Absent

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Abbie

This story of absence is nothing short of well, interesting…

It all started when I requested that Papa and Mark work on the front flowerbed while they were visiting a couple of weeks ago. They obliged…somewhat happily. However, they didn’t have time to finish it completely because we were celebrating some special little princess’s two year birthday.

The Before: That pile of rocks is our altar. We really need to get into the New Testament during family worship time!


Papa “working” hard!


The Helpers! We chose this project because we knew that everyone could pitch in…and they did!

This is the side of the house that connects to the front bed.

So, that left the finishing touches to be completed by us the next weekend.

We got to work bright and early on Saturday morning. Everyone really pitched in. We saw a ton of lizards (yay, they eat mosquitos…the more lizards the happier I am…as long as they don’t come inside), frogs (they eat bugs too…stay on little frogs…outside), and a snake.

Trust me. He’s in there.

Yeah, a snake. Just lounging around in one of our azalea bushes in the front yard. One of the azalea bushes in the azalea bed that we were clearing out and Mark was throwing lyme (lime? whatever…the acid neutralizer stuff). Mark threw some lime and then jumped back a few feet. We got out our handy dandy google and realized we weren’t dealing with a poisonous snake. Just a little garter snake. However, they eat lizards. I like my lizards (outside), so I knew we were probably going to need to kill him. But first, I wanted the kids to see him.

So, after several attempts, Mark was able to pin him down with the shovel while I picked him up. Whether we were going to kill him or not was not questioned after that as we realized he was hurt in our jaunt to get him out of the bush, so after letting Ceili Rain touch him (the only one who wanted to), Mark took him off to the side of the house to give him his final resting place. (Sorry Jacie…but it was better than letting him suffer)

It just so happens the place Mark took him was where our cable line was buried. Just so happens that cable line is the same cable line we use for internet and our landline phone service. Just so happens that it’s not buried very deep. And, as you can guess, it just so happens that when Mark sent the snake in to utter darkness, he sent our internet and phone in the same direction. And, we learned all of this on Monday when the cable repair guy came out and found the cut line.

Oh well! He was super nice and did a quick great job fixing it up. He greeted Mark at the door telling us he liked our bumper sticker (about abortion being wrong and such). That was a nice visit!

And now you know why I did not post on Monday!

But hey, we got a nice cleaned up low maintenance flower bed…and I got my azalea bed cleaned out and mulched up.


A side view. I’m going to add a couple of more plants to even it out but that won’t be until the big nursery near here has a warehouse sale and I can get them for dirt cheap…haha..dirt. cheap. I’m so funny.

Ahhh…what a little landscaping fabric and mulch can do for a yard!

Babies are dirty…

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Abbie

That’s why we women like to get together and give them showers. So, my friend, Tracy, needed a shower for her new baby. I was happy to oblige. This was the first shower I’ve hosted all on my own.. It was a lot of work (only because I probably went over the top) but it was a lot of fun too.

My first try with fondant! I made this adorable elephant by watching a youtube video (be forewarned: the artist is wearing a low cut shirt…but the music is fun to dance to while you’re making the elephant). Okay, if you folks don’t say it, I will…I think she’s adorable. I didn’t make her on my own though. I shaped her and Zoe helped stick her body parts on. Zoe also is responsible for cutting out almost all of those polka dots.

The grammas with the mama!

I made that pennant up there too. That was super easy! (I would include the directions I used but I can’t seem to find them…anyway, it’s basically cut out the pattern from paper/newspapaer…that’s a triangle, put a heavy weight fusible interfacing on the bag and fold a ribbon in half and sew it on each triangle and tie together…tada!)

Chocolate party favors (via chocolate candy bars with personalized wrappers).

Oh, made the table runner too!

Fun game of match the socks!

This isn’t Tracy’s baby…but she is just as adorable!

Okay, baby girl clothes are just too adorable!

It was a brunch, so I had plenty of brunch food…but apparently I had not set anything out when we took the picture…trust me, there was lots of food!

Did I mention that Super Wy was there?

He liked the chocolate best of all!

I loved giving her this shower. I know that it’s faux pas to celebrate babies past the first one. But, I truly believe (and know) that children are gifts from God and each one should be celebrated. And what better way to celebrate than by having a bunch of ladies get together to eat, laugh, and play silly games! Zoe was a great help and loved hosting with me. I loved having the extra help.

Time to Get Out!

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Abbie

I couldn’t stand it anymore. Our streak of beautiful comfortable weather has just continued and continued. So, one day last week, we escaped for lunch and a trip to the locks. Where we live there is a man made canal. There’s a beautiful area that is where the locks are and the gatehouse for the canal. It really is truly beautiful. There’s a bike/walking trail that runs from the gatehouse to the end of the canal too. k We’ve never biked it all the way, but we have gone down some of it. It’s truly gorgeous. The kids enjoyed being able to breathe fresh air and play on the playground and I loved the scenery.

Just chillin’ in the swings.

Overheard

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Abbie

Proud Mommy Moment: The kids are outside playing while I get some things done in the kitchen (aka my office). I have the window open should a need arise and I can hear them singing at the top of their lungs:

“The joy of the Lord, is my strength. The joy of the Lord, is my strength.”

They make it through two verses and then pause and seem to have some kind of discussion. During that pause my heart swelled. I was so proud. My children are remembering and singing the hymns we sing each night during worship. Wow! Look how “holy” they are! I’m just the best mother in the…wait, what are they singing now…

They belt out with, “He tells me funny jokes and I laugh Ha Ha. He tells me funny jokes and I laugh, ha ha.”

Proud mommy moment deflated.

Now, this verse is not in our hymnal and, after sharing with Mark, learned it is a variation from a verse Mark taught them, “He fills my heart with laughter and I say haha.” Yep, I’m proud again…

***
Josiah can be particular about certain things. Shoes and socks are one of those things. He’s been learning to put on his socks by himself and his shoes too. However, it’s been quite distressing for him. One day he came up to Mark looking all perplexed with his socks in his hands.

“Daddy, I don’t know which sock goes on which foot.” He announced. And he was serious.

We tried to tell him it didn’t matter, but to him it does. So, now, when he asks us which sock goes on which foot, we examine the socks, and then declare which one goes on which foot.

And one day that backfired, because he forgot what I told him. And then when I told him it was the opposite foot from my previous statement he got all confused. So, then I had to go back and “reexamine” the socks and change my answer again.

***

Speaking of socks. Mark was giving the announcement to get socks and shoes on to go to church one evening. Josiah was running around searching and searching. He finally came to Mark and announced, “Daddy, I don’t know where my socks are!”

Mark looked down and informed Josiah, “They’re on your feet dude.”

Josiah smiled, and said, “Oh!” and then went and found his shoes.

Ta Da!

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Abbie

Kristina, sent us a gift certificate to Timberdoodle. I spent several weeks drooling over everything and studying and trying to pick just the right gifts of entertainment and education. We finally settled on some books for our miniLUK, smencils (pencils that smell yummy), Creativity Express software (which I had been eyeing for some time), and a small box of Wedgits (which I had also been eyeing). They ALL love the Wedgits! Zoe had to get her picture made with one of her creations…so here ya go Kristina and gang! Thanks so much.

I also want to add that when we got our Creativity Express software it wouldn’t work. I contacted the software company who didn’t seem too excited to help me and told me to contact Timberdoodle. I did, and they were super great to work with and replaced the CD with no problems! They didn’t even need me to send back the broken one. I really love working with this company and highly recommend them!

Zoe got an EZ Bake oven for her birthday. I went back and forth about getting one, because she’s already learning how to use a big oven. In the end, I knew she really wanted one, would use it, and would have a blast with it. So we made the plunge (and bought it used and cheaply). Here’s her first creation, s’mores cookies. We bought a couple of the mixes but I’ve heard tell you can find recipes for it online.

Snow Beauties

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Abbie

Even though I spent most of my time in the house, my sister in law and Mark got some great pictures of a few of the kids…

Skating and Tubing

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Abbie

I did get to venture out to do activities two days. On Monday, I went snowboarding…okay, well, let’s just say I took a lesson. The only way I could stop was to fall down so I stayed on the bunny slope and since I didn’t have any ski pants/or ski bib, my rear was numb for hours (I’m talking hours) afterwards. Then Friday, the day before we left, I got to go skating and tubing. That was fun! I’d never skated outdoors.

And several of our kids had never skated at all.

But that didn’t stop them from trying…

And falling…

And trying some more…

Ace got really good before we left. I was proud of how hard he tried. He fell pretty hard a few times too but he got right back up and tried again. Josiah was more interested in building a snow castle for a long while. I was so glad we didn’t have to pay for him to skate!

Let me just say that snow tubing is a blast and is really physically demanding. My arms were sore for three days after we went. But it was so worth it!

Yes, this is me.

And this is Papa!

Zoe…she flipped her tube once, laughed, got back up and went again. She thought that was really cool.

Even Grandmere tried it out.

I missed posting pictures of J, O, and G going but they were with us and had a great time too. We were able to race down some of the runs.

At the end of the day, it’s all about chillin’ and relaxin’ dude. I took a breather for a few minutes and watched Zoe and my nieces and nephews go. If only I had a video of me trying to get up out of that knee high snow drift.

Back at the Ranch…

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Abbie

Well, with several little ones that couldn’t take being out in the cold and snow for long periods of time, I and the grandparents and Aunt B did a lot of indoor maintenance. So, we got lots of fun pictures of the kids…Oh, before I start…want to know how much luggage and stuff one has to take to be snowed in in the mountains with our six kids??? No, well, tough, I’m going to show you.

Visiting cousins…

Bryant was about to launch an attack because K had his toy!

This is O with her little brother K and Ace holding Bryant.

Getting ready to just take our five out (Bryant never went out but once briefly for pictures), took a good 45 minutes. No. I do not want to live up north!

Zoe and I learned to crochet thanks to Grandmere!

With a winter storm looming and temps getting way low, we had a morning inside with everyone. We split up into groups. I grabbed some extra sugar and flour I had brought and mixed it with peanut butter to make playdough. It was great fun, except that I forgot the twins were allergic to peanut butter and we were all stressing trying to make sure they didn’t grab any (Way to go Aunt Abbie)!

Another group played Monopoly with Papa!

Climbing on cousins is a treat!

Sometimes brothers are just way too comfy.

It’s easier to play a game if you stick your tongue out.

Quick Daddy has the camera…make a silly face.

Tic Tac Toe with Grandmere.

Best Cousin buds!

Just a few shots of the getting ready chaos. There was always someone missing a glove, hat or boot at some point during this time.

Another day, we had the little ones inside and to keep them busy, I filled up a sink full of bubbles and they wen to town. They did really good keeping it in the sink too!

Papa was watching the kids while we were getting supper ready!

“What is that thing in your mouth, dear cousin???”

The Great Outdoors

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Abbie

Since the biggest part of our trip was the snow. I’ll post those first…

Another bunch of Characters!

Skiing…

Grandmere and Zoe getting ready.

G & H ready to learn from Uncle B.

Liam enjoyed going fast.

O did an amazing job and enjoyed the beginner slope.

It’s cold!!!

This is how you stop.

All ready to go!

Sorry that I don’t have more pics of Zoe. I was able to go out and watch her briefly one time, but didn’t get a lot of pictures. Not sure why they didn’t make it here…there’s a lot of pictures though!

Happy Birthday Liam!

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Abbie

Okay, I’m still sifting through the three hundred plus pictures from our ski trip…they should be up next week.

So, to keep from getting even farther behind…here’s Liam’s birthday.

I got in on one of the Daily Deal websites and was able to get a party package for six to the bowling alley for half price. We got two because with our family, well, you just need two to accommodate us and our friends!

This was the first time bowling for all of our kids (unless you count Wii practice before we went).