Saturday Night Reflections

Psalm 29:3-5

The voice of the Lord echos above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majextic.

The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

For the past 30is hours I've been at Camp Victory about 20 minutes from home at our women's retreat. In addition to a time of fun, fellowship, food and getting to know new women (which I wasn't prepared to do but was blessed to be able to connect with women who I don't normally get to). I came away with a newly decorated candle, a prettily covered journal and 2 1/2 pages of hand written notes from a 30 minute quiet time we were to have. The above verses spoke to me and the Lord reminded me of one small truth. The same voice that thunders over the sea in such a powerful and mighty way is the same one that whispers my name in love. Thank you, Lord, for whispering my name.

*********
And on a totally unrelated note. Scruff had kittens today. The one day I'm gone and the cat gives birth. Three little kittens.

New Post!

Believe or not I'm writing a new post! Well, not exactly, but I've taken a quiz and I'll share my score with you:

You Are Totally Like Your Mom

You and your mom are practically clones. You think alike, and you even seem to read each other's minds. You're definitely you're mother's child... and that's just fine with you.

Are You Like Your Mom?

Happy Mother's Day in a few weeks, Mom! :) I'm sure my kids will grow up saying things like, "if all your friends jumped off a bridge would you have to, too?" and "I'm not the entertainment committee. Go find something to entertain yourself." LOL. Just kidding. But I did make someone in the line at walmart smile when I told Aidan that this afternoon. :)

Another day

I don't think there's much new to report. We've had a few people come through and look at the house. This is a little discouraging since before we leave to go anywhere the dishes have to be done (or at least hidden!), the beds have to be made and the toys/dirty laundry/etc have to be picked up. Why? Because we could get a call at any time of the day for someone to come to see the house. And if they should happen to call and come by when we're not there I don't want anyone to see exactly how messy we can be! (Plus of course a clean house is more likely to sell than a dirty/cluttered one.)

In other news, Avery's teething again. This time seems much worse than the other times. She was eating lunch and crying between each bite. Finally I just told her she was done, took her upstairs where she promptly konked out. I think she was asleep before I shut her door. Poor lil' babe!

I've also been doing some more "mega cooking". In my freezer I either have or will soon have: a spaghetti casserole, several kits for quick chicken quesadillas, a huge batch of beef stroganoff (which I plan to use on Thursday night when I have a passel o' relatives here) stuffed shells and a parsley paremesean chicken dish. I'm on break from the mega assembling of stuff right now. It is stressful to make so much food in one 24 hour period, but honestly, it's kinda' fun at the same time. Nevermind the fact that now I don't have to worry about a dozen or so meals in the coming weeks. :) Yippee for me and thanks to Anne for the recipes and tips!

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

I found this on Everett's Blog. After the weather lately I can't think of a better description.
Where is SPRING???

Random amusing quotes:
"I feel like March came in like a lion, then turned into a lamb. Then another lion came along and ate the lamb and I'm afraid there won't be any more lambs." JA on our recent weather.

Oh No

Our house is officially for sale. So, with three kids running around the house all day and one crashing his way into the house after school, I'm keeping a house "show ready". That means basically making it look like nobody lives here. So, yesterday at 1:00 I got a call from a realtor asking if he could show the house. At 1:30. Which, as any mother of pre-schoolers knows is right smack dab in the middle of nap time. But, as anyone who has ever tried to sell a house knows, you don't tell a realtor who may have your new buyer in his office that he can't show your house! So, while the kids were in their beds I did a quick "dash and stash". I tossed the few dishes into the dishwasher and ran a quick swipe over the counters. Really, the house stays in pretty good show ready condition. So, I was trying to stash my dirty coffee pot in the cupboard and low and behold I broke the pot. Dropped it on the floor shattering it everywhere. No problem, a quick sweep and the problem was solved.
Except for the fact that I DO NOT HAVE A COFFEE POT NOW!!! And for someone with a two pot a day habit, that's a problem. (No, it's just a 4 cup mini-pot that makes 2 mugs, not one of the big 12 cup pots, I'm not that bad!)
Oh, and Jim's car did not start this morning. So I cannot even run to McD's and get some crummy coffee because he took my van. And of course if we get a call from a realtor I have to cram us all in the Corolla, hope it starts for me and park down the (mostly private) dirt road. Should be a fun day. No coffee. No vehicle. No brain cells left. Woo Hoo! Come on over and play! Please.....

Now That's a Relief!

For Toby's birthday we got him some real tools. We got him wrenches, screwdrivers, nuts and bolts, paintbrushes and a scraper. We also got him some lengths of galvanized pipe with elbow joints, couplers and some other stuff he can put together and take apart.

In the past couple of days Aidan and Evan have been forming the galvanized pipes and elbows into guns. Now, some parents would freak out and ban the guns. I've seen little boys turn Barbie dolls, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and graham crackers into guns so I figured that even if I banned the galvanized steel I would end up with weapons. So, I put some boundaries in place for the guns. The boys spent the evening in their bedroom putting stuffed animals "stuffies" all around their room and hunting down the stuffies.

So, rest assured. We are now safe from the teddy bears and sock monkeys.

Poop

First off let me say that I'm sorry I lied. I didn't stay away from the computer. I broke my self imposed grounding about a bajillion times since I grounded myself. It started with "let me just quick see if anyone commented to the blog where I say I'm grounded" then it was quickly right back into my old habit of reading blogs, commenting, emailing etc etc etc. So, nevermind about that self imposed grounding thing. The self discipline in the Mommy Lady?? It stinks.

As do several other things around here. I have come to the conclusion that I will NEVER be done with poop! Night before last? Avery has a diaper blow out. SHE'S ONE!!! SHOULDN'T SHE BE DONE WITH THOSE BY NOW??? Jim was on duty for that one. Last night? During Toby's birthday party? Avery has ANOTHER blow out! This morning first thing in the morning? No, no poop. Instead: partially digested carrots. I'm not sure which is worse, poop or vomit. Then later this morning after morning nap? Yup. Opened the door to a stink bomb. And to make matters worse, my ordinary super huge capacity washing machine is disconnected so we can re-plumb the laundry room. To his credit, before Jim disconnected the big guns he did put the itty bitty little washing machine that came with the house down in the basement. I helped. Now, instead of being able to wash a whole packed down and heaping full basket of wash at one time I can wash approximately three things. Socks, for example. Not so good when you have a baby who poos and pukes on all her bedding and outfits two or three times a day! Now I know I'm supposed to be feeling sorry for little Avery who obviously doesn't feel well. And I do. It stinks (ha ha) to be sick and not feel so good. But I can complain about the mess at the same time, right?

Plus also, as I was sitting composing this post, Aidan comes in from the outside. I tried to shoo him back outside "go outside and play or come in and take a nap". "No, Mom, wait! I pooped in my underwear." Grrrr. (In his defense he didn't actually, but started a little bit thinking it was a toot that wasn't.)

So, aren't you glad you checked my blog today???

This too shall pass. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.....

Grounded

For my 150th post I would like to say that I'm now grounded. Jim and I are planning on listing our 5 acres in the middle of a cornfield on April 1. That's just two weeks away, people! So, for the next two weeks I'm grounding myself from the computer during the day. I'll still check email and blogs, but only after the kids are in bed for the night. Sigh. It will be tough, but to make this house presentable and to pack up a family of 6 to move for the second time in a year I'll have to do it!

On the list of things to do:

lay linoleum in the dining room and kitchen (bought it, just have to do it)
clear our parlor down to one desk instead of two
purge and pack the boys' room (esp toys)
purge and pack the girl's room (mostly done-ish)
purge and pack the basement (lots to do down there)
purge and pack the laundry area (this is sort of kind of under control)

This in addition to the regularly scheduled jobs necessary to keep our house running semi-smoothly!

So, for the most part, fare thee well dear "internets". I'll miss you and see you when I get back!

A Rude Awakening

We have three cats. They are all outdoor cats (though two believe they should be indoor cats and dart in when we open the door). Their job is to sleep in the mudroom on a very hairy chair cushion and to catch teeny little furry things that want to come in and eat our cereal, crackers and cookies. And crumbs. They do the first job very well. I'm not so sure about the second job. This morning Jim woke me up at about 6:20. "Do you wanna have some fun?" Immediately my mind went there and I thought, "are you nuts? I've been mostly awake since Avery woke me up at 4:21. No, I don't wanna have some fun." But, being the loving, gentle and demure wife any man would want I asked, "What sort of fun?" He replied with something that I cannot print here because my friend Mel would absolutely die and refuse to come to my house ever again. It rhymed with, "there's a house in the nigh hair". (Mel, stop reading. Translated that last sentence reads, "there's a mouse in the high chair".) Not exactly what you'd want to wake up to, huh? I think maybe our outdoor cats might need to spend a little time in the house.

(I also had a dream about one of the cats the other night. Scruff is a girl cat. In my dream, Scruff had kittens. But, in my dream, Scruff gave birth to the kittens, but was a male cat and therefore couldn't nurse them. Weird, huh?)

Put down the coffee and go potty. Trust me.

I read several blogs on a daily basis. Usually while Elmo is cackling in the background and my kids are totally enthralled with the electronic babysitter. One that I read on a daily basis is called "BooMama". I have no idea how I found her, but I have never been disappointed. Recently she and some other bloggers found themselves in Uganda with Compassion International. I have no idea how Compassion found them or why they decided on Uganda, but BooMama had herself some crazy adventures there. Put your coffee down, go in and go potty and then read this. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Because I'm nuts

Part of what I did while I was in Iowa and South Dakota was to stock my sisters' freezers with some semi-nutritious, non-fast food meals. I made double batches of four of my family's favorites, divided them up and provided each sister with four freezer meals to use whenever they needed them. This week I decided to do the same for my own family! Last night it was beef tips and gravy with homemade mashed potatoes. I multiplied the recipe pretty much by two and then divided it up into three portions. I served one last night for dinner and have to meals in the freezer! Then today I totally went nuts and prepared double batches of Creamy Chicken Italiano, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chicken Enchiladas and Chili. That makes a total of ten meals in my freezer ready to go at (almost) a moment's notice! :)

I'm also part of a freezer meal swap. We each make 6-8 batches of a recipe, then swap them around so we end up with 6-8 different recipes in the freezer. Yup, add that to the 10 I already have in there and I won't have to cook dinner until after Easter! :) Feeling pretty good about that. Feeling pretty good. :)

Toby: "Mommy, Aidan doesn't want to play Rescue Heroes so I decided you can play Rescue Heroes with me instead."

In other news, Avery turned 1 year old this past Saturday! Happy Birthday, Avery! It's sort of odd knowing that she's the caboose of the family. I had my last first birthday party as a mother. With Evan I noted all the firsts. With Avery I'm noting all the lasts. Strangest thing? When I pulled the last newborn sized diaper out of the drawer and cried knowing it was the last time I'd put one of my own babies in a newborn diaper. That diaper is sitting (unused of course) up in my dresser. Why? Because I'm crazy like that.

I also spent the better part of last week in South Dakota and Iowa with my sisters who have had babies in the past few weeks. My little sisters both had their third kiddos, girls just a few weeks apart. I cooked and cleaned and dispensed much advice on saving money, budgeting, menu planning, breastfeeding and the like. They even asked questions and seemed to be listening! 20 years ago if you'd told me I'd be doing that with one particular sister we both would have slugged you. It was a wonderful time. It seems that everyone grows up. Thanks for having babies Raina and Wendy! I had a blast!

We're not so young anymore

Well, we had a blast at our sleepover! We stayed up late (3:30!!!) and talked and ate and talked and ate and talked and ate. Then we lounged about in the hot tub (!) and hit the sack. When we got up we talked and ate and talked and ate and talked and ate. Since we weren't able to get oursleves around in time for actual church we gatherd in the living room and shared what God'd been revealing to us in our own quiet times. We had a great time of prayer and fellowship (and did I mention the eating?) Then we played Wii (which was a great time) and even played Dance Dance Revolution. It was so much fun. I was glad we weren't a bunch of self consious teenagers. We've seen each other hugely pregnant, nursing and post partum (nevermind the bathing suits the night before) so we're all comfortable enough with ourselves to have a grand time making a fool out of ourselves!

Now I'm getting ready to load up the three lil'uns and head out to South Dakota and Iowa where my two sisters have each had babies in the past few weeks. I'm armed with recipes, large mixing bowls and a crock pot to stock up their freezers! Should be fun. My older sister who lives in FL will be there, so all the girls will be together again for the first time in (I think) years. Much fun will be had. And most of it will revolve around food I bet. ;)

Mamma gets a day off!

We have a friend who moved away. 1 1/2 hours away to be exact. And 4 of us are going up to have a good ol'fashioned sleepover tonight! We'll stay up late, eat way too much and talk well into the night. I'll be back! (Oh, and if you should think of it, pray a blessing over the Daddys. They'll be home with the kids!)

All In A Day's Work

Well, I was recently re-connected with an old college friend. She asked me what a typical day was like for me out on the farm with 3 kids home all day. Since today was just about as ordinary as any other day, I thought I'd just go through today.

5:something. Nursling baby wakes up. Nurses and back to sleep.

6:30ish: Someone else under 4 feet tall ends up in my bed. Since Jim is up and getting ready, I reluctantly get up too. I was deep in a really weird dream, so it takes me much longer than usual to actually wake up.

7:00: Jim and Evan leave for school. Baby decides that she wasn't really interested in going back to sleep. I get her up and feed her some mush. Meanwhile I get the other boys fed and dressed. The mush for the morning? REAL oatmeal mixed with applesauce. Probably will be the healthiest thing they'll eat all day! No, I didn't make "applesauce oatmeal" first thing in the morning. I made a huge batch of it last weekend, divvied it up in little containers and froze it. My mom is cringing now thinking of me feeding my kids frozen oatmeal. They don't know better!

7:15: Finish getting boys washed and dressed. Wash and dress Avery. Find cute pink bow/headband thinger to top off the cutie pie look. Settle all 3 lil'uns down to a Baby Einstein movie so I can take a shower. (Not even going to try to deny it, my kids watch TV.)

7:20: Take shower and get ready for MOPS. Yup, we have MOPS today. It is a normal day, however, because several times a week we're out and about early anyway!

7:55: Email myself the document I need for today's craft. Get three kids into coats, mitts, hats, van and car-seats. Everyone in? Everyone buckled. Course they are. I have to buckle all three in because of their winter gear they are unable to do it themselves.

8:08: We're pulling out of the driveway and on the way to MOPS.

8:12: Convince Toby that we cannot stop to let him ride the cows. Even though he wants to.

8:23: Arrive (**early!!**) to MOPS. Park next to one of the "mentor moms" who helps me unload the three kidlets, carry in the bucket full of baby and is impressed by the fact that I told the boys, "pretend there's a line there and stand on it" and they did! Yeah for me!!! (That's my corralling trick in the parking lot. I tell the boys to stand on the line and they stay there until I can get everyone and everything out of the van. Since the lines are covered with snow I've had to take to telling them what I just wrote above.)

8:25: Everyone in, getting coats, mitts, hats etc off and hung up. Starting to have an uneasy feeling about my emailed document.

8:32: Boys are running around the sanctuary and my uneasy feeling is confirmed. I forgot to attach the document to the email I sent to church for the craft directions. Crud.

8:33-9:15: Drop kids off at their respective classrooms. Track down friend who gave me the recipe we worked on in MOPS today, she calls friends who also have the recipe. We end up having to wing it and just type out what I remembered.

9:20ish: Head in, grab some nummy food for breakfast (mental note to self given at that time, you can skip lunch!) Sit, chat, listen to wonderful speaker about marriage, respecting your husband and another topic suitable for the meeting before Valentine's day. Listen for yourself here. It should be up soon if it isn't already.

10:36: Explain to the women how to assemble their "Fondue for Two" kits. Tell them to ignore the directions on how to complete their kits at home and that I'll email them the right ones within 24 hours. Oops. Women are understanding and laugh about my computer user error. Phew!

11:ish. Clean up all the dry ingredients, tables, etc. Chat with some mommies and remember that I do indeed have to go pick up my own kids from their classrooms. Accept compliments on how much the teachers love the kids. Leave resolved to be a better mommy and wife.

11:47: Drive through McDonalds for burgers for the kids because we have other errands to run. So much for better Mommy!

Noonish: Pick up 100 lbs of chicken feed at the coop. Proud of self for being able to shlep a 50 lb bag of chicken feed by myself thankyouverymuch!

Shortly thereafter: Stop at library to pick up books on Paul Revere for Evan's report/wax museum presentation. Leave baby in the bucket on the table of the kids' section for the librarians to talk to while I corral the other boys.

1:00: Home. Wrangle three kids out of their coats, mitts, hats and wet shoes. Remind boys AGAIN to hang up their coats and put their shoes in the closet. Put all three kids to nap.

1:45. Remember that while the boys have eaten lunch, the girl has not. Release mommy guilt and feed baby mush.

2:00: Baby back down for nap.

2:15: Let Toby out of nap.

2:30: Baby still protesting nap.

2:35: Let baby out of nap.

2:37: Wonder why I bother with Curves. I get a full step aerobic workout just getting the kids to take a stinkin' nap!

3:00: Aidan out of nap. Why is it that the oldest one at home will take an actual nap but the two little ones who really need one won't???

3:12: Talk to another human being over 4 feet tall. Wasn't MOPS just this morning? Wasn't I supposed to have gotten a little refreshed just 4 hours ago??? Why don't our kids take naps? Why do we have to listen to them running around the table pretending to be Walter the monkey? Who is Walter the monkey, anyway and why can't he be quiet???????

3:42: Remember that Jim and Evan won't be home for dinner at the regular time. Start rice for chicken and rice dish anyway.

And on and on and on.

So, Jim and Evan came home. I shoveled chicken and rice casserole into the kids. I shoveled carrots into the kids. I managed to sneak in a few bites myself. Jim stayed home with the kids while I went to Curves to workout. Jim also gave the boys a bath and got the two little ones down for bed before I got home. (!) When I got home I finished bathing two boys, got them lotioned up and even managed to glue the legs on a Valentine's Day Robot card box for a very impressed little second grader to take to school tomorrow.

Now to tackle the dishes, clean the dining room table off (I left for Curves immediately after dinner), run a load of laundry through, pay bills (maybe) and maybe read a little before crashing into bed. And then tomorrow, without the drama of the lost email attachment and the companionship of MOPS, I'll do much of the same. Sounds boring, right? At times, yes. But how can things be boring in a houseful of children? Tomorrow we'll glue beans on construction paper in the shapes of their names, color a bit, read a bit, maybe make a couch cushion pirate ship. Hey, maybe Walter will even come back! And if he doesn't, I'm sure another little monkey will take his place. All in a day's work, my friends. All in a day's work.

What is the worldd coming to???

They'rrrrrre baaaaaack.....

Mamma's Proud

Last night we took the fam to Macaroni Grill. This was our first family out to eat experience in quite a while. We usually are only brave enough to hit the local Mexican restaurant or the mall's food court with our 4 kiddos. We were given a very generous gift certificate to MG, so we figured it would be cheaper to take the kids with us than to pay for a baby sitter! And the kidlets did not disappoint! All of the boys chose the kid's pizza, which was a HUGE pizza for a little child! Honestly, the four of them could have very comfortably shared two pizzas with leftovers. But, since we had the certificates, we just let them gorge themselves. :)

It was also a great chance to see their personalities in action. Jim asked Evan for a bite, not a whole slice but just a bite. At first Evan said, no. Then he relented, tore off a slice then cut a bit off the end for Jim. Toby yanked a slice off and said, "you can have a piece of my pizza, Daddy". When Aidan saw the praise flowing for Toby sharing he tore off a slice for Avery and me to share. Toby continued to offer a slice of pizza to everyone who walked by. Customers and waitstaff were offered a piece of Toby's pizza! Even the manager who was strolling around the restaurant was offered a piece of Toby Pizza!

In the end, we all waddled away appropriately stuffed and with three boxes of leftovers. Avery even ate almost two slices of pizza along with her dish of mush from home. Jim and Evan took their leftovers to school (Evan with emphatic warnings not to microwave the aluminum leftover container at school!) and Aidan and Toby will share Aidan's leftovers. With all of his generosity Toby wasn't left with more than a plateful of crusts. :)

So, did the kids behave at this "fancy-ish" restaurant WITH REAL CLOTH NAPKINS? Oh you bet. Evan was shocked that for only $4.99 he was able to have a huge pizza, a drink AND DESSERT!!! WOAH, WHAT A GREAT DEAL THIS PLACE HAS!!! THE DRINK IS FREE??? THE ICE CREAM IS FREE??? He was shocked. Aidan and Toby sat nicely and ate their dinner. Avery was the loudest, but that's only because I wasn't able to shovel food into her as fast as she thought I ought. Heaven forbid that I actually get a bite into myself once in a while!!!

Overall I can say that I was proud of my kids. They ate well, used their nice words and didn't spill anything. :) They shared their dinners with the family and didn't make any rude comments about anyone! We just might be able to take them out in public again. :)

Clearly I don't have enough to do

I've found yet another giveaway! The BlondeMom blog is hosting a giveaway every Friday in January and February! Click on over here to enter to win a funky "OutMat" for picnics, ball games etc!

Another Contest!

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

Diaper Bag giveaway!

I hope I'm not too late here! I found this giveaway today and since it ends today, well, I hope Im still okay to enter!!! And while I'm sure I need another diaper bag like I need a hole in my head, I hope I win!!! Click on over here to find the fun!