timeline and figures along with the studies and will cover things like ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Europe, Africa, India, and China.

I had put off really getting deep into a History curriculum until this coming year on purpose.

I wanted to get the basics of reading/writing down well first. Sonlight subjects are very heavy as well, so waiting until Noah was more able to listen and pay attention was important.

Sticking with Math-U-See!

Still totally loving this math program!

Katie is moving on this 9 weeks actually...up to Gamma and the beginning of multiplication.

Gamma is a very heavy year content wise, so I plan on taking plenty of time to master each thing. It will probably take this next 9 weeks of introduction plus the entire third grade year to get through this one.

Noah will still be working through Beta, which he just began. They are both doing so great with math and I give all credit to this program..it is awesome.

We ordered the Picture Smart Bible program to use also. We will most likely use this as an evening devotional learning time as a family. We've gotten kind of boring with our evening devotion time, so hoping this will mix it up and we will certainly learn a ton! Check out THIS LINK to see more about it. Basically you go through the books of the Bible by drawing a master picture that includes basic elements from that book of the Bible...symbols, main verses, etc. Drawing helps you remember what you learned. It looks like so much fun. This was a bonus *wish list* item that I had wanted to get last year, but we finally are able to get it!

Last year we used the birds, magnets, astronomy units from this science company. This year we are getting "microscopic explorations, insects, and light" units. I actually love the science classes offered at the Education Play Station where Katie is now taking Zoology, and Noah is taking a combo science class. Hopefully they can continue taking classes there, but these units will fill in the gaps of time in between and/or if we aren't able to continue those classes for some reason.

Staying with Abeka for Reading, Language Arts (writing), and Spelling.

Reading/Language is starting to take less time one on one with me, so that's where we get to add in the rich history program.

I can't believe we are going to have a THIRD grader this coming school year!

OH and a very neat thing happened today while I was ordering curriculum.

The teacher's manuals for Abeka are really expensive on their website, and used ones can usually be found in abundance. It's just sometimes a needle in a haystack to find a current edition. I have compromised in the past and just had to adjust the schedule in a previous edition to fit the current workbooks.

Well...after ordering from Abeka today I went in search of the Language 3 curriculum on the used websites.

None to be found.

So I put out a "wanted" email on the used Abeka curriculum yahoo group.

FOUR minutes later, someone replied to me! A brand new edition at an extremely reasonable price!

Ask and you shall receive right?!

I was so happy to have that search over and done. I really didn't want anything left on my plate to get for next year...searching and looking the rest of the year. YAY!

Well, that pretty much covers it!

I love shopping for school supplies!

Staring Contests among Catz

2011-01-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Katie loves these kinds of games on her DS. She has a baby sitting game, and two "taking care of pets" games.
Lately she has been playing this one a lot....where you take care of baby kittens and they grow up, etc. You have to feed them, play with them, wash them, etc. She absolutely LOVES it!
This morning I discovered that is has also been a good sex education tool as well.
It has been frustrating her because she kept having kittens and naming them, then they would turn out to be the opposite gender of the name she picked, because it would have kittens, etc. ha ha.
Well...when the baby kittens are born, they just show the little gender symbol, with the plus or arrow beside them. She finally put it all together this morning and said, "OH, the little arrow means its a boy and the plus means its a girl!!!!" Isn't it fun when kids use their brains and experiences to put something together that you didn't teach them? ha.
Well, the best part is coming.....
Noah picks up the game while she is eating breakfast. He says, "Look Katie, they are having a staring contest!"
Katie jumps up from the table and runs over to him and says, "OH that means they are about to have kittens!!!!!!"
I about died laughing.
Hilarious!
Staring contest = kittens.
Yeah, we'll go with that for now.

(The game just shows two cats staring at each other, hearts come up between them, then it says, "King and Princess just had a kitten, you can name it now", nothing major, I just thought it was funny that they have dubbed it a staring contest)

E-Mealz

2011-01-26T21:29:00.001-05:00

I forgot! I do have something of note to blog about!

We just signed up for E-mealz last week. So far, we are enjoying it.
I was hesitant for a long time to sign up for anything like this. For a couple of reasons...
1. It seems like something that would be so easy to do yourself!
2. We prefer to buy organic/natural foods when possible
3. It seems like something that would be so easy to do yourself!!!!!!!!

The final straw is that I am just not in the mood to eat dinner. I don't ever care what we have, and it is hard to think of things I want to eat for the next week. I would honestly eat breakfast for dinner every night right now. When something is actually made, I can sit down and enjoy it, but my inspiration is ZERO for coming up with creative ideas, making a plan, blah blah blah. It was getting expensive to just come up with things off the top of our heads, or just walk through the store buying whatever looks good at the time.

As much as it hurt my pride to sign up for something that seems like it would be so easy to do yourself, we finally decided to just give it a try. Another downside to this particular website is that there is no free trial period or introductory rate/price, so we paid for 3 months at once just to try it, which is the only way you can sign up, three months at a time. I have since found out that there are promo codes which save you $2-$3. That was sad, because we had already signed up.
Basically, it's $5/month, $15 for 3 months.
You pick a plan. They have many to choose from. We chose the family of 4-5, 7 meal plan, Kroger.
You can change your plan once per three months. They have weight watchers plans, different stores, meals for 2, etc.
Each week a 7 meal plan is posted. It is based off of the sales going on at Kroger for the week.
It lists all the ingredients for every meal, the staples you need to have on hand (which are minimal), and the prices listed for the week.
The typical grocery bill for the 7 day plan is supposed to be $70-$80. That was another thing I wasn't sold on because that didn't seem very cheap for me. But, then, I considered, if we are eating 7 meals at home and not eating out, then that isn't bad for a family of four. Especially for a good variety of foods, not repeating the same old same old every week.
This past week our grocery bill ended up being $130. That is a good bit more than what we used to spend when I was couponing like crazy. But....we eat three meals a day at home! I know a lot of families who spend more than that and their house sits vacant all day long, so I think we do fairly well for a family who snacks and does all their meals at home most every day. We probably eat out once a week now on average.
Also, he spent more on several of the items than what was listed because instead of getting one pack of ground chuck, he got a multi bulk pack of ground turkey. And instead of the boneless pork chops listed he got a bigger pack that was on sale that we quickly split up into 4 more meals.
AND the best part was...we got to try some new recipes that weren't crazy expensive to make, that we had all the ingredients on hand, mostly bought on sale, and that we loved!
We can also substitute natural and organic when we want, so that isn't an issue really.

We will be doing some substitutions here and there for things that just don't sound good to us at all, but throwing in a spaghetti night on occasion is better than starting out with a meal plan of "okay, we'll have spaghetti one night and tacos...what else?"
ha ha.

I say it's a win so far.

Nothing Much....

2011-01-26T17:04:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted since the 15th?!? I can't believe it!
Well...there hasn't really been much to post in a while. We've been fighting all kinds of sicknesses around here. First pink eye, then colds, then another round of pink eye, and lastly I had the most horrible cough and sore throat EVER which caused severe sleep deprivation. Thankfully that has finally passed and hopefully we are GOOD now!
I gotta get to working on my scripture memory more. I have kind of gotten it down, but not totally.
We're breezing through our school days as well. We're on week 25 out of 36 already! Only two more weeks in our third nine week session. We will take the week of Valentine's Day off, then dive in for our last nine week semester!
Which will also bring us right up to time for little Ruby Faith to join us. Our Bradley classes start on the 13th. We have just 15 more weeks till her birthday.
Lots of countdowns going on. And so much to accomplish in the meantime. I am thankful for the ability and means to work on some things and for the chance to take a pre-baby getaway on Valentine's weekend.
The baby blog has been getting more attention lately I suppose. You can find me more over there these days.

Scripture Memory: January 15th

2011-01-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 43:1-3

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.

The flames will not set you ablaze.

Shopping Spree!

2011-01-04T16:41:00.000-05:00

I got a few gift cards for Christmas and though I told myself I would hold onto them for a while, it just didn't happen, ha ha. I really did need some things. Like.......

A great pair of maternity jeans! I had bought some from Target that were working fine, but they were a little too big. These "secret belly fit" jeans are great! The panel is tight and thin enough that there is no seam showing through your shirts!

And.....

two new 3/4 length sleeve tees. I want to pick up more of these. 3/4 length sleeves are pretty much year round clothes here in GA! ha ha.

Yes, a spatula/turner. We needed to stock up on some good coated cooking tools so we don't ruin our new pots and pans. This one is stainless steal coated with silicone, so it won't scratch! The reason I ordered it is because I had also picked out some nursing camisoles (only available online! clearance priced!) and I needed $10 more dollars to save $16 worth of shipping. So there ya go, it was a perfect add on!

And today, I spent the last of my gift card on this:

A new straightening iron. I have been putting off getting a new one for a while because I just couldn't bear the thought of how much $$$ they cost! But...I did some research and this brand got great reviews. It's a Remington Damage Therapy Flat Iron. We don't have naturally curly hair, so we don't actually need a crazy expensive one I don't think. This one was only $39.99 and it has teflon coated plates which is supposed to cut down on breaking/damaging hair, which is a problem I do have with doing mine and Katie's hair. I hate when they pull my hair out! It goes up to 440 degrees so it gets really hot for one in this price range!

I just tried it on Katie's hair really quickly and it seemed to work great with just one run through. The only other issue I had was that it would take more than one run through and going slow to work, and this one didn't. I think it will be a great purchase!

So, my post Christmas shopping money is gone, but I am VERY happy with my purchases. I got some things that I need now (maternity/nursing stuff) and some stuff to use in the long run! (spatula and straightener)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T10:25:00.000-05:00

I have only one resolution this year. To memorize 24 scriptures by December 31st.....two per month. I am participating in the Siesta Scripture Memory Team on the Living Proof Ministries Blog. I did it the year before last, the last time they did it and did well for the first part of the year..actually a lot of the year.
As I participate in the scripture memory team, I will post my verse on the sidebar on the 1st and 15th of each month. My plan for the beginning of the year is to memorize some verses to carry into battle (ie, childbirth) with me, ha ha. In light of that goal, the first verse of the year is:

1 Samuel 1:27

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.

It may seem very simple, but for someone on the journey we've been on the past year, it is an amazing statement of faith.

Have a great day! It is rainy and gloomy here today. I take that as a sign to rest, and enjoy time with family and friends. Don't get too busy too quickly. :)

We must have been good!

2010-12-29T11:37:00.000-05:00

Because Santa was sure generous with us this year! Just wanted to share about a few of the goodies that Corey and I got this year from "Santa."

This set of Rachael Ray cookware!

We have already used it several times and it is so awesome!

All our old pots and pans are in a box ready to go out the door to Goodwill. Do you see how deep those saucepans are? And we've never had a pan like the one on the front left...a deep fryer/cooker. The skillets are nice and deep also. SO NICE!

A fun kitchen gadget: this microwave egg cooker! I've already used it 4 times to make hard boiled eggs.

Noah wears me out with cooking hard boiled eggs every day and this is just perfect! It's easy to clean, just needs rinsing after each use, and I can have hard boiled eggs from the microwave in minutes.

He has eaten five boiled eggs in one sitting...so definitely a valued gift!

This pregnancy body pillow! It's called a Snoogle. My hips and back were beginning to really hurt at night from sleeping on my side and this has given me SLEEP wonderful SLEEP! Ahhhhh!

We all know how precious sleep is!

This tv wall mount. Our tv is now mounted above the fireplace and we are LOVING it. It is like having a brand new tv! Right now our Christmas tree is in the corner where the tv used to be, so we haven't gotten to enjoy the extra space just yet, but I know the little nook will come to be very useful when our living room houses a baby during the day in the spring! This also telescopes out and tilts so we can turn the tv toward the couch or kitchen if we want. Very nice!

We were also blessed with many other wonderful gifts! Gift cards, stocking stuffers, I got a new nursing coverup, some gifts for the baby, candy, gloves, blankets, among many more.

Thank you Santa!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents. We had our traditional breakfast and then stocking gifts. I don't have pictures because we didn't have a memory stick in our camera but hopefully I will have some to share later.

We spent Christmas Eve night with Corey's grandparents for dinner, then it was home to get ready for bed so we'd be ready for Christmas morning!

Here are pictures from Christmas morning at our house:

Games galore this year!

Big stockings with lots of goodies.

Stocking stuffer fare

Wii Fit Plus! Our gift for the family to enjoy together....and we have!

Noah's "something he wanted" A huge lego set.

And Katie's "thing she wanted"....Barbie dreamhouse.

Enjoying the Wii Fit.

The tv mounted with Corey's gift from Christmas Eve: a wall mount. We've got a lot of cords to hide!

And enjoying our white Christmas.

(more pictures to come of more snow play at Nanna's house)

Katie trying the Wii Fit.

And below: playing with the Barbie Dreamhouse.

We went to Corey's parents for Christmas afternoon since the weather was supposed to be bad in the evening. And we ended our evening with the last night of Advent and finishing our nativity set.

Our Big News!

2010-12-23T21:47:00.001-05:00

See HERE!

Preparing for Christmas

2010-12-18T18:15:00.001-05:00

So many "to-dos" crossed off our list. Yet, so much remains to be done.
With our biggest project finished, it left a wake of destruction in its path. Some of that finally got taken care of yesterday and I was determined to get the rest of the house cleaned up in preparation for a busy week coming up, but it seems I am having one of those need three naps days. Disappointing but nothing I can do. Really...I cleaned half the kitchen and my eyes were closing on me. Pregnancy is so fun! ha ha!

We have many wonderful things to look forward to, and the first family Christmas gathering tomorrow. There are caramel corn gift packages to bake and wrap....Christmas crafts to finish...and lots of fun to anticipate. The kids are beyond excited about their three gifts under the tree...although I suspect that in the busy-ness of last weekend Katie saw one of her big stocking stuffers in the box in our room where I did not properly cover it after closing. She has now been talking about that particular gift an awful lot and has even accurately figured out her "BIG" thing she wants that would go with it that is wrapped under the tree. *sigh* oh well. It will still be exciting to open I hope. I tried to throw her off track by saying it could be a bike, but that just made Noah look at me sadly and say, "I would love a bike for Christmas!" oops. He's not getting one either. Big disaster, but I know they will be thrilled with their gifts.

I have not made it to McKay's Used Books and I am very sad about that. We have 3-4 crates full of books from cleaning out the rooms. We had planned to take them in for credit and some more stocking stuffers for the kids as well as replenish the book supply since they cleaned out a lot of books in the room redo. They give awesome store credit and have may books that are in GREAT gifting shape. I can hope that we might find a day to get up there together (since I can't lift the crates of heavy books by myself) but I am not counting on it.
We also have our big "baby surprise party" on Thursday! The ultrasound is Wednesday morning so we will get to see the baby for the first time since I was 7 weeks and we first saw the heartbeat. I am hoping we can make it through that ultrasound without accidentally seeing boy or girl so our surprise party can be a big success for all of us!
Not sure when I will post again. Just wanted to log a little of life while I had a second...
Merry week of Christmas!

Stockings Full of Goodies Giveaway!

2010-12-16T10:07:00.001-05:00

I LOVE Christmas gifts! I love giving them, planning them, seeing my kids' eyes light up when they see their well thought out and planned for Christmas morning gifts!

How about a giveaway?

I found this giveaway at "Fresh Oil Today" and am entering to win one of these very cute stockings full of fun goodies! Go over and enter for yourself and maybe you'll get a stocking for yourself this Christmas!

Day 12: Part Two

2010-12-12T15:26:00.000-05:00

The BIG Reveal!

Would you believe that we drove an hour to Ikea after Corey finished playing with the worship band this morning? Straight there, two twin mattresses in the back of our CAR trunk, straight back, lunch in the car on the way, and about 10 minutes to throw the stuff together and show the kids the room before Corey had to be at play practice this afternoon at 2:30pm. WHEW!

It was worth it though!

(someone please pray that I can find my camera this week! I am very tired of phone pics)

They loved the room!

And got busy right away decorating with the star wall decals!

Here's Noah discovering the stickers in the toy chest. These pics are kind of out of order but everything gets crazy looking when I try to rearrange pics, so oh well. Noah added the wagon of books to the room.

Noah enjoying his loft bed, complete with rock star bedding from Meme and Grandpa!

Katie loves the Rockstar bedding too!

This will be a fun place to sleep!

Noah relaxing after a little star decoration went up...

Katie's bed after wall stickers and the addition of her sleep pal "Uni" the unicorn.

Katie added a container of books to her play nook.

I helped out with spreading the stars around the room. Katie immediately added a music corner and her purple chair. She said, "We need some accessories!"

I love decorating with wall stickers!

Katie said about three or four times, "You guys are the BEST!"

Which of course, makes all the aggravation of the last two days in getting it ready....

totally worth it!

We still have several things to add....two black shelves...a curtain still...and I am sure many toys will make their way into the play nooks. I am so thankful they have this great room now.

I guess we need to start working on that basement play room now, ha ha.

But that can wait at least until January!

Day 12: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-12T01:01:00.002-05:00

It's the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas Sharing, and I am TIRED! ha ha. Not really tired of the share, but absolutely tired from a busy couple of days. That's why on the last day, today, I am sharing something that isn't completely a "Christmas" Share. It only remotely qualifies because it is one of the kids' 3 gifts for Christmas this year, which they will get tomorrow....pretty early.
Corey has spent the last two days on a complete room "redo." The kids were sent to the grandparents' house for some spoiling and our two best friends came over last night to help us get started. Andy helped Corey move furniture out the room, tape up for painting, and start putting together a bed while Bethany helped me, well actually MADE me sort through and organize toys ha ha! She's a slave driver, but boy was I thankful today when half the work was already done! I have no idea why these pictures are out of order, but I am too tired to fix them......

I made Corey stand by the bed to show size reference. He actually gashed his leg on one of the bed panels when he was bringing it upstairs. He made a temporary bandage using a paper towel and frog tape. poor guy!
When we got the beds together, we had some sad realizations. One is that the beds are even closer to the ground than we remembered. That meant that our original plan to have them sleep on mattresses on the floor area would not work. They couldn't have even sat up on the bed because it would be too low. Secondly.....the twin mattresses we already have are too thick to go on the top loft area safely. They go all the way up to the edge which is a major falling hazard. UGH! Talk about FRUSTRATING after planning this out for several weeks and then getting stuck with the fact that we now have to go buy new mattresses!
Here is a view of Noah's bed: We know he will want the one by the door....

Here's an out of order picture of Corey working on the first bed. Oh, he also painted the walls gray today. He has worked so hard and I know it will be worth it when the kids see their new room! I'm afraid I wasn't very much help today. I couldn't be around the paint fumes, and couldn't do any heavy lifting. I assisted with holding pieces up and together sometimes. I spent most of the day organizing the other room which will now be a play room until it is converted into a nursery next year.

And here is a view of Katie's bed. I am adjusting to the new plan of the bottom being the play area. They also got a new little toy box to match the bed. I told Corey that if I'd had a bed like this when I was their age it would have been one of my favorite memories for sure! It's almost like a mini apartment....bed upstairs..."living area" downstairs. We plan on putting books and pillows in the play area. Also a wall lamp, and maybe a curtain on one side.

There are still several finishing touches to come. Of course they need a mattress, ha ha. Meme and Grandpa are giving them new "rock and roll" themed bedding. We are going to decorate the walls with posters (definitely a Beatles poster or two), and with their own guitars. A black curtain is coming. And I'm going to keep my eyes open for a cool rug.

So that's my share for today. Simply because I won't have time to do anything else before tomorrow. They get to have their "thing they need" present early, but I don't think they will mind. Rooming in together is definitely something they need to do right now and in order to do it we had to rearrange, so this is a great way to fulfill that need and give them a Christmas gift as well.

Day 11: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-11T10:06:00.000-05:00

Today I am going to share our Christmas traditions.Our traditions evolved from an idea that I completely and 100% stole from a friend and neighbor, but hey, isn't that where most ideas come from anyway? Others? ha ha.
So, here is how we "do" Christmas:
First off....our kids get three gifts from us for Christmas.

They get 1. something they want, 2. something they need, and 3. something for the family to enjoy together. That's the part I stole from my neighbor/friend. When she told me their way of keeping Christmas small and meaningful, I LOVED the idea! Every year since we started doing this, it has been a true joy on Christmas to take our time, focus on Christ, celebrate Him, and enjoy our time together. Before adopting this tradition our living room was starting to look more and more like a toy store on Christmas morning. It was truly out of hand and hard to keep up. 3 gifts have meaning (of course like three gifts Christ received), and no matter the economy or circumstances....3 gifts can be bought pretty easily, ha ha. And they don't notice a difference in Christmas each year. You'll have to tune in after Christmas Day to see what the three gifts they get this year will be! :) Here's my post from our first year doing the three gift tradition! Corey and I actually got gifts for each other that year, ha ha...that definitely doesn't happen every Christmas!
Oh, and we started doing three gifts about the time they would have noticed a change, so there have been no big "explanations" needed in why Christmas changed from toy store to 3 gifts, ha ha.
They get spoiled on their birthdays instead of Christmas. Because birthdays are all about *them* right? :)

Very early on after having kids I struggled with the idea of doing the whole Santa thing. Growing up, we definitely believed in Santa. But for some reason I just didn't like the idea of it and just felt silly even starting to pretend it with them when they were tiny. Then another friend shared with me that her family never told her and her sisters that Santa was a current real person, but they pretended Santa. What kid doesn't like pretending?!
I loved the idea and got my husband to reluctantly agree. I got the book pictured above which explains a little about the history of St. Nicholas. He would give gifts to people secretly, without expectation of the favor being returned. In this light, ANYONE can pretend to be a Santa and give to others in secret. This is how we "do" Santa. They pretend. We pretend, and remember that St. Nicholas was a God-loving man who desired to give to others out of love for God. And no one has to lie about it. ha ha. The kids really love it, and Katie may as well actually believe as good a job as she does pretending. She loves imaginary and pretend things anyway.

Their "Santa" gifts come in a giant stocking. This was the compromise with the husband, so that "Santa" can still be a great gift giver of secret surprises! These usually have 3-4 bigger (like dvds, Barbie dolls, DS games, board games) gifts, and then the rest typical little stocking stuffers. It may be considered cheating on the whole they only get three gifts thing, but it's a compromise that works for us and they still get to enjoy the mystery and fun of Santa Claus.

As part of our Christmas celebrating, we now have the advent tradition that will be part of Christmas Day, the nativity scavenger hunt, and we always have a birthday party for Jesus as well. We also usually watch a new Christmas movie together as a family. The focus of the Day is celebrating Jesus coming to earth as a baby and the reason we are celebrating is because of that. The reason we are giving gifts is in remembrance of His birth. And the reason behind Santa is to be generous in giving to others as well, without expectation of repayment.

Oh, and the kids have gotten old enough to notice think that Mommy and Daddy need gifts at home for Christmas...we usually don't get ourselves anything for our home celebration. That truly is a concern for them.....so they have decided they need to go shopping for us for things we want. You will want to tune in for the report on how that goes! We each made a wish list of things that they could shop for....and Corey's list includes cheese crackers and bacon. ha ha ha.

What are your Christmas Day traditions?

Day 10: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-10T16:10:00.001-05:00

Today I am sharing: Peanuts!
If I had to choose only one Christmas movie to own the rest of my life...this would be it. Doesn't anyone know what Christmas is all about? Linus said it best:

And one of my favorite Christmas song selections from the same movie:

Day 9: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-09T17:20:00.002-05:00

My share today is a priceless letter to Jesus from Katie. Sorry the lighting is a little off, but try to read it, you will be blessed! ha ha.

Day 8: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

Today's post is pretty late, but I was waiting till we got to our craft project of the day: Gingerbread boy/girl picture frames.

No two boys or girls are the same!

Yeah, it came from a kit. I thought I would get more creative as my kids got older, but the opposite has been true. I get more kits. ha ha. Oh well...they are still hand made with love...

It is my goal to do something homemade from the kids each year for the grandparents. Now...the problem is FINDING the camera so I can actually charge the battery and get a picture made for these before Christmas!

Day 7: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

Today I am sharing our homemade treat of the year!

In previous years I have done chocolate covered pretzels and a huge variety of home baked cookies.

This year we are going with something completely different....and something I would have NEVER attempted to make before someone shared a recipe and told me it wasn't *that* difficult.

CARMEL POPCORN!

We developed a slight love of caramel corn on our recent trip to Chicago.

We tried a local place that Corey like okay but there is nothing like having it 100% freshly made.

Last Friday night Corey made some homemade caramel corn. Not only did it make the house smell wonderful but it was just about as close as I think we can possibly get to the really good stuff we had in Chicago. And it didn't take long to make...and didn't make a disaster area of the kitchen!

So...all my friend and family....the treat of the year is homemade Caramel popcorn! Be prepared!

Here is the recipe:

7-8 quarts popped popcorn

1 C. brown sugar

1 C. sugar

2 sticks butter

1/2 c. light corn syrup yes, I had to get over this ingredient. :(

1 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1 t. maple flavoring

1 t. butter flavoring

1 t. baking soda

In a saucepan, combine sugars, butter, syrup, and salt.

Heat to boiling and boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix in rest of the flavors and ingredients.

Quickly pour over the popcorn and mix.

Spread on baking pan and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hr stirring every 15 minutes.

Store in airtight container.

We actually baked ours too long...it didn't need the full hour...probably half an hour at a little bit lower temp would be perfect. It may depend on your oven and the pans you use, etc.

Enjoy! :)

Day 6: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

Today I am sharing "christmas lights."

On Saturday the entire family, my mom and dad, and my brother and his "fiancee" (news from Friday), went to Callaway Gardens to see the Fantasy in Lights display. It is coordinated to Christmas and seasonal music throughout and is just beautiful!

Here is my favorite part: the snowfall winter wonderland.

The pictures do not do it justice!

The ice skaters...

The twin trees....

You have the choice of driving through in your own car or riding the open air trolley. We rode the trolley and it was a lot of fun. There were MANY more areas and displays we rode through. It was a great way to get in the mood for Christmas!

There are a few houses in our neighborhood who put up lights, one that really does a big display so we have the tradition of anytime we come home and it is dark, the kids want to ride down and see the lights. We don't always get to go to a "big" display like Callaway, but I love it when we do.

Last year, Corey and I went to Disney World the second week of December and were able to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. It is another VERY impressive lights display...in my top 3 I've ever seen for sure. It is crazy! Click on the name to go to Google Images of it.

Do you have a tradition of looking at Christmas lights?

Day 5: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-05T00:16:00.000-05:00

Today's Share is sort of a repeat, but sort of not a repeat. We started an Advent wreath last Sunday. We've never done this before, but it was a very nice shared moment last Sunday when we read the verses about the first Sunday's theme: hope. We have a hope of Jesus' return, just as the people of Jesus' time had the hope of Emmanuel coming to dwell on earth with them. It's a neat correlation and tradition.
Along with that we also started our "What God Wants for Christmas" nativity countdown. Last week we opened box number 1 which contained the angel Gabriel to add to the Nativity. It has a very neat book and 7 boxes that we open a new one each time we do the Advent wreath, then will open 3 the week of Christmas. This is a picture of the kit:

It is a very sweet rhyming book and we hide the box each week in a spot related to the item...such as last week since Gabriel came to give a message to Mary, we hid the box in a place where we receive messages (near Corey's phone). The website for this book also has printable activities, scavenger hunt clue cards and coloring pages. Sadly, this is the ONLY nativity we have in our house! I've bought one cheap one that the kids destroyed as toddlers, but have never invested in one. I've said in years past I would buy one marked down after Christmas but it has never actually happened because I always talked myself out of it because I want the Willow Tree one that is super expensive. ha ha. Oh well...this one works fantastic for a house with kids!
I am enjoying this tradition. Our December (yes already!) has been jam packed full of activities and doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up, so this Sunday night tradition will definitely be a treasure for us this Christmas season!
Do you have any advent traditions?

Day 4: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-04T00:43:00.004-05:00

Today I am sharing my favorite Christmas song. Never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Steps of Faith dance studio, a local Christian dance company performs a beautiful interpretation of this song as part of their annual Nativity performance. It is truly beautiful.
(sorry about the last note...all the versions I could find on youtube had the same problem. sad)

Day 3: Christmas Parade!

2010-12-03T00:52:00.002-05:00

Today's share was a very last minute addition to the Christmas festivities for 2010. Our church last year and this year has set up a table and handed out free hot chocolate at the Cartersville Christmas Parade. We haven't been to any kind of Christmas parade in several years..I think the last time I took the kids Noah was 2 or 3 years old.

Will someone PLEASE charge my camera battery?! Here's another horrible blurry picture taken on my phone. yuck.

I had tossed around the idea of going to help with the hot chocolate and let the kids see the parade, but with it actually getting cold in Georgia this week and the kids coat sleeves coming up to their elbows almost, it wasn't looking good. It all came down to Old Navy delivering the coats in time. Well....they were delivered late afternoon so we decided VERY last minute to head on out to see the parade!

It was a typical small town parade. Local beauty queens, church floats, marching bands, ROTC, and radio stations. Several groups handed out beads, candy, and goodies. I got a free (child's) tee shirt from the local sporting goods store. And of course, there was Santa at the end. Oh, and I think I counted 3 or 4 different floats with a Grinch featured. The kids loved it. Especially Katie.

Not sure if this will become a yearly tradition or not. A lot of times the weather threatens rain on parade night around here, so we'll just make a call next year I guess. But, it was a fun way to spend an evening out...especially after a week stuck inside!

Does your town have a Christmas Parade?

Day 2: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing!

2010-12-02T00:22:00.001-05:00

Even though I only had one person link up yesterday, I am still going to continue my link up. :) If you want to join in, I will still do a giveaway if we can get a few more people participating, but if not, all will be well.

Today I am going to share about one of my favorite Christmas-y products! Insta-Snow!
We first bought some of this many years ago on a trip to the mountains. We brought it back as a souvenir for the kids, I think a trip that Corey and I took alone. It was the neatest stuff and we had never seen it before. At that point in time you couldn't find it many places, but now I've seen it at several stores locally. The kids love playing with it! You add water to something that is the consistency of salt and it grows into fluffy snow. It is cold to the touch, but not wet or icy. It's really fascinating.
I pulled it out today and my 6 and 8 year old were occupied for at least an hour playing with their little plastic figures in the "snow."
I guess it brings about the feeling of Christmas to be able to play with snow indoors. We hardly ever have a white Christmas here in Georgia...I can only remember one in my lifetime. So having some snow around in December is a rare treat!
That's my share for today! If you've never played with insta-snow, you should definitely order some... even if there are no kids in your house, believe me, it is AMAZING! ha ha!

Day 1: 12 Days of Christmas Sharing

2010-12-01T00:30:00.003-05:00

Today I am going to share my tree!

(note: I REALLY need to charge the camera battery....phone pics are getting old! and worse every time!)

The picture above is our topper. It is a wirey/viney snowflake type star. We bought it at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge.

The view from across the room.

Our tree is usually a little better "fluffed" but I gave out on that pretty quickly this year.

I love our fake tree. I think it has a real look to it...and prelit is wonderful!

For the first time, the kids helped decorate it this year. For the past couple of years they've had their own trees in their room but that was another chore that got passed over this year due to energy level, so they helped to decorate the big tree. Needless to say it's a little "middle" heavy. I tried to not intervene. I had already placed a lot of the matching ornaments, and they came in to put their own ornaments on the tree after that. My mom has a tradition of buying them each an ornament every year based on what activities they've been involved with over the past year. She also buys us one for the family. If not for that, we would have way less on the tree! ha ha! I don't know what happened to all the stuff we used to have.

An assortment of the crafty ornaments and others...

The snowman handprint ornament craft I love!

They really crammed them on there together! ha ha.

Noah's first Christmas ornament. It's a bunny sleeping in a silver mug.

This picture is horrible, it just wouldn't turn out. It's Katie's first Christmas ornament. It has a picture of her in it. She wasn't quite two months old.

And because I can't get the type to work right on this post: The picture below is the Princess Leia ornament. She's hanging out with Mr. Snowman for the season.

A pretty easy first day on the Christmas Share! ha ha.

I guess it will be a tradition now for the kids to add their ornaments to the big tree.

One of the most relaxing things in the world to me is sitting in our living room with only the tree lights on...Christmas music playing...just being together.

What are you going to share today?

12 Days of Christmas Sharing!

2010-11-30T15:19:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow begins my 12 Days of Christmas Sharing countdown. I will be sharing *something* fun each day for 12 days, December 1-12th. Come back first thing tomorrow to link up with your own tradition, recipe, craft, or other Christmas-y related activity that others may enjoy adding to their December plans! :)

Happy HOlidays

2010-11-29T21:53:00.000-05:00

Indeed...
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Advent

2010-11-28T12:37:00.001-05:00

I've always wanted to start a tradition using an Advent wreath and going through the devotionals of the ritual. When I went to the dollar store for a sprite run (we are recovering slowly) I picked up some candle holders and a purple candle. I had some greenery and a wreath that I fashioned into an Advent wreath.
Our church doesn't do a traditional "advent" but I've read a lot about it myself and one of our pastors talked about it in years past as a way of passing down your belief and faith to the next generation. I've found many online resources for devotionals to use so I'll be off to dig up some good stuff to use tonight for the first night.
By the way...the worst of the sickness seemed to be over at our house around 3am. We are currently in the sanitize everything in hot water phase...so hopefully it is gone for good!
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EDIT: Well..that's what I get for not looking this up before I went to buy candles. Apparently I was supposed to have four purple candles and one white candle. I think I'll be able to make it work this year anyway and then look for a "real" set on sale after Christmas! God knows my heart! ha ha!

Making the Rounds

2010-11-27T23:04:00.000-05:00

It is a disadvantage to have an oft sick pregnant lady in the house. It makes it too easy to miss the signs of a stomach bug making the rounds. It started with the youngest who doesn't eat enough to have a terrible time. Then moved to me, and I am sick so often recently we didn't think much. Then today it hit Katie. In the car. Poor girl. We were out to get some fresh air. Pick up a few groceries.
I am very thankful right now for two things:
1. That I am pretty much over it in time to take care of Katie. And since Corey seems to be next from his current state of being.
2. That we have paid our dues and now have kids that can make it to the restroom every time.

Pray for us! It has continued to be a Thanksgiving to remember!
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We made it!

2010-11-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

Though the day. The tree is up. The other decorations are either up or placed near their final destination and the tv is in its December location in the bedroom. I think I might really put up a fight when it's time for it to leave haha.
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A Thanksgiving to remember

2010-11-26T14:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Noah woke up throwing up. He stayed home with Corey while Katie and I went to Newnan with my parents.
I ended up being sick (several times) while we were there and continued to completely regret everything I ate all day. I am still feeling awful today. To the point of not feeling like even sitting up mosy of the time.
Poor Corey is attempting to put up the Christmas tree. It's not going well. His patience is thin. The tv stand is broken completely now.
I feel like I will be running to the toilet again any second.
Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember.
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From Me

2010-11-24T13:03:00.000-05:00