Saturday stain and sleep, a very "s" post

1/2 the porch is stained...(though now it is finished) this is just to show you how blue it really is!



Stainmaster

Calla, Will and Melanie...he was actually sleeping, snoring. The game of A to A wore him right out!!

Nuff said...

I once was lost, but now I'm found...

Just a few pictures from the past week...

David and 18yr old kid sis, Natalie...from her visit last week! Thanks for coming, kids!

You make us old fogies feel .... older than you could imagine.

Levi is the little tike on the left side of the group...

Someone is making little binocular eyes at us when he should be playing soccer...

drinkin' my coffee...it keeps him going!

Levi and his good buddy, Stephanie...her big sister, Madison, is Melanie's BFF

Little red-nosed baby girl...after a week of 80 degree temps, that morning was quite chilly!! Notice her 0-6 month pacifier...

Thanks for coming to the game, Uncle Tom! (I think he took 80 pix between Levi and Mel's games)!!

This girl loves grass...doesn't mind the texture and rather liked the dandelions!!

this is my favorite picture from last weekend...possibly one of my all time faves! and they posed willingly!! classic...when they figured out why we were all laughing so hard, they were less than thrilled!! durh.

I know I've been MIA for a few days...but if you know us, you know that soccer takes up a good part of our time in the months of April and May.

Spring in Indiana...hmmm. a challenging thing! we go from 85 degrees (which I can honestly do without) to 45 degrees and a chilly rain today. ugh. it's hard to dress little people when the weather teases us like this! but I am NOT complaining. In fact, I am CHOOSING JOY! This is a nice little respite in the midst of the week...this li'l chill we are experiencing. It's all good!

Molly is into everything...so one of our projects this weekend, between games and stuff, was to brace our stairway...or as Stickers refers to it, "scarystairs". I will have to take some pix of our rigged up set-up as well as the porch as it stands right now...David picked out a cool blue stain...ages the boards nicely.

I have more pix to blog but I need to hit the hay...staying up until well past midnight is catching up with this ol' cat. So, hope you enjoy the pix, hope you are doing well and hope that you leave a comment. I live for your comments! You know that, right? ok, just checkin'. Be back later...love and peace!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lanie!

BFF's through the years...my mom with my oldest cousin, Kenny,
with Aunt Lanie (aka "Doe")

Doe with her first granddaughter, Natalee

sitting pretty

Happy Birthday to YOU!



We hope, from down where we are, that your day is a beautiful celebration! Wishin' we could eat some cake with you and go to Orion House or one of those places we used to frequent (get the little room off to the side that fit our entire family...sniff sniff)! May the Lord bless your 61st year (oops, was I not supposed to mention your age???) with many warm moments :) (((hugs)))

Lanie is my mom's sister in law. She married my mom's only sibling, Allen, aka "Buck". hence, her nicky of "Doe". She is the mother to my cousins, Ken, Dawn, and Scott. She has 7 grandkids!! When she was dating my uncle, (back in the olden days...), they were on a hayride (Gpa was driving) and she fell off, and my Gramps ran her over. nice. To this day, she has knee issues, a loving reminder of days gone by. gee, thanks, Grampa.



You are in our thoughts and prayers...hope your birthday is memorable. I'm sure it will be! Lots of love from all of us down 'ere.

Hope this finds all the rest of you doing well, in good health, and enjoying some springtime bliss! I need to post on the porch latest. We are staining it a cool blue color...you'll just hafta see it. (come back, come back)

little side note: Charmaine, I didn't get in trouble on Tuesday. (thanks for being concerned though) It was fun to play on Mrs. S' lovely grass with you and your kids. I am still laughing about the Brett incident! hee hee. I can see his hair flappin' in the breeze. =)

whooooo are you?

'Memba Me? (lookit the stack of convention finds behind me)

We're gettin' there...

I know you must be dying to know what is shrouded in the black garbage bags...

Expensive Science book....

My girls...

Hi. Did you miss me? it's ok, you can admit it.

It's been a crazy busy couple of days...

I'm not sure who took that pic of me but I figured I'd show my face on my blog, since I was so happy in the pic! not so much (it's my serious face or lockjaw, as my family used to call it). But my hair was done. I know. help.

The science book is on here because, well, it just is. Long, complicated story...but good stuff! Apologia Science. Not cheap but rooted in the Bible, so that's cool. (84 dollars cool)

Isn't that there porch gettin' purty? The boys have been such an Amaaaaazing help to their Dad, and me for that matter, though I did have to go out there today to show them how to properly sink the screws...that's ok...they're young yet. E. likes to see how far he can get them in. Aside from Will's killer allergies, they have done so much to get this done! The shrouded black thingies? his and her statutes...no, really, boards that will be the guts of the posts that will lead to the new roof...not quite sure when that part of the project will be completed...but, it'll keep ya comin' back for more.

Lastly, took this pic of Mel, Mollsy, Nora and Pipes last Friday evening, after spending a good part of the afternoon walking the exhibit hall at the Convention Center (homeschool conv)...with Molly.

I could keep rattling on but I'm in need of sleep so I'll try to think of something to blog about. I know you will be waiting with bated breath. check back soon, k?

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Natalie, E, Will and Nick

David & Tony

The guys

N squared! whatta cute li'l couple!

Jeff found a box of discarded candy...we dared him to eat it, but he wouldn't!

You gotta see this Ben Stein documentary....very thought-provoking, whatever "side" you choose! We actually go a step further than origins of life being Intelligently Designed and believe that there was an infinitely intelligent creator, Jesus Christ, (God the Son) and that He did it all in 6 days, resting on the 7th. Otherwise known as Creationism. I know some of my "readers" may not share the same beliefs, and that's ok. We were created with a "free will". I will never get off this soapbox but I promise to never shove it down your throat...(if I seem to, though, please share your thoughts).







So, we got a li'l group of folksies together tonight to go see this film...and of course, whatta wonderful bloggin' op! As I had mentioned, Natalie and Nick were able to join us, and they even got to see my drive over a curb (nice)...our family friend, Tony, another fam friend, Jeff, my bro Tom, Will and E. I'm sure these pix explain themselves. Mom and Dad, who so kindly, and as usual, kept Molly, Levi and Mel...thank YOU! thank you!! I really must find a babysitter so you don't always have to watch my babies. but you know how much I appreciate your care!



Ok, wow, so I got off there...



I guess that is it for tonight. The chitlins are all downstairs playing charades with N squared at 1:45 a.m.....so I'm going to go to bed! as soon as my pictures upload on my dinosaur of a computy.

Happy Belated Birthday, Natalie!!

a visit to the canal

lovely, sweet spirited girl!!

meeting 4th niece, Molly...

Happy 18th Birthday, Dear Natalie!!

Somehow, somewhere, along the way, you managed to grow up on us! dang sista! why you be doin' dat?

Ok, well, I just wanted to send a little shout out to you, dear younger sister to my loving husband! We hope your celebration was and continues to be spectacular...with a grand finale whopping good time here with us. We can't wait to see you and Nick and spend some time with you kids!

I will have to dig up some funny old pictures from the different visits we've had with this lovely'n. Natalie is so kind and gracious to our kids, her nieces and nephews, and we are so blessed and thankful to have her in our lives! The kids LOVE YOU!! When I married D. in 1993, we lived in his parents' basement...and up above us, there was his family, which consisted of Nathan, who was 7, Natalie who was 3ish and baby Emilie...We had one window in our downstairs apartment...and if the kids wanted to know if we were around, or up for entertaining, they'd smear their faces up against the window and look right in at us...(not a big apt. by any means)...or come and knock on our door till they'd get bored waiting...I was homesick and then pregnant so I didn't appreciate the sweetness of those day to day situations till many years later. Forgive my impatience, Natalie. (ok, I think I've typed your name too many times now...)

(sorry this is a few days late, we really did think about you that whole day and hope you know that we all love you!)

Good night all and if you happen to click on Nattikin's blog, over on the right-hand side (Confessions of a Female Gamer), give her a little b-day shout out!

Did you feel the Quake?

The great Midwest experienced a 5.4 magnitude earthquake this morning at around 5:39...isn't that wild?

Indiana hasn't experienced one of these since back in 1968 (I wasn't even born yet). The center of it was located in West Salem, Illinois. There is a seismologist in Bloomington, IN with IU whose name is Dr. Hamburger...he's on TV right now and there is really no point to mentioning this other than the fact that I love his name. It makes me hungry. mmmm hamburgers at 7:45 a.m.

David and I did actually wake up and wondered what was happening but we fell right back to sleep. I need to check with the kids to see if they noticed it (I'm sure they didn't...now I can truly say they would sleep thru an earthquake!!)

I hope everyone is ok...we are a-ok! just in case you were wondering! I'd better go check our porch. yikes.

**edit**just watching the news, they have downgraded the quake to a 5.2, which "they" still say is a significant one. all this news coverage is cracking me right up.

Bobbleheads and sturdy porches

Doesn't Molly resemble a bobblehead? big, round head with a skinny li'l neck...and a perfect li'l ol' lady face. She makes this face a lot right now and I wonder if it feels good on her mouth...it looks so funny but it's one of my favorite faces.

Melanie with her little old lady friend

this is how she fell asleep this afternoon, bent right in half.

the stair project has started, though I failed to get an after picture. they aren't really done yet.

Drafting class

Does some damage with a tape measure...mad skills!

It was so very nice outside today...mid-70's, sunny, mild...o lovely.

David and the boys worked on the new porch for quite a while today...although Will isn't in any of the above pix. He seems to have some outdoor allergies and his eyes got a bit aggravated. Plus, he got his braces off yesterday and he's just not used to his new retainer..I will have to take some pix of that, for he never developed two teeth, the ones on the side of the two big ones, so they strategically placed fake ones on his new retainer. he looks completely whack without the retainer in and poor thing sounds all slurpy when he talks. When he is 19 or 20, he can have his implants put in so it's another 6 or 7 years. O my, that really isn't that much time...he will be a grown man by then. I'll be back. I've gotta go chew on that for a minute.

Ok, otherwise, Indiana homeschool convention is tomorrow and Sat. I'm only going to the exhibit hall, to check out some curriculum etc. sounds like a good time, doesn't it? that is a big part of our Friday. Big boys get to go to work with their dad.

Pretty exciting stuff goin on here! enjoy the above pix...Molly, oh Mollsy, you wear me out little girl. She is a crawling madwoman, into everything, nothing is safe, no rest for the weary. I'm going to bed. whew...nighty night!

12 things

As usual, I have forgotten to take my 12 pictures for my 12 on the 12th album that I hope to complete this year.

So, I took these pix yesterday, and was only 2 days late. The 12th was Saturday, which was a crazy busy day, so it only makes sense that I was so late.

You know what I find quite funny and rather annoying is that I never develop pictures anymore. I don't know if any of you find yourself in this rut but I am. Once I went digital, it became impossible for me to have a consistent developing...when you have that roll of film in your dirty mitts, you tend to remember to drop them off. If anyone out there has any good suggestions or reminders I can use to be more consistent, I am open to hearing them. It's not the picture taking that is lacking (well, not really)...it's getting them in a hard copy!

God Bless you today!

Review of our last week

We took this pic shortly before we left the B's house, and we did it ourselves...
not too bad for a self-portrait at 1 a.m.!!


David and I had the pleasure of going out with our friends, John and Wendy B. on Saturday night. Yes, folks, a real live date-with a nice dinner at a grown up place (Kona Grill and D. and I split Macadamia nut chicken with veggies)....back to J and W's house for latte's (thanks Wendy, those were fantastic!!) for some uninterrupted fellowship! My mom had the girls and our friend, Jeff, braved having all three boys...so thank you to both of you! For making this date happen by watching our brood! We appreciate it so much and had such a nice time being out. It truly does make me appreciate my role as a mom! David got back into town just in time to shower and roll back out...so he technically didn't need a break, in that sense. it usually goes by too fast though.

My kids are funny though, because they get kind of offended when I say I need some time away...like I don't like them or something. But what they forget or whatever they want to call it, is that I'm with them 24/7, running here and there, bossing them around, feeding them, making sure they shower, do their school and instruments and also dealing with attitude, of which there has been no shortage of THAT around here lately...I am so glad to be able to be home with them and the one that heads up all their activities but a break is nice now and then. so there, kids. it makes me a better mom. sorta. :) Thank you to David and God for providing for us to be here, to be active doing the things we do day by day! I don't take the sacrifices lightly.

I think I mentioned in the kidney stone post that my mom in law and bro in law were here last week...I don't get too many pix of her with my kids since they don't live near us but I vow to be better about that! Here is Miss Molly with her Grandma Judy.

The weather was so nice and mild last week...we got to enjoy the beginnings of our new porch...the work will continue on now that David is home...so I will update frequently...it's going to be quite nice! yah!! where's your shirt, kid?

Just a few different shots of the work etc.

We can't wait to get the pool up and running once again...it's small but wonderful! Come on down and swim with us!! (um, that is, if we know you!)

'Tis a lovely sunny day here in the great midwest today! Does the soul a world of good! This past weekend was smudgy and I'm so glad we got that over with...now onto warmth and sun. (positive thoughts and words are supposed to bring about change, right?)

Um, so otherwise, we are all doing quite well...Molly is just a bundle of sheer energy, into everything already...crawling like a little punk. It's quite cute though and I will try to get some action shots of her. She is even pulling herself up in her crib, loves to drop toys out in her crib and while she is in her high chair. She is awesome!

Levi's head is healing up quite nicely... and thankfully it's now covered by his hair. He is really enjoying doing his Pre-K work, cutting, coloring, learning his colors and shapes and it's like, all of a sudden, the little light just came on for him with this stuff. Though I personally think the kid likes to "play" us. He had his first soccer practice last week and his first soccer game this coming Sat...stay tuned for some pix of that! He is really excited and loves his new cleats! Another funny Levi thing: E. Mel, and Levi all have an ongoing "game" of playing house, and E. is the Dad, Mel is the Mom and Levi is the son. So they all refer to David and I as Grandma and Grandpa...it kind of gets to me occasionally but I usually play along. David doesn't seem to notice it! then again, he is OLD...(37) har har

Will, Ethan, and Melanie all started their spring season of soccer as well...I can't believe Will and E. are in the 7th/8th grade leagues. It's really not a competitive league, it's through a local church, but it's been so great for all of them and heck, for us as well. Will is almost as tall as his dad, his feet are just a smidge smaller than D's as well! Can't believe my boy is getting so manly! E. seems to be getting taller as well...he is quite glad about that...he is actually doing double duty on soccer teams this spring..there is a 5/6 grade league, which is what he should technically be on, but our coach uses him on both teams...so he's glad to be doing that! Both boys have been an important part in getting our porch work completed! They are such cool young men! Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for these dudes.

Melanie is all geared up to turn 10 in May...sometimes I forget that she is still quite young because she is so mature and helpful!! She is a wonderful 2nd momma to Molly and we are so blessed to have her. I love each opportunity to talk with her and share moments with her. She is such a sweet spirited girly girl! Right this very moment, actually, she is helping Levi with his cutting project and practicing his colors! (anything to get out of her own schoolwork.)

Allrighty then, time to elliptical and get the rest of the day going...but thanks for letting me update y'all on what is happening around here! This has been a very sappy, gabby post! you know my thoughts on that! chow everybody!

Can you say kidney stones? Part Deux

Hi folks. I do hope you are able to enjoy this last day of mild weather before winter strikes here in the great midwest. again.

I will try to make this post brief...remember back in January when I had the kidney issue? well, it's back...I vowed to never live through that pain and discomfort again. I could feel something brewing last night and denied that it could strike again. I came home from my pal's house, took my S.D.-R., which is supposed to dissolve said stones. I fell asleep during the news only to wake up to the discomfort and agony that I had endured back on that sunny Jan. day.

Ahhhhh. It's the weirdest thing because it is so much like early labor (I know I've mentioned that on this blog). But you can find a moment's relief in early labor...w/ this, you can't. Horrible. sheer antsy, wiggly pain. I tried to sleep, tried to get into that comfortable sleeping position, but NEVER found it. This time, I got to vomit as well. Aren't you glad, glad, glad to know that?

Thankfully, David's mom is in town this week and staying in my house...at 7:30 this morning, I stumbled down to her to see if she could muscle test me, see what was up since the pain on my right side was so unbearable...so now I'm taking 30 drops of the above herb every hour...and drinking lemon water...but I'm finding it kinda hard to want to ingest anything.

Aren't I just a ball of fun? I know. come back again later. I have porch pics that I want to post but I need to go lay down for a minute...I even tried to take my picture like I did after last time..and I look like I'm about 48 years old and haggard. it's not a pretty sight. it isn't even on a "good" day so imagine how horrific.

That's what's happening under my bridge today! Hope and pray that you are well! see ya L8R!

Happy Birthday, Heather!

Heather and Becky! love these girls!


Today, I decided to start showcasing my friends and other family when it's their birthday. Now. remember, friend or family, that I am human and may occasionally forget or get it on my blog late but I'll get ya!

This is my friend Heather! I met her through my sister, who met her through her sister-in-law Cyndy (HI Cyndy)...Heather helped out at my baby shower last year and was really not only a big help, encouragement there but after I had Molly. This young lady has a blog of her own (Our Journey with Jack) and you can find the link in my Amigos section! Give her a visit, leave her a comment and tell her how adorable her sweet li'l son Jack is!!

Happy Birthday, Heather! You are one of a kind and I'm so thankful to know you! Hope your day is bright and sunny, in spite of the clouds!

Watch out world...

check out the "trouble" just a-brewin' behind those peepers!

she is trying to eat the camera here...

Natural born Lego putter togetherer...(yes, I homeschool, would you like me to teach YOUR kids??)

Chow baby girl...

First of all...Happy Ninth Month Miss Mollsy! I simply refuse to believe that my last child is this old and close to turning ONE! so there.

Secondly, this cat is crawling now. She has the little rough, red rug burns on her baby soft knees to prove it. She has gotten quite fast also! Just ask Grams, who babysat her tonight...ugh. :)

I took these pix on the head trauma day...before Heck broke loose! She is such a little joy to be around. She reminds me of what David would have been like as an infant...cute, totally pesky, fast, and into everything. You really can't get too aggravated at her, she is just doing what she is wired to do. Soon enough, it will be time to slap her li'l hands...I'm thinking sooner rather than later with this one. She is a firecracker! ka-pow!

Another funny Molly story....she is officially Mel's girl. If she has her choice between Mel and Mom, she'll choose Mel..and will turn herself AWAY from me. Punk. though it's kinda cute. (it stems back to head trauma day, when I ditched her with her older sibs to run Levi off to the ER).

I know this is a rather mundane post...I need to take some pix of porch progress because I know you are dying to see it. hang tight, k? I will enlighten you with those treats tomorrow...but until then, adios...