All Mandy all the time...

Disaster in the incubator

2010-09-24T07:16:00.002-04:00

I'm a little behind. Last week, the bator was running a little cool. I decided to turn it up a bit on the morning of co-op. I told myself to check it before we left.

I forgot.

When I got home, it was 111*...104* is fatal.

I tried to cool it down and check for signs of life. There was none. :(

I set 15 more eggs earlier this week. Then I dropped one, so we're down to 14. We checked last night and they are doing well. We saw some heart beats. Hopefully we'll see some chicks this time!

Day 5

2010-09-12T20:58:00.003-04:00

I think my flash light needs new batteries, I had to edit these pics to see the progress. #4 still isn't different. I will give it till the morning and if there is no change, I'll throw it out.

#1, edited, look how big! The dark mass in the center is the chick!!

#2, not edited, the dark dot is the eye.

#3, lots of editing, but you can see the chick and the veins!

#4...hmmm, I can't find the pic of #4...oh well, there wasn't much to see.

#5, again, this one is so dark it's hard to see the progress, this is the best I could do.

#6...do you see anything? Oh no! Do we have another quitter?

Day 4! A HEARTBEAT!!

2010-09-12T20:30:00.005-04:00

That's right! We saw a heartbeat in #2! It was awesome!!

It's much harder to see what's going on in the brown and green eggs. Numbers 2 and 4 are white and easier to see into. Here's the view in the incubator:

#1 is green, if you look hard you can see spidery veins!!

This is #2, the darker reddish shape in the middle of the veins was where the heartbeat was. I wish I would have videoed it!

#3, green, hard to see

#4, not seeing the veins, think this one quit, I'll give it a little more time.

#5 Dark brown, the hardest to see of all, in real life, I could make out some veins.

#6, I can definitely see a dark spot, this one is light brown

The eggs progress

2010-09-11T21:49:00.005-04:00

Days one and two were pretty boring. I turned them and adjusted the temp and humidity levels.

But day 3, oh how day three boosted my confidence!

Here's the eggs, I don't know what exactly is going on but that dark mass is giving me hope!

#2

#3

#4, maybe there is hope???

Meet the eggs

2010-09-11T21:17:00.002-04:00

Here are the 6 eggs my friend gave me to hatch. I am really just doing it for the kids to see and to test the incubator we made. (I'm planning on getting some fancy eggs in the spring.) So I'm giving the chicks away. It was either that or have chickens in my house all winter. I'm crazy but not that crazy!

I can't remember what breeds she told me each one was. I asked her on FB and here's what she told me: The brighter green one should be Easter egger. The dull green should be the Easter egger/faverolle mix hens or the buff brahma/easter egger hens. The pink is... from one of my Plymouth rocks or maybe buff orp. The brown one should be a red or black sex link. The white egg could be brown leghorn, polish, spitzhauben, or Andalusian. The fathers are either the Easter egger/marans roo or the cuckoo marans, or by freak luck the little batantam could have fathered one...there's a surprise inside every egg!

So as you can see, it's going to be a fun hatch!

I numbered them and candled them so we would know the starting point. I'll post updates until they hatch later this month.

This is #1 See the air bubble on the right?

#2:

#3, I'm a little worried about how porous the end is.

This is #4, it has a small crack, I don't have a lot of hope for this one.

#5, this one is so dark, I don't think I'll get good pics of it.

#6, this one is huge.

I kept them in order from the carton. It will be so fun to see what happens!!!

Radical by David Platt

2010-09-10T11:08:00.002-04:00

Oh this book. I first heard about it something like 4-6 months ago. I read a blog that I love and she mentioned it. It got into my brain and would not let go. I forgot the name of this book and so I emailed the blogger, who I do not know, asking her. She told me and I went to Amazon, read about the book, and decided not to order it right then but the obsession grew.

Then, a couple weeks ago on that same blog, there was a guest post. Guess what it was about? There was another blogger who was having a read along with this book! I was in. I asked Wes if he'd read it with me. He agreed.

So last week was chapter one. I can sum it up in one word for you. Ouch.

It hurt. David Platt, the author of this book takes issue with the way we, as Americans, worship Jesus. How it's not at all biblical. He showed me through scripture what it really means to follow Jesus.

Let me tell you, I am not doing it.

That may seem shocking. I mean, I am a member of a church, I read my bible with irregular regularity, I homeschool, I pray before each meal, my #1 button on the van radio is set to a Christian station…heck so is my #2!!

But, no. I'm still living life according to my agenda. I still do pretty much what I want to do when I want to do it. I may make some small concessions, sure, but really? Have I really put Christ above all other relationships? Nope. Not at all. It's more like I'm living my life with a safety net. I say to God, "I'll just go and do this, and I know You are there if I need you, heck, I'll even give You a shout when I don't just to keep up my rep."

Well, God is not eternal life insurance.

I want to say I trust in God, but I don't really. I worry what will happen to my kids if they are not with me. I don't see them as His and He is taking care of them. I make my own plans and have my own to do list.

So then I started thinking, if I don't really trust God…then what am I doing? This play acting of Christianity is futile. I will be one of the people who say "Lord, Lord , didn't I do all kinds of stuff for you?" And He will say He never knew me. Ahhh…but now I'm getting into chapter 2.

Anyway. I am lukewarm. I do not treat God as the supreme; awe inspiring God that He is. I treat Him like a security blanket and good luck charm. If that is all I'm doing, then I should stop. I should have the decency to at least walk away from His invitation to follow Him like the men in Luke 9. They asked to follow Jesus, He told them how hard it would be and they respectfully declined. They knew they didn't have that kind of devotion so they didn't pretend.

So I either need to step up or walk away.

In order to step up I need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is worth it. I need to trust that what He asks me to do is good. I need to love Him more than I love myself. Love Him enough to sing when imprisoned for Him. Love Him enough to gladly give up all I have if He asks. Love Him enough to look at death and physical pain as mere annoyances in this part of my eternal life.

Oh how I want to step up. But saying yes to God is saying no to me. And that is hard. I'm whiney, bratty, little snot who wants what I want when I want it.

I'm praying for the courage to say no to myself. I'm praying I don't read this book and remain unchanged. I'm praying for a hunger to really know God and want Him more then I want anything else.

Oh that scares me.

It scares me more to not to.

The crazy cat…errr chicken lady

2010-09-09T21:04:00.002-04:00

Yep, I love my chickens. I love to watch them, I love to feed them, I love gathering eggs, bringing them snacks, filling their water…heck, I even love cleaning out their coop. They are beautiful, funny and oh so soft. So…I got more. J

Five more, actually. I met a fantastic lady a couple weeks ago that also has a back yard flock and has too many chickens. She offered to give me some of her extra chicks! Wow! I made her a diaper. I couldn't just take her chicks! We went last week and picked them up. It was so great. It was great to be in another back yard with chickens. Great to get to know my new friend a little better. Just all around great!

We brought our five babies home and started the long process of integrating them into the flock. Chickens don't like change. They have a pecking order and don't really want to disturb that so they will kill the newbies and eat them without a second thought. Actually, I better go check on them. Provided I don't find cannibalistic carnage, I'll take pictures.

All is well! Here's some pics!

I love their fuzzy butts. That one to the left is Taco, she's our best layer.

I think this one is a roo. Wes named him Casa Nova.

Here's 4 of the 5 babies. The yellow one is Eliya's. She named it Torchick. Isaiah named the gray one Chinese, the other black one is Chick-chick (Silas) and the one with brown wings is Lois…she's mine. Unless she's Louis, then he's dinner.

This is Robot. I put a yellow hair band on her leg to tell her apart from her sisters.

Well, not only do I have 11 chickens, I am trying to hatch 6 eggs. Well, you know, I'm doing it for the kids...really...

I have lots of fun posts planned about that.

Urban Homestead

2010-07-31T10:35:00.003-04:00

Okay, so we're not exactly "Urban" and we dont really "Homestead" But it's kinda close. Just know all farm-y type words will be used loosly.

Also, Blogger decided to put these pics in random order and I decided not to fight it. If it seems a little backwards, that's because it is.

Yesterday we discovered our first egg. Then we discovered the girls' hiding place and found 5 more! Here's our pretty greenish blue eggs!

Here's the coop that Wes built that I painted. Silas helped. It was really fun.

Here's our biggest chicken, we can't really tell the red ones apart. Sorry.

Here's some of the girls.

And here's the kids planting our second "crop" of potatoes. Fresh potatoes are so yummy! And apparently one of the only things I can grow in my back yard so grow I will!

I just went out to hand the diapers and decided to chec on the chickens. The Big One was making a lot of noise...I think she's getting ready to lay and Taco was in that hiding place. I should have another egg soon!

4th (3rd) of July

2010-07-06T16:25:00.005-04:00

I have a few more JUNE! posts ahead. The pics are on my phone and an the moment I can't get them off. Sorry.

We went downtown for the 4th of July on the 3rd of July. It was fantastic! We even brought our dog. Oh yeah, we got a dog a couple weeks ago! He's great. He's a 2.5 year old pug named Bruce that we got from the Kentuckiana Pug Rescue. I'll tell you what, they are great to work with. If you ever find yourself in KY or IN and need a pug, they are the people for you.
Bruce is great! He's sweet and obedient, not overly needy and I really enjoy him.

Now pugs are not known for their ability to tolerate heat or lots of exercise. We'd taken him to the park and tee ball a couple times, though, and thought he'd love to go downtown with us. He loves to go for rides, walks and meet new friends. (Suddenly this sounds like Bruce's personal ad.)

We did not account for the 6,583 degree ground he'd be walking and laying on.

Oops.

So we got there and walked a block to the inflatables then we realised I didn't put sun block on the baby. So I took Bruce back to the car to get it. We got back and let the kids bounce on some stuff and then decided to find a spot to watch the parade. We got there and everyone was fading. I brought sandwiches but this was no time to mess around. We needed something cold STAT! So I took Eliya and found Snow cones. Perfect. Ice and high fructose Corn Syrup. This will pep everyone up.

Here's Levi hugging a bottle of water to keep himself cool. He did get to drink some and he had his first solid ever...shaved ice. (No flavoring! Just the ice.)

Below is a pic of my boys cooling down. I put Levi in the carrier so Silas jumped in the stroller as we waited for the parade to begin.

Then the parade started. It was hot, boring and we were behind a bunch of people. This was my favorite moment:

Wes and I were ready to go and worried about Bruce. He was drinking lots of water but he just could not cool down. So we decided to bribe the kids with whatever snack they wanted, the promise of swimming at NiNi's and head back to the car.

All Isaiah wanted was cotton candy. There was none to be found. Eliya and Silas chose their very own funnel cakes and we continued to search for cotton candy. Bruce decided he was done with looking for cotton candy so he just laid down.

Wes was walking along and then it was like he dropped anchor.

So we booted Silas out of the stroller and, that's right, loaded Bruce in.

There was a blessed angel from Heaven passing out samples of Kettle Corn and, oh happy day, Isaiah decided he could make do with that. but insisted on the medium bag.

All in all it was a pretty great day.

JUNE! Tee Ball

2010-07-05T22:08:00.004-04:00

We homeschoolers like to push all the limits. That why we have tee ball in the summer. Come on, you know we can't handle doing more then one thing a day and tee ball during the school year just might make us have to juggle two things...and cook dinner...all in one day?? Oh the horror!!

The boys are super cute and Silas is really good! Isaiah is, too but it's a bit of a surprise from our little guy!

The boys are on the blue team, they didn't have their shirts ready so they got to wear the shirts I made them for co-op. They are not required to have baseball pants but we already had them so in the last minutes before running out the door we're scurrying around looking for the socks and belts and we got out the door on time...score! After about an hour and a half there, I realise they are wearing each other's pants. No wonder Silas had to hold up his pants while he ran the bases.

Here they are hitting the ball off the tee...you know...what it's all about...

Coach William let Silas be the pitcher in the first inning of the first game. He's still talking about it. He's got quite an arm. In fact, last week, when he was going up to bat the coach of the purple team said, "Watch this one, he's a good hitter." Let's pretend he wasn't talking to kindergartners...in my head he was talking to the fake reporter of the homeschool summer tee ball press.

And here's Isaiah doing the much loved tee ball activity of playing with the dirt. It comes between making daisy chains and team snack in importance.

And, not to be outdone, here's Eliya demonstrating her invisible leg routine.

JUNE! Wes ans Silas' Birthday

2010-07-05T21:51:00.003-04:00

So I finally downloaded my pics June was super fun so I'll put a few posts up for you!

Wes and Silas share a birthday and here's the highlights:

Abby had no emotions about the party or us being there.

This is the funniest cake. The best part is Silas still has that ant and callis it "Ant Friend" and plays with it often.

Here's Silas enjoying his cake poolside...ahh to have a June birthday...

Levi really liked the balloons!

6 months!!

2010-07-02T14:28:00.004-04:00

Last week was Levi's half birthday! AHH! He's so freakin' big! He's 21 lbs and in 12 month clothes! He is such a happy baby! We've figured out his food stuff, for the most part. As long as I don't eat dairy (not even one bite!!), eggs, peanuts, treenuts, caffine or chocolate, he's all smiles and drool. ;) He sleeps with us full time now, I'm not a big fan but I'm also not a fan of getting up to get him at night, so , we'll see. He loves to yell and blow rasperries, grab hair and lick people. He's not at all partial to mama's booboos, he'll gladly rub his face in anyone's chest looking for a quick snack. But when he does get the booboo, he gets distracted by anything...My shirt, his own hand, the book I'm reading, it doesn't matter, he's a curious guy!

I'm working on a cool quilt for him that I'm planning to have done for his birthday. Since his birthday is at a very busy time of year, I'm getting a running start...those of you who know me know that I say first birthday but mean before kindergarten. Maybe I'll plan on it being king size and have it done for his wedding...

Anyway, I've collected fabric squares from many friends and family and can't wait to tell you more about it. So far I've gotten fabric from Etheopia, spain, Iran, a great patch from a new friend, pieces of clothes, pillow cases and more.

Alright here's some pics of my big boy!!!

Celebrating Silas and Wes' birthday last month.

Jeffery's Graduation

2010-06-16T12:55:00.009-04:00

I know, I know...I haven't blogged in...forever. Sorry. I'll try to get lots up in the near future...I have to download all my pics off my camera. That takes effort.

I forgot to bring my camera to Jeffery's graduation over the weekend. I know, I totally suck. So I will instead illustrate for you the graduation in a (not nearly as funny as) Hyperbole and a Half type blog post. (BTW, one of the funniest blogs I've ever read, not always family friendly, though, so proceed with caution.)

We had a great trip up, the sun was shining, the baby was happy, we passed the time counting cell towers...we got to 83 and got bored.

The next day the kids were bouncing off the walls.

Wes and I loaded them up and took them to a nearby park.

Then I helped Mom make way too much food for the pick nick after the graduation on Sunday. The weather kept saying it might rain...we were worried.

(Hey, what do you think of my new haircut?)

Sunday ended up being great weather...which meant the graduation was outside. It was so dang hot and the the bleachers were very close together. I had to sit sort of crooked so I didn't have my knees in the back of the old woman in front of me.

Here's the pics I would have taken if I had my camera:

Here's the class of 2010 walking in. What's up with the two sad Christmas trees on the field, you may ask? Well, apparently, that's the best thing they had to mark where the aisle was. Seriously, what were thy thinking?

Here's Jeffery getting his diploma...from Dr. Evil apparently.

Oh, my little brother is so handsome!! Look how proud he is of his diploma!!

Next stop, Parris Island where he'll become one of the few and the proud. maybe I'll remember my camera for that graduation.

So many goals, so little time

2010-04-11T23:13:00.002-04:00

I just read this post http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/04/questions-from-audience-about-abortion.html and thought about myself. That's what we bloggers do. Read blogs, think about our selves, think everyone whould want to know these thoughts then post on our own blog. It's a visceous cycle.

I'm going to write as if you read the link above. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Ready? Good.

I am but one wee woman. With so many things I want to do. So many things I know God has for me. I'm just waiting for his perfect timing.

I want to be a foster parent. So badly. My heart is broken that there are kids out there who don't know they are loved. I want to show them that. I want to make them safe. Even if it's for a short time.

I imagine we'll adopt many of these foster children. Especially the older ones...teens and such. It would be terrable going your whole life not having a home to go to for Christmas. Not having a grandma for your childern. It's not just little kids who need parents.

I want to be a lactation consultant. Oh, I want this bad. It's the first carreer I've actually considered. This may be my desire, not Gods. I still need to pray about this one some more. :)

I want to write books. Devotions, homeschool, parenting and children's books. They'll be conversational in tone, funny yet deep.

I want to sell said books at trade shows like the Midwest Homeschool Convention I just went to this past weekend. I'd like to be a speaker and travel all around the country with my family and hawk our wears. It would be good fun and hard work. Perfect.

I want to homestead. This one I can hardly wait for...hence the chickens. (Who are all doing well and living outside in thier nice coop Wes built for them last week.) I want to have a huge garden, milk my own cows, make cheese and keep bees (ooh, there's a book title...or at least a chapter).

I want to himeschool all my kids all the way through highschool. This one is not so much a "not now" thing as it just takes time. I'm 4 years into my possibly 22 year long homeschooling journey. I can't believe it's already been 4 years.

I want to be a pioneer. I'm not sure exaclty what that means. I want to be a part of something new and exciting. I worthy cause that needs awareness. It could be breastfeeing. It could be homebirthing. It could be fostering. I have this drive though. A need to change the culture. To be a catalist.

But I am but one wee woman. A woman who has a worthy cause of praising her God and raising this family to do before anything else. I may not be changing an orphan's life or dealing with my editor but there's lots of time left. I still can. Wes even said I could. :)

My NCAA picks (AKA This is for you, Briana)

2010-03-14T21:59:00.002-04:00

My church does an NCAA competition every year. It's really fun and I thought I'd let you in on my picking strategy.

I won't narrate all of my picks, that would be boring. Here's the highlights.

Just to let you know how into basketball I am, there was a game yesterday and I went to Walmart. (What? You can get in and out if you go during a game!) And I heard someone say something about a game today and thought "Two days in a row? Oh, we must be in a tournament."

Okay on to my picks:
Well, all the first seeds are a no brainer. No 16 has ever beat a 1. Personally, I feel it's unfair to even have this matchup...those poor 16's are all "It's an honor just to be in the tournament."

I'll start with the East, why? because Kentucky's in the east and I'm in Kentucky.

I'm liking Wake Forrest over Texas...it just feels right.

Temple over Cornell because I just watched that Temple Grandin movie and it was fantastic. I'm a little sad about this since Andy from The Office went to Cornell but I've got to go with my heart.

Wisconsin over Woodford because my friend Erin is from Wisconsin.

I like Clemson because it's fun to say and West Virginia because they are going to win.

I like Notre Dame over Old Dominion because the leprechaun can beat up the ugly lion.

Villanova because, again, it's fun to say. Go ahead, say it out loud. Good times.

I really wanted to pick Ohio over Georgetown but I'm just not feeling it.

Oh! I got to pick Ohio State...ahh, that's better.

And let's not forget OOOOOOO-klahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...on a side note (okay this whole post is a side note) when I type Oklahoma, I sing it as well.

Gonzaga, fun to say.

Butler, my grandma had a house in Butler Ohio when I was growing up.

Xavier, starts with an X.

The others I just kind of go with my gut, then check the seed number. If it's too far off, I may reconsider.

On to th enext round.

Now it gets tricky. I've already declared I like these teams (or at least their names) so now I have to decide who I like better. This causes me much anxiety. As a child, I would never choose a favorite stuffed animal for fear of hurting my other stuffed animal's feelings. Now I'm off to break some hearts.

Okay, this year, to lower the emotional stress, I'm going strictly by team ranking.

Except for Temple because that movie was just that good. In fact, if having a similar name to a great movie could make you the NCAA champion, Temple would have already won.

And Notre Dame, I like an upset and I like to call it even better.

The next round was a little trickier. I had to have UK beat Temple and I picked Pittsburgh because I lived in Pennsylvania.

So my final four pick are Kansas vs. Syracuse and UK vs Villanova. I know, it was tough to pick between Duke and Villanova, but I'm here to make these tough calls.

The championship game will then be Kansas vs Kentucky. With Kansas winning it all. Yeah, that's a tough loss but it's Calipari's first year and it's not too likely for him to take this young team all the way this year.

Another insight into how much I follow basketball, for over half the season I thought the announcers were saying "Coach Kyle Perry" oops.

So there you have it one part strategy, one part "it's fun to say" and a sprinkling of warm fuzzies and you have my picks.

Wes just said "This is what you do every year?" Yep. every year.

And most of the time I beat him.

Been busy!

2010-03-13T19:08:00.003-05:00

This week I've been cooking like mad! Levi has had some difficulties with the foods I eat. To find out what they were, I went on a Total Elimination Diet (TED) and found out just how much processed foods I eat. I also found out how much I enjoy cooking from scratch.

I've done it here and there, I've had times through the years where I've cooked more from scratch. I really felt at this point I was about 50/50. Boy was I wrong.

I've been learning about the misconception of healthy food and though I'll probably never be able to eat truly healthy all the time (both cost and will power will fail me) I can do better.

And this week, better I have done.

On Wednesday, the kids and I made all sorts of good things. I figured if I'm going to change their diets and make them eat healthier and less processed foods, I should start with our go-to foods. That was we're not missing foods or getting frustrated before we really start.

We made granola then granola bars. I put a bunch of split chicken breasts in the crock pot. The boys and I started sprouting garbanzo beans. Eliya and I started cottage cheese, it failed miserably. I shall try again. I made sour dough starter, vegan oatmeal cookies (Levi doesn't do well with eggs or dairy so my snacks are all vegan...I do however, eat meat). I cooked garbanzo beans, shredded the chicken breasts, put the skin and bones back in the crock pot with frozen veggie scraps (ends of celery and onions mostly) with a bunch of water to make broth, I made whole wheat pancakes to freeze for breakfasts and pita bread. Then a middle eastern inspired dinner.

I ordered a meat grinder, it came in on Friday. I made breakfast sausage and ground some more pork for Italian sausage.

Today I made margarine and mayonnaise. These had to be vegan and I am sick of paying out the yin yang for all this special food. I also mixed up some dough for crackers I'll bake tomorrow.

For dinner I had home made chicken salad, with home made mayo in a home made pita. It was heavenly.

Before I go to bed, I plan on making Italian sausage and...something else. I can't remember right now.

Tomorrow I plan on making muffins, cookies, the aforementioned crackers.

Oh, I've also been making milk...but I'm a multi-tasker like that ;).

As you can see, even though Levi has a sensitive tummy, he's growing like CRAZY! He's 11 weeks and almost 16 lbs! His big chubby cheeks are perfect for kissing, though!

Oh so much to say

2010-03-09T09:02:00.006-05:00

I planned on having a separate post for each of these but I'm getting behind!

Here's Levi in his bumbo that Cindy and Gary got him.

This pencil was in my compost pile. The wood decomposed around the graphite!

Here's the boys sneaking up on the Deedle Deedle Dee's Lead Man. We saw them in concert last week, it was awesome! They are our very favorite band.

Here's the Dees performing.

Silas got glasses.

Isaiah got new reusable patches. We like them much better!

And her name is...

2010-03-05T18:25:00.003-05:00

Constable Yum-Yum

But that's not all. After telling the kids the suggestions, some changes were made.

Chicken Nugget is now Disco Ninja and Honey Mustard will henceforth be known as Techno (Silas really likes this video)

He kept saying "When my chicken gets bigger, I'm going to make her dance." When I realized what he was talking about, I asked if he'd rather name her Techno and he readily agreed. Isaiah said that since his would be chicken nuggets one day, she didn't need to be called that now.

Thanks to all who helped name Levi's little chick!

Little Miss No Name

2010-03-05T13:16:00.003-05:00

So I've had lots of great suggestions! Some that were suggested but not on the blog were:

Lois
Tapanga
Optimas Prime
Indigo
Pollo Loco
Ninja
Aubster
Nutella
Noodle cup
Alien
Jerky
Mini Me
Constable
Sushi
Cone
Thingymabob
Fried
Snickerdoodle
Sunflower

And from the comments there are:
Awesomizer
Lady Gaga
Yum-Yum
Skunk or skunky
Stinky
Elvira
Chick Pea
Amy

I still don't know what to name her...I'm kind of fond of Little Miss No Name. lol

So my top picks are:
Chick Pea
Yum-Yum
Lois
Ninja and
Constable

Ones I just thought of are Noodle and Dumpling...but I feel like we have too many food names already!

In other news we had a really fun and busy week that I want to blog about in the nearish future! I'll keep thinking about these names and pick one soon!

Happy Birthday to me!!

2010-02-28T22:03:00.004-05:00

This Friday I hit the big adult milestone birthday...the big 3-0.

And what is the perfect birthday gift for that 30 year old gal in your life...okay, I'm not sure what she wants but for me? I wanted chickens.

Well, what I really want is continuous free range eggs, chemical free pest and weed control and throw in fantastic fertilizer.

We loaded up the family truckster and headed to a nearby town to pick up our chicks from the "hatchery". And by hatchery I mean the spare bedroom of some man's 700 square foot house. We walked in and Silas said "It stinks in here!"

We picked out our 6 cuties and after being told to kick the white rooster if he bites us, headed home. We got 3 Red Sex Links which are supposed to be fantastic egg producers and 3 Americaunas which lay green eggs.

That's right, green eggs.

So there is one for each of us to name. So far we have :

In case you can't read my "Paint" writing here's the rundown:

Silas named his Honey Mustard

Isaiah chose Chicken Nugget (After his Webkin Chicken by the same name)

Eliya's is Taco

Wes' is Robot

and I named mine Delilah.

Here's Delilah. I picked her out, she's my fave.

We have one problem. Levi pretty much only says "Gah" and I don't want that to be the last little chicky's name. So I need your help. Leave a comment with your suggestion and I'll pick a name on my birthday. That's just 5 days! Think of something great!

Here she is from the top:

And here's a picture of her face...because I don't think you can properly name a chicken without looking at it's face.

Some other information about her, she's the smallest (Pocito Pollo was vetoed) she seems pretty shy and a bit fragile. She's a Red Sex Link with lots of interesting markings.

It's times like these when I wish I had a FB account.

Table Time

2010-02-26T21:09:00.008-05:00

For the past month we've had a schedule. I know it scares me, too. One of my favorite things we've done is "Table Time" Think circle time but with out having to sit on the floor.

During Table Time, we work on one Character Trait a week that has a verse and Bible story to go with it. Last week we learned about being patient and Abraham waiting till he was 100 to get his son that God promised him. Here are the kids coloring a picture.

The week before we learned about Noah. We were reviewing on Tuesday. I asked Silas if he remembered anything from the story, he replied "Abraham Lincoln." I said, "Yeah, we learned about Abraham, what about him?" "Abraham Lincoln build-ed a big boat."

We worked a little more on that.

Here's the kids telling their verses:

Silas's is Ephesians 4:2 Be patient, baring with one another in love. Watch it again, you'll hear it!

I get the ideas for the Character Trait from a fantastic FREE online preschool curriculm you can find it at ABCJesusLovesMe.com I do most of it with Silas and Isaiah wants to do some of the activities as well. It's been a great part of our homeschooling!

Have a great weekend! I'm off to bed!

Two months!!

2010-02-26T21:04:00.002-05:00

Here's my big boy smiling at his Daddy! He was 2 months old on Wednesday! I meant to post this then but I've been SO tired! Wonder why?? Oh yeah, I have a 2 month old!

I have a bunch of homeschool pics to post...maybe I'll do them tonight as well.

Making friends

2010-02-12T12:05:00.002-05:00

Our very generous friends have hooked Levi up. We've been given and lent all of his clothes, his toys and most of his baby gear.

Here he is under Miss Ashley's play mat, making friends with Mr. Elephant.

And a very handsom little boy.

I think he and the elephant are coming to some sort of agreement here.

Miss Amy came over to take pics of Chubba Bubba (that's his new name, btw) I've yet to make a bith announcement though!

"I have big news!"

2010-02-10T08:53:00.002-05:00

Eliya called Memaw on Sunday and said "I have big news!"

Sunday was "Decision Sunday" at our church. Brian sent out an email saying the baptismal would be ready so bring some clothes and get baptised. I asked Eliya on Saturday if she'd like to get baptised. We;ve been talking about it for a couple years. The church has a workbook for families to do that teaches what it's all about. We met with the old youth minister and a shepherd. Ultamately, Eliya decided she wasn't quite ready. She was nervous.

She was still nervous about it this past Sunday, but since it there were other people doing it, she felt better. She asked if Wes could do it.

My favorite thing she said, maybe ever, was when I told her it was like a birthday. She asked why and I told her "This is when you become a child of God." She looked up at me with innocent certanty and replied "But I always have been."

Oh my sweet daughter, who's faith is already so big, yes, you always had been.

I am still having issues embedding the video on the blog. So here's the link. You have to turn it up to hear Wes and then turn it down for the applause.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnyGcWmWGWI

The little things

2010-02-08T14:15:00.005-05:00

Eliya's in a play again this year. She got a bigger part and is excited...if only that excitement carried over to practicing. We listen to the soundtrack in the van for her to practice (it's a musical) and the whole time I'm saying things like "Sing out." "If I can't hear you from the front seat, how will I hear you in the audiance?" I say those things so much, I should just add it to the track.

I get to make the program again this year and started working on cast bios. Last year it was like pulling teeth to get her to answer the questions. This year, I had her type it up herself and send it to me. They are the funniest answers. I thought I'd share.

Name: Eliya

Age: 9

Character: Annette

Describe your character: She's a snobby mean girl. Shes always makeing the Avalon kids angry. And shes rich I think...well she lives at the Cove so she has to be rich! Shes not really a big part of the Cove. But shes still important! (That's right, she is important!)

Have you been in any other performances? Yes I have. I was in Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood. That was really fun I had a great time. I'm glad I'm here this year.

What do you do in your spare time? Play with my brothers, read, play video games, do things with my pokemon cards, whach movie and stuff like that.

What other things are you involved in? Piano, Church, Swim team, and thats all I'm in.

What's your least favorite food? Tomatos, blueberries, squash...well pretty much every fruit or vegetable ever.

Where's your favorite place to go? The mall, my grandma's house, Ohio, North Caralina, Wal-mart. (WalMart?? Really? My poor daughter. Not plays, the library, the pool...WalMart. Also, I'm glad the mall made the list as she's been there all of 10 times in her entire life.)

How long have you been homeschooled? I don't know.

How long have you gone to co-op? I don't know. (Cause this year and last year is hard to count. lol)

Who's your favorite band? The Joanas Brothes.

Who's your favorite character of all time? Captin Jack Sparrow. (We watched POTC for the first time on Friday...apparently Johnny Depp made quite an imression!)

What could you not live without? My family and tv. (I'm gald to see we're in first place)

What do you want to be when you grow up? I have no clue.

Tell me anything you want. I talk a lot mommy said so!!!!!!!! (Yes, yes I did.)

Here's a pic from Eliya's play last year.

And now a poem

2010-02-04T17:26:00.001-05:00

antithesis

I am large in my skin
I make no apology
This belly grew three babies
Why should it be flat?
It curves with the memory of the womb.
These breasts fed three babies
Why should they be pert?
They swell with the memory of milk.
These hips carried three children
Why should they be slim?
They are full with the memory of life.
My bones are secret under flesh
My skin plump and white and fine
Mine is the face of Botticelli
Mine is the water of the Nile
Mine is the shape of things forbidden
Daughter of Gaia, grown beautiful and wild.
~Lorri Barrier

Published in Mothering Magazine, Sept/Oct 08

I'm feeling inspired. I think I'll write my own soon.

Sledding

2010-02-04T15:16:00.003-05:00

Wes took the kids sledding last weekend. It was the first time any of them had gone. We rarely get enough snow and didn't have sleds till Memaw gave them Gabby's and Jeffrey's old sleds last summer. They had a blast!

There was also that big piece of pipe someone left there. He put all 4 kids in and sent them all rolling down!

5 weeks old

2010-01-29T14:01:00.003-05:00

Smiling for Mommy.

Baby loves raspberries

2010-01-27T20:23:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to put these videos on here for several days. I don't know why I can't but here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRoqcTlTHqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CgDA0NMgn4

Enjoy!

Birthday!

2010-01-27T20:18:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday was Isaiah's (and Gabrielle's) birthday. My big boy is 6!

On Wednesday we took it easy. Since he was having a sleepover on Friday complete with DQ cake, we made cake balls for dessert. (Go here to find out how to make them)

The kids helped.

We went to NiNi's for dinner and presents and Zay got lots of great stuff. Including a DS. We got home, put them to bed and there wasn't' nearly enough noise coming from their room. Naturally, this worried us. When we check on them, this is what we found.

On Friday we had the big sleepover. It was great. We invited Hulk, Spiderman, Ironman, Batman and Venom.

The boys all had so much fun and Isaiah loved having everyone at his house. Sleeping in the living room was also a big hit!

I woke up about a quarter to 8:00 to start making pancakes and all our guests were playing in the boys' room while Wes, Isaiah and Silas were still asleep in the living room! I woke them up and the merriment continued till everyone's parents braved the snowy roads to retrieve their tired boys.

Thanks to all who came!

Who do you think Levi looks like?

2010-01-22T11:48:00.003-05:00

Levi

Eliya

Silas

Isaiah

Makin' Dipes

2010-01-19T22:29:00.003-05:00

My sewing machine was fixed in one day. Woot! And I've not been blogging because I've been sewing like mad. And fighting with the serger...it was jelous that the sewing machine was getting all the attention.

It was all "I've been here, working faithfully for 5 years and that new machine comes in and gets to go straight to be serviced." I think that the sewing machine shop is a day spa of sorts and the serger is a bit jealous.

I digress.

Anyway here's some pics of my creations. And the cutest diaper model. He's 11 lbs.! And he smiled at me today, a real, looking at me in the eyes smile. My heart is melting just remembering it.

Here's a prefold I made out of an old CPCC shirt.

I made these two covers out of sweaters I got at good will.

I made many more things but don't have pictures.

I tie dyed my plain prefolds today I'm hoping to get pics up of those as well!

If it's not broke, don't give it to me.

2010-01-13T15:53:00.005-05:00

This week has been nuts. Sorry for the lack in posts. Levi makes life unpredictable.

Monday was full of running aroud, we had a dr's appointment, he weighs 10 lbs already! By the afternoon, Levi had enough and was really fussy. I hope that's all it was and not some food intolerance...time will tell.

Tuesday was hard. Levi was still a little fussy, I hadn't gotten much sleep and was very emotional. I also wanted to sew up some diapers tha ti had all cut and pinned and ready to go only to discover the sewing maching is broken. Ugh.

Today was insane. Thankfully Levi is having a much better day or I would be a basket case right now.

I woke up feeling good. I called and got prices to fix the sewing machine...did school with the kids and planned to go to the library. I washed the dipes, I only have about a day and a half's stash so when I'm washing, I've only got a few ready to go.

Then the dryer broke. It smelled like smoke and the only thing I could think was "Get the diapers out!" I called Wes in a panic and he told me it wasn't a big deal, if I could get him the model number, he could pick up the part and fix it tonight. The first three letters in the model number are DVL...I thought how apropriate, you are the devil.

I called Cindy and asked to bring the dipes over to dry. I decided to quickly throw together a few inserts for the pocket diapers that I have been meaning to make and that would get me through the day.

I cut them out, got them all ready, got out my serger and on the third seam, it broke.

I called Wes, he said not to go anywhere, don't touch the car or the kids...I cannot be trusted. lol

So I loaded the crew up in the van, took my laundry to Cindy's, dropped off my sewing machine, bought the part I broke for the serger (Oh I hope I didn't damage it more then just that part) took the kids to the library, picked up the dry laundry and came home to a house that could use a maid and piles of things to sew on the table.

Praise God a good friend made us dinner for tonight and gave it to me yesterday so all I have to do is warm it up. Otherwise we'd totally be eating McDonalds tonight...again.

And because I know you come here for the pics here you go. He's so cute. The cut on his face is healed up now. And his fingernails are clipped.

Levi's belly button is a swirl.

(I just remembered that we bought a brand new Cannon camera. You know, to take pics of our new baby boy. And on Sunday it broke! Seriously, we got it on January second! We sent it back today.)

Edited To Add:

I just broke my serger again...it's a bad idea to serge with the presser foot up. Don't tell Wes...he never reads the blog so I'm good.

Two weeks old!

2010-01-07T19:06:00.003-05:00

Levi is growing so fast! He's already 9 pounds 8 ounces! I'm not surprised, all he does is eat, eat, eat. Here's some pics of him from today.

He loves to be in the wrap. This is a rare time that he's awake, after a few minutes in there, he's out...you know, till he poops.

Here he is in the shirt Eliya tie dyed for him. He has to be on a towel because he spits up so much (but not like Isaiah!!)

He loves to suck. When he was born he had sucking blisters on both hands from where he sucked them so much. We finally had to break down and give him a paci because he couldn't get his hands as often as he wanted!

Tommorrow I'm hoping to put up a fun post with lots of pics...come back!

2010-01-05T10:18:00.002-05:00

Day two of real life.

Wes went back to work. I started school with the kids. We even started formal chores. It's a mad house around here, I tell you. It's going well. In all fairness, we're starting very slow. Levi is in his swing cooperating very well.

He's sleeping a little better.

I'm starting cloth diapers today. Wes keeps asking if I want him to pick up one more pack of disposables. I asked him yesterday why he thought I bought all the cloth diapers. I would have started this morning but I forgot to make the wipe solution. Oops. I'll get on that as soon as I'm off of here.

Oh, and it snowed for the second time in as many days. The kids are freeking out. Too bad it's 18 degrees out and they can't go out and play. I let them yesterday but I won't today...mostly because we're out of hot chocolate and that is very important on a day like today.

Okay, Levi is asking for breakfast part 2 (or is it 3). I'm hoping to have a video for you this week.

Oh yeah, there was Christmas, too.

2010-01-04T12:22:00.004-05:00

In my post baby fog, I forgot that there was this little thing called Christmas. Here's some pics.

The birth of Levi Danger

2010-01-01T17:30:00.008-05:00

I'm going to try to give you the Cliff's Notes version of the birth. Also the family friendly version...there are many details that I will leave out. If you'd like to know more, I'll be happy to share! Some pictures are a little graphic.

Levi was due December 19, I was mentally breaking down so on Tuesday, December 22, my midwife swept my membranes and we hoped labor would be around soon...especially before Christmas.

Wednesday came and Wes stayed home. I had some contractions the whole day but no labor. Ironic since I'd spent the better part of the last 3 months avoiding contractions, now I couldn't get enough. After dinner, Wes suggested going for a ride to look at Christmas lights. I asked him to find a bumpy road. We found no bumpy road but we did find a parking lot with speed bumps. When we hit the second speed bump, my water broke.

Ignore the 2007, this is me 8 1/2 hours before he was born.

We went home, called everyone and over the next several hours my birth team arrived. By 1:30 in the morning, everyone was here, the midwives had set up, active labor was in full swing and things couldn't have been going better.

A little after 4:00 am I was very tired and one of the midwives suggested Wes and I take a nap. We slept for about 45 minutes and I woke up in transition. My birth team woke up, Eliya was brought in and things were getting serious.

Look how cool Wes is.

Oh, how I was not ready for transition. The whole active labor was a breeze compared to transition. I yelled, I cried, I stood, I knelt, I was on hands and knees and ended up standing again. At one point I stood up and said "I quit" my midwife reminded me that I couldn't quit. :)

Then I felt like pushing. At 5:34 I pushed and at 5:35 on Christmas Eve morning, Levi was born. From what I hear, Wes caught him in mid air.

I reached down to feel his head coming out.

Immediately, I felt better.

The boys were woke up and the whole family was on my bed, together welcoming the newest little brother.

He was checked, weighed, measured all in my bed. 8lbs 12oz. 21.5 inches long with a 14 inch head!

Getting weighed.

After a few hours, everyone left to be home with their families, while we were left to enjoy our newest member on what will be a Christmas Eve remembered forever.

2010-01-01T09:46:00.005-05:00

Dear 2010,

Hi and welcome! If you don't mind, I have a few requests.

Please, if you don't mind, be a little more predictable then 2009. 2009 was quite a drama queen and I'd like a little break.

Please let some of my plans come to pass. 2009 was pretty greedy with the schedule and I really got nothing done that I intended...and much more then I bargained for. Last year at this time, I was hoping to remodel the kitchen, maybe learn to design web sites. Instead I had a baby, and that was quite a wild journey itself...see, nothing was predictable.

It would be great if our immune system could come back to normal. We were sick a lot in 2009, which is pretty uncommon. It would be great if your flu season would be close to nonexistent.

I'd love for our seasons to act right. 2009 had this cold and rainy summer that lead into a warm fall...none of this was great for swim team. There were times Eliya had to practice in 64 degrees, in July, it wasn't right.

Sure there were lots of lessons learned in 2009, like how to roll with things, learning to be patient and trusting. I hope you agree that we've learned these lessons and could use some smaller lessons like how to make cheese cake.

Thank you, I look forward to our time together.
Mandy

I already broke down.

2009-11-02T09:43:00.002-05:00

Yep, I let the kids have halloween candy at 9:30 this morning. I'm a terrible mom, I know.

We'll get back to eating fresh fruit one of these days...you know, after the Reece's cups are gone, but before the tootsie rolls.

36 days!

2009-10-24T18:04:00.002-04:00

I'm still here, still on partial bedrest. I'm doing much better, thanks to God's answering prayer and me learning my limits, my contractions are not too bad or too often. I asked my midwife a couple weeks ago when I could have a safe homebirth. What date would be "full term"...to give me a goal. She told me November 29. (Possibly the week before but there's a lot of variables that would go into that, pray for no real labor till after the 29th.)

So I made a ticker for my desk top to count down to November 29. To remind me why I'm missing out on so much, why the kids are missing so much and how much longer poor Wes will have to shoulder so much of the parenting.

It's just 36 days.

On one hand I'm all "Praise God that's not much time!"

On the other I'm all "Crap! That's not much time!"

Wes and I made a list of all the things we need to do in the next 36 days. It's not a long list but since I can't shop, clean or do laundry it's going to take a long time.

So while things like "Wash all the baby clothes and put away" or "Rearrange bedroom" sit on the list, I'm knitting and watching Friends on the WB web site.

So there's going to be 36 days of me wasting time while Wes works 6 days a week and then comes home to tackle the list.

Poor guy.

Maybe Levi will hold out and give us a couple weeks of bonus time, when I don't have to worry about contractions and can lift and walk to my heart's content.

Well, now my Carmex is ruined

2009-10-05T12:37:00.002-04:00

So, I'm sick. I mean really sick. I'm pretty sure it's the flu but don't feel like paying $20 to find out for sure.

Last week the kids were sick and we headed straight to the Health Food Store to get every homeopathic remedy we could find. I had them on massive amounts of vit C, Cod Liver Oil (which they love, the weirdies) for vitamin D and bought some Hylands Complete Flu 4 Kids. It worked really well.

Seriously, on Wednesday, Silas had 102 fever, sad and said "My whole body hurts" as well as his ears, his head, his throat, and did I mention his whole body? Poor baby. On Thurday he was feeling better and had no fever. As I was holding the flu tabs under his tongue with my fingers (he had a hard time with the whole "under his tongue" thing) I thought, "Yep, I'm next."

Early Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore throat. I got up and took some vitamins but still got worse the whole day. I couldn't breath through my nose which was drying up my lips so I found my Carmex. Then as I used my finger to touch my infected lips, then the Carmex, I realised it's the stupidest container for lip balm ever.

On Sunday, I texted Wes at church that I thought I had swine flu. I had every symptom.

I did some research and found out that Elderberries are like flu killing ninjas and sent Wes to Walgreens for some Elderberry Syrup. They didn't have it but they did have these heavenly little tablets of Elderberry and zinc by Sambucol that claimed to relieve symptoms AND make you well.

Sign me up.

And oh, the tablets did not lie. I slept last night. I can breath through my nose. I still feel kind of 'hungover' and like I'm getting over it, but still. One night and I'm at least 50% better.

I've been neglecting the kids the past few days. I pretty much don't know what's going on until someone comes to tell on someone else. I feel bad for them, but it's encouraging Independence right?

The Almost Eventful Weekend

2009-09-21T09:41:00.004-04:00

Well, this past weekend was our church's annual PrayerFest. Not only do I love it, I help put it together. It's a weekend of camping, prayer, worship and fellowship. We couldn't' wait. The kids were counting down as I obsessively checked the weather from 4 different sites and Wes started mentally packing our camping gear.

Then I had to be on bed rest. Just to clarify, I'm not on strict bed rest, I can do some stuff-which is good since I don't think I'd make it long doing absolutely nothing. I just need to rest often and pay attention to the contractions to make sure they're not getting out of hand-when they do I lay down and hope they slow down.

So I had to modify my PrayerFest plans to not being there the whole time and pretty much just sitting in a camping chair when I was. We have great friends with a camper and if I needed to, I could lay down there and as my last resort, I could go home. I was disappointed, but it wasn't too bad, I'd still get to be there for most of it.

Last week my contractions were not slowing down much. I talked to my midwife several times and on Friday, we decided it would be best for me to go to the hospital to have a Fetal Fibronectin test done. The if the test is negative, there's a 99% chance that I won't have a baby in the next 2 weeks. I was there for a few hours, monitored, had several other tests done and met with a crappy OB who confirmed everything I know an feel about obstetrics and why I'm choosing homebirth...I guess I'll have to do a post about that soon! Anyway, all was good and I left with confidence that baby will stay put for a while so I could go to PrayerFest the next day.

We did go despite Wes's food poisoning...he insisted he was fine.

And we were fine, we had a great time, me sitting, kids playing with fire and Wes playing this weird football/frisbee pass game. Until about 7:00. I was having too many contractions, the kids were tired and the food poisoning was catching up with Wes. So we decided to go home and come back in the morning for church.

That night, I caught Wes's food poisoning. Oops, sorry to anyone we infected this weekend.

So, I'm already worried about dehydration and not a fan of portapotties so I decided we needed to skip church-which kills me, btw.

Good news is the contractions have slowed way down and I'm doing everything I can to keep it that way.

Ahhh...bedrest

2009-09-15T15:40:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a long time since I bored cyberspace with my ramblings. I just haven't had the time. After last week, however, I have nothing but time. Too bad time isn't really money...I'd be rich.

Last week, my midwife...did everyone know I'm pregnant? Well, cyberspace (that's what I'm going to call you from now on-kinda like how Bernie Mac addressed "America" on his show) I am indeed pregnant, 26 weeks, in fact and with a little boy. Okay, back to the story. My midwife and I decided that contractions are bad, as are dilation and effacement in the second trimester so it would behoove me to try and stop all of that. I'm on a mega dose of calcium-magnesium that seems to help a bit and she also said "Don't do anything that causes contractions." Hmm. Well, everything causes contractions. Seriously, today I sat for a half an hour in a hard chair and they started up.

So, I'm in bed. Wes very graciously rearranged our room and brought my laptop to the desk by the bed so I can still function partially. We had a family meeting and told the kids what was going on and they've been very helpful. We've even done school from my bed.

Today was not a great day. I've had a good amount of contractions, some painful, I haven't tried to keep track of them. That scares me too much...I don't want to see frequency or duration on paper. I have a headache and called Wes to beg him to bring home fast food for dinner.

The silver lining is, of course, I'm getting to read a lot. Theoretically, I'll knit a lot...we'll see where that goes. I've got stuff to list on craigslist, I'll have time for that, now. And let;s not forget you, cyberspace, I have so much more time for you.

Learning to trust

2009-03-19T07:49:00.002-04:00

I'm in the middle of a huge decision. For a few months I've not known if I should continue homeschooling (which would include bringing Isaiah home for Kindergarten) or if I should send the kids to school. I found a public school in our area that I like but I have to apply to get in. I did that and heard it could be until May before I hear.

The whole time instead of really praying and seeking God, I just said "Oh, if we get in then we'll know it was God's will." God knew that was not the whole story. The truth is I didn't want to actually pray and seek and trust. What I was doing was nothing more then "letting fate decide" or the "universe".

We started a study on prayer at church and last week one of the key things I heard was even though God knows everything that's going on, He doesn't intervene until we ask, that way we KNOW it was Him. Wow. If my kids had gotten into that school, I would have given God the glory but I would not have known if it was His power or just luck, really.

I was convicted by the Holy Spirit that I was being wishy washy, that I don't have because I didn't ask. So I started praying specifically for God to get them into the school.

I say I believe He will.

I say it.

I'm not acting like I actually believe. I'm still planning on going to the homeschool conference. I'm still considering teaching a Kindergarten class at co-op.

I'm having a hard time trusting. I'm having a hard time letting go of a back up plan...oh how I love a back up plan. Not having one scares me to my core.

So I was praying today. Learning about prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to teach me to listen. In dealing with this issue of homeschool, I began to pray intensely and ask for specific answers.

"Are the kids going to go to school next year?"

Nothing.

"Okay, maybe that was the wrong question, should I go to the conference?"

Nothing.

"Lord, Jesus, what am I supposed to do?"

He answered "Do you trust Me?"

"Yes! Of course, what a silly question...yes, I trust You!"

"Then, trust Me."

I don't know what that means for my problem, I do know that this is Spiritual exercise. I know that God is stretching me, stretching my definition of trust. And definitely teaching me what it really means to rely on Him.

I'm not done. You know the phrase "Wresting with the Lord" I'm wrestling alright, but it's not with God, it's with myself. With my need for control, with letting go and letting God. With actually stepping out in faith. The truth is I'm scared to death. What if I heard wrong? What if God doesn't mean they'll go to school next year? We all know how God's timing is not our own.

I'd love your prayers in this...well, I guess it's two situations. My spiritual growth and the kids getting into school. I'll keep you updated as I continue to hear from God.

A tribute

2009-01-06T13:55:00.002-05:00

I have made a really fun video for a freind.

If you don't know The Llama Song watch it first.

And now for The Ashley Song.

I am not Ashley's stalker...yes, I know that's what Ashley's stalker would say...

Anyway, Enjoy!

Go tell it on the Ma-yount-in

2008-12-10T13:47:00.002-05:00

For those of you who didn't see this incredable video on Facebook, here is more shamelss bragging on my cute little Silas.

Eliya's party

2008-11-18T15:26:00.003-05:00

Yes! The party cost me less then $50!!! Even with gifts, it was less then $100 and she got good stuff. I just made sure I paid for what's important and not unnecessary expenses. Also I made as much as I could for her with stuff I already had. We got creative and I did a lot of searching on line for ideas an it definitely paid off!

Here's how I did it:

Venue: FREE!

I asked to use a room at my church's office building (since we don't have a building) and all I had to do was clean it up and take out the trash!

Decorations:$15.27

HSM posters and postcards $6.31
Red and White (The colors of East High-Troy and Gabriella's School) Balloons $2.48
Red and White Crepe Paper $2.48
Black sheets to look like curtains-borrowed-free
White sheet to make "stage"-free

Black card stock 2.50
"8" Candle 1.50

Paper products: $8.48

Red and white paper plates 2.12
Red and White napkins $2.12
punch cups, already had
utensils (guess what colors...........go ahead, I'll wait..........ooh! so close they were red and CLEAR) $2.12
Red table covers $2.12

Food $8.18

Popcorn-I made it-Free
cheesy poofs 1.78
pinwheels...had everything on hand except cream cheese which cost 1.22
punch...again almost everything was on hand, I'll post the recipe below...it was GOOD and I don't want to forget it! $.68
Water-Free
Cake and icing $2.00
Ice cream $2.50

Favors: $7.83

Bags 1.30
HSM stickers $3.35
HSM Bracelets $3.18
Candy-from Halloween (shhhhh) Free

Entertainment: $10.00

Wii HSM Karaoke-Free, our Wii, borrowed game
dress up glasses $7
"Birthday princess" tiara $3

GRAND TOTAL: $49.76!!!

So here's what I did:

I always make my kids' cakes, they usually turn out great, this one, however, did not...It was so ugly, but it was good! And Eliya sang me a Hannah Montana song that says nobody's perfect...it was sweet.

I made the pinwheels (the girls and moms loved these!):
Microwave cream cheese till smooth then add some mayo mix well.
Spread mixture on tortilla sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Add lunch meat (I used chicken) and lettus.
Just before party slice into 1/2 inch slices.

Punch:
At least 1 day before party: Bring 2-3 cups sugar, 2-3 cups water and 2 packs of Black Cherry Koolaid (I'm sure other flavors would work) to rapid boil for a minute or so. Add thawed can of concentrated frozen fruit juice-I used apple. Freeze in ziploc bag till party. Just before party add about equal parts frozen mix and lemon lime pop.

I took one of Eliya's posters and glued it to the center of a poster board and hung it on the wall with red sharpies for her guests to sign.

I taped stars tot the floor with numbers on it and had the girls walk around while the music played. Like a cake walk. Instead of one winner, though, I had numbered the back of the posters we decorated with. so when the music stopped, they got to hunt for their poster! (I only taped the top so the girls could flip it up and see the number.)

Instead of helium balloons, we hung balloons from the ceiling and taped them to the walls.

In the invitations we asked people to dress up as a character or wear an HSM shirt. I surprised Eliya by dressing up like Mrs. Darbus, the drama teacher, I borrowed clothes and bought the glasses. Eliya was upset that she couldn't dress up so we got her a tiara and the boys gave her an early present (a new HSM shirt). I almost uploaded a pic but I just can't do it...

I used a color theme instead of buying the licensed merchandise-that saved me over half alone!! I also shopped at Walmart and the Dollar store for as much as possible...the paper products were $1.00/pack and my favorite deal was the HSM bracelets we put in the goody bags, $1.oo/4 at Walmart, $4.97 at Party City!!! That's a crazy difference!!!

no party stuff today

2008-11-10T17:53:00.003-05:00

I got so much done today and I didn't do one thing for Eliya's party...I have a feeling that's gonna bite me in the butt later this week :)

I'll have to sit down with my red spiral notebook and get some serious plannig done this evening...I don't even know what the cake will look like yet! Well, I'll start surfing for a cake design.

Eliya's Birthday party

2008-11-08T14:43:00.003-05:00

So we're throwing Eliya an all girl High School Musical birthday party next week. She's so excited. My goal is to keep the party under $50. Here's what I'm planning and what I've done so far:

We made our own invitations. I printed up the info and Eliya decorated them with stickers and glitter, then handed them out to her friends. (Free)

I made her a rockin cool birthday banner out of old cd's and using my friend's cricut and another friends ribbon (yes, I have fantastic friends) I had to buy the paper so that was the first expence at $2.50.

We are using our Church's Ministry Center for the party. (Free)

Instead of buying all the HSM paper products ($40!!) We are decorating with teh East Side High colors of Red and White and using some HSM accessories.

I bought Eliya a book of HSM3 posters for $5.50. We'll hang them at the party then she'll get to take them home...or give them as favors, I haven't decided.

I got the cake mix and frosting on sale this week and Eliya insisted on having an "8" candle. That was 1.75.

So far I've spent $9.75, more to come all week!

Things that make me smile

2008-11-08T14:21:00.002-05:00

The last few days have been interesting to say the least. I've seriously considered both taking the boys out of school and putting Eliya in school because both situations have been rough. Eliya got her second UTI this year, Wes had a 4 hour long dentist appointment on the day that we keep friends kids for a date night. I've had sinus pain all week, I only got 6 hours of crappy sleep last night. Silas refuses to poop in the potty resulting in impromptu showers and laundry. I've had some other issues that I won't go into here...lets just say, my week didn't turn out like I had planned.

In all that, though, there have been rays of sun that broke through, warmed my heart and made me smile here are some of them:

Isaiah's been very seriously praying for China, and told me he's going to be a missionary. I believe him.
Silas is a crazy nut who's new thing is screaming "HUSH IT!" at his brother and sister when they talk over him. (I only smile when he doesn't know-officially I don't like that attitude.)
I've gotten to see friends that I haven't seen in 2 years.
Isaiah made us go home from the park b/c he had to poop. When we got to the potty, he said "I farted in the van, I don't have to poop."
I learned that I'd rather have a kid fart in the van then poop at the park.
I've been able to chat with my sister in Bulgaria via Facebook.
My friends, who I pick newspapers up for every Sunday, chipped in and got me a collapsible rolly cart to tote the papers around in. That blessed me more then they could ever know. (Thanks girls!)
I saved 90% at Kroger yesterday. My original total was $115 and I paid $12. I'll tell how in a post to come.
Through both schooling situations I learned that neither choice is easier. Homeschooling has it's ups and downs and sending the kids to school has it's ups and downs. It's weird but I've gotten a peace about each through the other's hardships.

So those are the things I can think of. They are great things. :)

Raise 'em Right

2008-10-17T17:07:00.007-04:00

Eliya has friends over this weekend. It's a great crisp fall day (finally) so I sent them out side with the sidewalk chalk. I expected rainbows, flowers and hop scotch boards. Instead I have a custom designed political walk way. I think I'll call it The Right Way.

Oh yes, they also got my fence.

Bean ran in and said The neighbors 'cross the street have a McCain sign. They're voting for McCain like us!" Mind you he's 4...

My typology

2008-10-12T21:38:00.002-04:00

I took a test (thanks Justin!) to find out my typology. It's basically a political personality test. It was pretty close! You can take the test by clicking the title above. Comment with your type! (I won't judge you if you have different political views-I promise)

Enterpriser

Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Enterpriser typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic or agree with the group on all issues.

Enterprisers represent 9 percent of the American public, and 10 percent of registered voters.
Basic Description As in previous studies conducted in 1987, 1994 and 1999, this extremely partisan Republican group’s politics are driven by a belief in the free enterprise system and social values that reflect a conservative agenda. Enterprisers are also the strongest backers of an assertive foreign policy, which includes nearly unanimous support for the war in Iraq and strong support for such anti-terrorism efforts as the Patriot Act.

Defining Values Assertive on foreign policy and patriotic; anti-regulation and pro-business; very little support for government help to the poor; strong belief that individuals are responsible for their own well being. Conservative on social issues such as gay marriage, but not much more religious than the nation as a whole. Very satisfied with personal financial situation.

Who They Are Predominantly white (91%), male (76%) and financially well-off (62% have household incomes of at least $50,000, compared with 40% nationwide). Nearly half (46%) have a college degree, and 77% are married. Nearly a quarter (23%) are themselves military veterans. Only 10% are under age 30.

Lifestyle Notes 59% report having a gun in their homes; 53% trade stocks and bonds in the stock market, and 30% are small business owners – all of which are the highest percentages among typology groups. 48% attend church weekly; 36% attend bible study or prayer group meetings.

2004 Election Bush 92%, Kerry 1%. Bush’s most reliable supporters (just 4% of Enterprisers did not vote)

Party ID 81% Republican, 18% Independent/No Preference, 1% Democrat (98% Rep/LeanRep)
Media Use Enterprisers follow news about government and politics more closely than any other group, and exhibit the most knowledge about world affairs. The Fox News Channel is their primary source of news (46% cite it as a main source) followed by newspapers (42%) radio (31%) and the internet (26%).

Note: All descriptions and percentages are based on the national sample of adults surveyed by telephone in December. Based on your answers to the survey questions, you most closely resemble survey respondents within this group, even though you may differ significantly on one or more issues or traits.

In the overall typology there is a ninth group called “Bystanders” who are defined as adults who are not registered, who do not follow news about government and public affairs, and who say they rarely or never vote.

A timely blog-aka Our Trip To Perryville

2008-10-11T19:56:00.007-04:00

So, we're big geeks-we are fans of Civil War Reenactments. Yep, I know...I wish I could say it's all for the kids to enrich their lives, but Wes and I have been going to Perryville (pronounced "pear-vul" by the locals) long before we had kids-wow, I forgot there was such a time.

Last month I took the kids to Camp Nelson's Civil War Days-it was great. I actually liked it better then Parryville in some cases. Perryville's battle is way bigger so that's awesome. A bigger battle means more reenactors and tents (these ppl camp out in period clothes in period tents eating food cooked over fires in iron skillets for the weekend-they are dedicated!!) There was also more vendor tents which is always cool.

Here's a pic of the Confederate's Advance:

But with a bigger event there are also more spectators-I have no idea how many ppl were there today but it was huge.

Silas sitting in the wagon during the battle. Apparently he likes Yogos better then cannons.

Eliya walking down to a small section of vendor tents.
I bought the kids hats at Camp Nelson you can see them here the boys wanted guns and swords this time so we had to hunt for them. But Oh Happy Day we found them-they've managed to keep them all day-usually swords end up on the fridge before bed time-where they live till they accidentally see a picture and I have to get them down to start the process over again.

My Soldier Boys.
The other bad part about Perryville is, it's HUGE. Something like 650 acres. You have to walk a country mile uphill to get anywhere.

This is not a weird optical illusion picture-this was the first of three large hills to the battle area.

Now walking I can deal with bring on a nice smooth sidewalk any day-but up and down hills on uneven, coarse ground just doesn't work for me! Every joint from my hips down already hurts-I'm too young for that!! I'm just glad I went out with Eliya to get us new shoes last night. I knew flip-flops and crocks weren't going to cut it for today.

Here's the "dead and wounded" I wonder if they just fall down when they get hot-
it was like 85 degrees and they are in wool uniforms.

Here's the kids drinking "Sarsaparilly" in very expensive but refillable bottles.

This was cool. They had a dedication at the Confederate Memorial. We sang "Rock of Ages" and "Amazing Grace" and they prayed. There are two mass graves that students from the Danville School for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired helped dig for all the soldiers. They said something like 185 are still unidentified. I was glad to be there for this. Oftentimes, I forget this isn't just a performance.

Such a tangled mess

2008-10-09T22:43:00.002-04:00

I can't explain how I'm feeling. besides tangled
I cant figure out where to start
I try to work on one part-in an effort to loosen the knot
but end up making it tighter in another place
i feel like i'll never figure it out
i feel like there's no use in trying
there is just so much wrong

No excuse

2008-10-07T11:58:00.002-04:00

Every day I feel guilty when I don't blog. But I don't want to post for posting's sake. I'd like to keep you coming back for more! Unfortunatly I've had Blogger's Block and wrack my brain and realize I'm not interesting.

Then I remembered I made a rockin' cool video! I can't believe I haven't posted it yet! So here you go! (If you go to CP, you've seen it once or twice lol)

Stupid Human Tricks

2008-09-30T10:02:00.003-04:00

So I have a huge ammount of things to do today. I need to finally clean off the dining room table. I need to teach Eliya...we've had an unschduled fall break...I need to clean the kitchen, bring in the grocery bags I washed yesterday, make a million forms for PrayerFest, cut and organize coupons, maybe get the pile of coupons out of the hallway...don't ask...clean the 7 gallons of water on the bathroom floor from the boy's bath, sweep and mop the floors that desparately need it, get the boys ready for school, get dressed (yes, it's after 10:00-ugh)

Instead of all that, I'm uploading a video. It's darn funny though. It's Silas' current Stupid Human Trick-Singing the ABC's with his mouth closed.

Yes, I'm just so proud...

updates

2008-09-28T21:29:00.003-04:00

So, I just realized I haven't let you see the best looking kids in america in a while! Here are some pics from Civil War Days.

I'm sorry!

2008-09-27T00:29:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to post every day, but then something happens, I forget and all of a sudden it's day later. And sometimes those days turn into months :(

So now I'm posting for posting's sake...that's not good either. I've been very busy editing an awesome video that I will post after Sunday. It's for church and I don't' want to spoil it (you know b/c I have oh so many readers)

So for now, I'll leave you with this thought...the Lima Bean is neither a Lima nor a Bean...discuss.

Here's a totally ramdom pic:

it's 3 am and everythings funny

2008-09-24T02:51:00.003-04:00

So here's a link to a video I put on youtube over a year ago...I don't think I ever posted it on my blog...

Dude! It needs some hits! I had to go to the 4th page of particle man videos to find it...it's far better then most (if I do say so myself!)

The book I'm reading

2008-09-22T13:04:00.002-04:00

I'm reading, well, listening to the book SAFELY HOME by Randy Alcorn. At church we have a book discussion group (Flippin' Pages) and this is the book for next month. I heard it was good and pretty long. I didn't have time to read something long right now. Then I found out (through facebook-see, Brian, facebook's not always frivolous) that it was about China. I've known people who adopt from China and minister there, if you'd like more details. I'd love to talk to you about those people. So I decided it was worth my time and wouldn't really slow me down if I listened to it. I got it from Audible.com (you can sign up for a 14 day trial and get 2 free credits, so it didn't cost me anything!) Wow. It's amazing. I've known, as most American Christians do, about the oppression of the citizens and persecution Christians in China. This fiction book makes it real. It's shown me how this actually affects real people. Real husbands, real wives, real children. I'm appalled. Not only at the facts, but at myself.

I'm so blessed to be in America. Sure, you may suffer inconveniences for being a Christian, but it's often little more then that. Yet here I am in my comfortable home, with at least 4 or 5 bibles that are only used a few times a week, freely going to a church that is not monitored by the state, not having to worry about having open conversations about Christ and able to legally teach my children about his great love. I turn a blind eye to the realities that Christians face most of the time. I'm listening to my iPod, which was made in China, typing about it on my key board that was made in China, give my kids toys from China and never once think about the actual Chinese people.

I've been going to this site: Persecution.com. It's so helpful to me to see real pictures of real people who are in jail right now because of their love and devotion to Christ. I'm planning on asking my book discussion group about sponsoring bibles and praying for prisoners. I'm so moved.

I want to start changing my life, but don't know how or where to start. Well, I'll start by praying for the country and the people. I'll pray about where to go from there.

The consignment sale

2008-09-20T18:31:00.002-04:00

So I put a bunch of kids clothes and toys in a consignment sale for teh first time...it was only okay. I think it had a lot to do with the sale I chose. I bought bunch of clothes, the boys are stocked up for the fall and winter now...but I only sold about a third of my stuff. I donated it so I didn't have to worry about it anymore...that was good and I spent about $115 and made about $75-so I got tons of clothes for basically $40. That was definately worth it!

Does anyone else sell their kids used stuff? Do you use church consignment sales, consignment stores, yard sales, the internet, or something else? What have you found most successful?

check it out

2008-09-19T23:11:00.002-04:00

http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/847790802.html

yep, it's my post...I'll let you know how it goes...

Funny things I've heard this week:

Me to Bean: What up G?
Bean: What up...W?

Bean burped and said "Word" Eliya got all over him...I laughed

Bean to Wes: I'm pooting on your pillow!

Silas: I cannot! (His responce to anything he doesn't want to do)

Eliya said something so clever today and I can't for teh life of me remember what it was...I'll see if she remembers tomorrow...

Truely Wrectastic

2008-09-18T13:59:00.007-04:00

So in my last post I mentioned something was so bad it was awesome...and it sparked a memory. This memory is from a time known as earlier this month...

[Wayne and Garth do the wavy memory/dream sequence thing]

I discovered this site called Cake Wrecks. It's so great. So I went to Kroger a few days later and saw this cake:

Oh yeah...that's a Kentucky Wildcat...you have to relax your eyes, squint and turn your head a bit, but it's there! I had to buy it and take pics to send to Jen at Cake Wrecks....and today....SHE EMAILED ME BACK!!!!!

Could it be that a cake I actually found, bought and ate will be on Cake Wrecks??? A girl can dream can't she?

Now remember when you would go to the doctor's office and play the "Spot the differences" games in the old issues of Highlights Magazine....lets do that shall we? Leave a comment with some differences you've found. You get 10 points for every original find and 25 points for anything I didn't find. The winner will get (drum roll please) mentioned on my blog!!!!!Now that is worth ~~waisting~~ spending time on!!!

My Fave Dejour

2008-09-18T13:59:00.002-04:00

So I have a new "must-check-every-day-at-least-once" website.

It's TodaysBigThing.com there are loads of awesome videos here...maybe a few too many cat videos...what's up with people wanting to watch cats on the Internet...I think it has to do with people's fascination with an animal that doesn't give a flyin' flip about them. They want to see this standoff-ish animal do something, anything with with people so bad that they will even watch someone else's cat the one time it interacted with them.

I digress, this video has a cult-like following, and with good reason-it's so bad it's awesome...and has a catchy tune...

Don't stop there, explore, enjoy, but be careful, it's not all family friendly!

Hello! (Again)

2008-09-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

So welcome to my new blog, yes, it's the same addy as my old blog, I just...well it's a long boring story that really just shows how inept I really am, so you'll just have to be satisfied with knowing that I have a new(ish) blog that is going to be about the same stuff, at the same place, by the same person...but with a bark blue background! Oh yeah, gotta dig the "Dark Dots" option blogger.com so graciously offers it's bloggers...

I'm also kind of hoping that a new blog will make me remember to actually post and not just think about posting!

OH! If you want to go to my old blog to relive the good times (and I know you do) you can go to http://www.mandys-old-blog.blogspot.com/ I know I know, I'm so darn clever, you don't even know what to do with me...what can I say...

One last thing, I'm going to be a bit more savvy on this blog. There will be links and maybe even a feed [shocked gasp] So if I don't get them up this week and you see me by all means trip me and when I'm down point and scream "You promised links!! YOU PROMISED LINKS!!!!"

That's all for ow, ta-ta!