Deliverance & Lovin' your Levi....

I know it seems "mean" that I kinda make fun of where we live. But rightfully so. I enjoy our house, feel blessed to be able to live here but right down the hill from our cozy abode...is some serious "something". It is a flood plain...so it's affordable living but I guess with affordable that comes serious degradation...it's falling apart down there.

This is the Deliverance swimming hole, complete with a big happy face ball (we couldn't figure out what that was so if you may know, leave me a comment) that takes you away to that happy place, where you can forget all your troubles and the fact that you haven't cleaned your house, yard, car for 20 years and everytime it rains (which is OFTEN lately), you go wading!

hard to believe that we are situated at the top of this hill (right hand side of the pic). that this scene is a hop, skip, and a jump away. and this is just a hint of it. It really is quite frightening! broken down bikes, tractors, cars, garbage here there and everywhere etc.

A view from the school parking lot at the top of our hill

Levi really was enjoying Grandpa time...he just likes to make serious faces when the pics get started...

a classic

Good Tuesday morning! (although this will say Monday, June 30 because that is when I started it)...hope this finds you enjoying this milder than usual summertime weather! I just went out to sweep the porches, water the plants and noticed the steam rising off the pool...must've been pretty chilly last night. It's only going to get up to 80 here today...lovin' this break from heat...but it sure makes for some chilly swimming! das ok.

As you can tell, I really have nothing to say today! I hope the above pictures give a peek into what's been going on around here lately. I, in no way, mean to seem condescending in regards to our neighbors down the hill by posting those pix. I just found it funny that we live so close to that. and not that we are any better than those folks. we aren't. just wanted to give you a little taste of summertime in Deliverance. Now I need totake some pix of our actual neighborhood...

Time to get the troops moving so I may be back later on today. Have a wonderful Tuesday, folks!

Wonderful weekend wanderings

Good Sunday evening to YOU!

Molly was digging her first coherent fireworks show! she has no real fear of loud noises, as her big bro Levi (see below)...funny to me!

Notice Alisha, dead center, covering Levi's ears for him...thanks for babying him, Lish...love the good mothering skills we see going on with this group!

this was a cute scene...I "caught" Hannah having a little photo op with Molly...it was most precious! Hannah and Alisha are awesome with our yiddle ones.

I took a little walk on Sunday afternoon and this is the view of our house from the elementary school across the street...we have lots of trees, don't we??

This one's for you, Piper! Will loves to get dressed up in his gorilla costume...and he did this tonight to scare the dickens out of Levi. We have figured out what we are going to get Piper for her 4th b-day, coming up at the end of July...a framed, autographed pic of this guy, her BFF. or not!

Levi looks like a safety pup, doesn't he? I mean, here in Deliverance, we learn to ride our bikes with no shoes! (more pix of that to come...got some gooooooood shots of our nearby fright)

Ahhh, a nice, quiet Sunday evening to catch up from a crazy weekend! Down below me, in the lower level, I hear kids being uncooperative as they read thru their General Science together! Sometimes I feel for Melanie, as her brothers can be most unmerciful toward her...She is reading to them, and E. is singing an obnoxious song, and both big boys are digging through Legos...as they "listen". hmmm. time to step in....I'll be back!

Just caught Molly destroying yet another magazine...so I got some much needed video of her shenanigans...wish I knew how to put some video on here...someday! Got some good video of her bathing with Levi as well...then she fell so it stopped abruptly! ahhh, the memories.

Hope you enjoy the pix...hope, also, that you are doing well, feeling groovy and all geared up for a fun Fourth of July at week's end!! July is almost here!

I had more pix to post but this thing is taking forever so I'll post again Mon. or Tues!

See ya later! Love and peace to you!

This time last year...

The thing that brought up this nostalgia is the Greenwood Fireworks, which we plan to attend tomorrow night. Last year, they were on June 30 and this pic was taken that night. Nora and Molly's first BFF picture!! awww!


Delivery day, only dilated to 3! sheer frustation! Ahhh. this was taken about 4 hours before Molly arrived and in those four hours, I slept, drove home to the southwest side of town from the upper west (Beck drove), picked up the kids and D. at mom and dad's, got some Starbucks (so didn't drink it till I got home later that night with my new baby), hit the bank, got home, sat on the couch for 3 minutes, jumped into the tub, nearly had my baby on the 3 separate highways 6 or 7 times and then almost had her in the Midwives parking lot, before naturally delivering Molly Christine in the pink tub while the classical music played. ahhhh! (I'm totally having flashbacks right now, and I'm even twitching in recall)

~I was being watched like a pot about to boil! used to tell Mom and Beck that a watched pot never boils. and I felt so bad for "letting" them down by not going into labor! duh!

~I was really, really uncomfortable but trying to soak "IT" up, knowing that it was my last pregnancy...

















four days before!













~I was pretty sure I could handle FIVE kids...ha!







~I waddled something fierce (and it's not much better a year later...hee hee)...







~I had a sweet, little baby girl wiggling around inside of me, violating my ribcage and grinding her head on my pelvis, and I swore I would never ever forget how THAT felt. but of course, I have.










~I still mowed the lawn, days before delivery and loved how mad it made my mom and sister. obviously not mad enough that they or anyone, for that matter, ever offered to do it for me...(B. was pregnant as well so I don't blame her)...I so wish we had thought to get a picture of THAT! whatta scene I must've been.














wanted to capture some of the places that Levi would do his bizness...here we are at a Starbucks! he will LOVE this some day!





~I was carrying that Dora potty around in whatever vehicle we drove...so Levi could do his business here, there and everywhere. But usually in his pants!

Happy Birthday, Molly Moo...2:55 pm July 9, 2007. Seven pounds, seven ounces. I tried so hard to have you 7/7/07 and at 7 lbs. 7 oz, you would have been the PERFECT baby...well, you still were! so itty bitty, sweet and chubby! preciousness!

This past year has flown by! Molly has been a great ending to our childbearing years! Thanks for letting me walk down this path, gettin' weepy 'n nostalgic!

If you are reading this, and you are currently expecting or not getting any sleep due to that new baby, soak it up...enjoy it, for your time's a-coming fast, and then it will be you sitting at your computer, or looking at pictures, getting all choked up (in good ways, of course) for how fast your baby has grown, changed, become a bit more independent etc. It's all good stuff...I believe it's also good to reflect, it causes us to thank the Lord for the memories, see them for the gifts they are! So blessed!

Whew, just can't believe she's almost ONE! Have a great weekend!

"You're my best friend. That's it."

This is on a trip to MI and Jeff is holding Levi...Levi loves that dude! we haven't figured out why though....(peace Jeff)

such a cute little 2.5 year old...so serious!

Never much for a haircut!

Coffee thief! but who could resist?

Mr. Underpants Head


Can you guess what movie this title line is from? (we just watched it to make sure we were correct)


There's really no method to the madness here...just Levi memories from the past 3 years or so!

What a fun, interesting little person he is! I look at these pictures and then at him in the flesh and it amazes me how much he has grown up. (he's actually standing right here with me, gazing up at me. He likes it when my hair is down, so he keeps telling me "Mommy, your hair's down. I like when you have your hair down")...he's such a big boy yet not. He still likes to lay down with me to go to sleep at night. He still wants to lay or sit on me any chance he can get. He is a Gramma and Grampa's boy...content to just lay on one of them!

He's finally 99% potty trained...yes, he's 5.5 years old. Give the kid a break....he crawled at one, walked at 18 months, so he really does nothing fast! but that is what we love about him! mostly.

He has a squeaky, li'l Mickey Mouse voice..."Wanna see my dresser?"...and his latest thing is when he knows a spankin' or some form of discipline is on his horizon, he will ask in the sweetest, squeakiest voice, "But you're my best friend", like that makes him immune from correction. ha. well, he's mostly right. unfortunately. He's a sneaky troublemaker...likes to take his brothers and sister's DS' and hide them.

He can spot an airplane, jet, helicopter when no one else has a clue it's near...he has an respect (fear) for smoke alarms and notices them wherever we go...he also like to sit and drink a cup of coffee with me in the morning. He has a love/hate relationship with a good thunderstorm...he has perfect pitch and memorizes music fast, loves to sing, loves classical music. His tinkering on the piano sounds like music. He's getting quite brave in the pool...

Levi Taylor, you have been a worthy challenge from day one. It's not your birthday but I wanted to give a little shout out to you...We all love you, dude! You are one awesome boy!

Who should I give a shout out to now?

Now just look at the mess you've made...

What'd I do???

troublemakin' girls

Molly's having a blast, leading Nora down the path of destruction...but aren't they cute at this age? it won't be that cute in a few years but we will enjoy it for now. how does that work again?

Nora's outta here...

Well, good Thursday morning. I've been trying to blog all morning, and then had it all set to go, blogger wouldn't save it and erased all of the words I had typed...ugh! so here I am again, doing this again, hopin' that this time, it will go thru!

Yesterday, the kids and I visited with my parents for a bit...Molly's new thing is to rip apart, shred, destroy, any magazine and book in her path. She got Nora in on her scheme and you should have heard those two sweet girls giggling. They had a blast! sorry 'bout your catalog, Mom!

Otherwise, a quiet day in our household...housework, laundry, swimming, David's outta here to work all day!

Levi got a pint-sized bike from my parents...so I will get some pix of that today for your viewing pleasure.

Hope all is well your way! God bless you this morning/afternoon!

A Message from E

Ethan wanted me to tell you something.

He has started his own blog. I will put the link here but I will also put said link in my Amigos list!

I'm not sure that I like all this competing for computer time at my house...I've got to remind myself that this is good for them. Right?

Ok, night folks!

Wonderful Weekend

Miss is READY to go...she did NOT want to pose for this picture!

uber cool! whatta dude!

Mel is ever the little momma! The babies enjoyed their floating paradise for a short time!

and of course, our usual sister self-portrait! I thought I was dark till I looked at this picture. not a flattering pic necessarily but proof that we were there. see scary story below!

David used to take the bigger boys to look at toys at Meijer or Target when they were littler. Occasionally, after a lesson in patience, he would buy them something, whether it was a Ninja Turtle, Star Wars dolly, or Lego set. He had a revelation the other day that he hasn't really done that with Levi and that just isn't fair. He can't ride on his big brothers' coattails. Yes, their hand-me-down toys are swell but this is his own, picked fresh from the Target shelves "Cars" Mega Blocks set (we so totally don't collect Mega Blocks, we are a Lego family for heaven's sake but who can resist his pleading face??)...he was so excited!

Will took this picture from upstairs and this is Molly downstairs...my Canon has some amazing zoom, ay?

some riff raff from around the house...my Jehovah's Witness pals visited me yesterday morning...while I am not a JW, I appreciate their dedication to going door to door and they are some seriously sweet women...The red fish mosaic is David's latest project. Is that not the COOLEST thing? it's not finished yet but when it is, y'all are gonna want one!!

This is our friend, Tim and his lady friend, Terri! They stopped in on his Harley Davidson for an afternoon visit Saturday! Nice to see ya, old boy! Terri is a sweetheart!

Beck and her girls came down for a fun-filled Saturday by the pool. All went well, except for the moment that Pipes thought she could maneuver her way into the giant tube (without her lifejacket on) and she slipped. Beck and I were comparing stretch marks or something like it but we heard Mel yell "Piper"...it seemed to take an eternity but when it registered, B. and I jumped up when we noticed that P. was floating, with no safety, taking a bunch of water into her mouth. Every mother's absolute WORST nightmare, right there folks. It's happened to me before a couple of times (usually Ethan as a youngster)...so I know the fear that B. was experiencing. Thankfully, and praise the LORD, Beck got her quickly...they were both freaked out..heck, we were all freaked out. Mel couldn't get her because she was feeding Nora a bottle in the other tube....so needless to say...all was well.

After a lovely day spent with all of my girls and Levi, good pal and fellow blogger, Nicky Stickers and her brood of 4 children came down to hang and visit with us! She brought her yum delish salsa....o............my...........gosh, beer bread, cheese sauce, s'mores....and a good time was had by all...swimming, throwing up, walking up scary stairs, praying, encouraging!

This morn, we attended LifePoint, where Pastor Tom had an amazing and rather pertinent message on "Standing in the Gap"...man, blew us away! Home to a lazy, rainy day around here...catching up, scrapbooking, beatin' the kids (J/K)...enjoying some much needed down time! Amen and amen.

Ok, done rambling...think it's done raining so I can maybe vacuum out my green machine now...(all this while scrapping, bloggin' and stuff like that)...Here's hoping that you were able to spend some time relaxing, fellowshipping, praising, being thankful for things, feeling support and love from those around you! I'm outta here!

Pix from the Past

I was just digging around in some of the pictures (from my dad's side) that my aunt sent down with me, after the funeral...lots of pix of my Grandpa G. that I haven't seen in a long time. I cherish these old memories. so here they are...





Big brother Tom, me and cousin Jenna on Grampa G's lap...whatta handsome dude, ay?



A few more cousins added to the brood (see funeral pix from 2 weeks ago)...Gramps in the middle and Tom, Ian, my li'l bro Andy, me (this pose with my arms? Will does this allllllll the time...), Jenna holding her bro, Jon and my baby sis in the front. I believe this was less than a year before Grampa passed away...so this was summer of 1981.

This was taken up in Canadian Lakes...that fun place Gramma and Aunt Mimi took us every summer...we were all soooo skinny...omigosh what awesome memories!

I'm just getting all verklempt on a Sunday morning, when I should be getting ready to head to the church service.

I have some fun pix from my day with my sissy to post but will have to do that later...had a nice evening hanging with Nicky and her kiddies...lots of good people in my life. So blessed.

Hi Mom and Dad...I didn't even talk to you on the telephone yesterday...love you!

Hope y'all have a blessed Sunday, enjoying some rest!

More Friday fun

longing to be out in the pool with her siblings...she was screaming and squealing at them, drooling all over the windows that had just been cleaned. I give up. Between her and Levi, my windows won't be clean till they all leave. And we don't want that so dirty windows it is.

love the tippy toes!

Molly Moo was here! she's a mini-tornado!

Nora and Piper haven't been on here in a long time...so here's a hats off to my two little nieces. I scrapped their recent pictures and put them on my wall! love you girls! your pictures are a-dorable! The bottom left pic is one of my all time faves of Miss P, her face is sheer peskiness yet so grown up!

Well, I guess that's a matter of opinion (Friday fun), but in my opinion, these things are fun.

In fact, my favorite thing right now is letting Molly pull off, rather gleefully, all of the toilet paper from the roll. It's hard to tell her no because she looks so cute when she is in the midst of the unroll. And she looks so forlorn when you yank her away from her activity.

Solution? keep the bathroom door closed and just let her dismantle the rest of the house. it's all good.

I was just sitting here and realized I had totally forgotten to do my 12 on the 12th as always. And there's no salvaging it this month because it's the 20th! Yikes! Can you believe it's nearing the end of June and that it's the first day of summer? where is the time going? I will have to take my pic of 12 fave fotos from this month in my 12/12 album!

The kids are out swimming (so spoiled) and I'm listening to Mozart with Molly! we are building brain cells...I'm hoping to gain some that never developed. I just "caught" her sitting by the CD player "singing"...it's so precious to see her learn and to watch her catch things. Soak it up, soak it up!

This weekend sounds like it will be pretty low key...I think David and the boys are working tomorrow. Beck and her girls are going to come down to swim and get some sun. Then of course it's Saturday night Bible study, family fellowship at Patria! Sunday, so far off in the future, dunno what will happen that day besides morning worship! so, until then...have a relaxing weekend and get out there and enjoy this milder than usual summer weather!

Word to your mother and good bye! LY

Decks, canals, and little mothers

Hang onto your hats...for below is a slew of fabulous photos. I know you've been on the edge of your seats, waiting for the newly stained deck pix...well, wait no more...here they be.

hummingbird feeder (thanks B), windchimes, and impatiens...bring me joy!

Look at that cinnamon sheen...takes my breath away. I need to get out more apparently.

Molly, admiring the Melanie/Laurie handiwork for sure! would someone cut her bangs?

I'm not sure if you can tell that there is a Cape Cod gray stain on this deck...but it's there...this project will take a few seasons to complete...funds run short, time runs short...(I've got all the time in the world. it's that husband of mine who is strapped for it). This pool is a blessing! can't believe the joy that something like this can bring to some kids, harried parents, hot parents, stressed parents...o. sorry.

Check out my knock-off baby Crocs...moving on up to size 3 finally!

on our trip up to the canal last night, Mel so graciously resumed her mothering roles and fed her baby sister a ba ba. Mel, You ROCK! Check out the mother in the making! Molly loves you!

The canal joggers...D. and Jeff were the only ones to really finish any kind of run. Will and E. attempted, Mel, Levi, Molly and I walked and my blood sugar dropped, so I got all whoozy and had to scarf down Molly's cheerios!

Last night, David, the boys and Jeff wanted to run the canal in downtown Indy. It was a picture perfect evening...I don't think the weather could've been any more perfect! Seems that the lovely weather brought out all the weirdos as well! (uh yeah, us) These are just a few of the pics that actually turned out on our venture.

The deck staining is going well...man, does it hurt my old body. I know I keep harping on that but it just strikes me how I'm not in my twenties anymore and I suddenly feel so middle-aged.

As for today...looks like it may rain so it's a good thing that I got a bit more stained on the pool deck! But now I'm off to get my eyebrows waxed...yeeouch....before I turn totally into Teen er I mean...Middle aged Wolf! I'll be back later...

O yeah, be on the lookout for my cousin Tory's new blog...when I get home, I am going to add her to my list of amigos! Maybe now this will spur my sister onto starting her own blog as well. My goal? that everyone I know has a blog! ok, not really. Welcome to Blogland Tory dear! So glad to have you!!