Heading Out Again.....And Distractions

Here we are again only hours away from hitting the road. I do love when we are not having to leave at the crack of dawn.......literally. It makes for a much more peaceful day and not having to worry about having the van loaded the night before. And for some reason it's always more peaceful when we leave when Brad is home and not trying to get out the door at 7am on our own without his help. It's definitely been done and, in doing so, having managed to only have run 20 minutes behind at that. Just not something I prefer to do.





To some it may seem as if I have completely fallen off the face of the earth for now. I can go for 3 entire days now without checking email and then when I do check in only manage to read briefly without ever a minute to respond. This is so totally unlike me in every aspect and I hate knowing how behind I am falling in more than one area. Overwhelmed? Not really. Just extremely preoccupied and.......well, just busy. I went from not ever really thinking about how close this baby is to being a bit consumed with it, I suppose. And with school on a roll and Aubrey now reading it's become so much more than just sitting them down with instructions...though they do have their self taught assignments laid out for them. As anything goes though, it still requires some attention. And as we get closer I made a to do list of things that have to be done. Cutting everybody's hair was one of them. So, yesterday all 5 boys were lined up and went through "the barber shop...which would be bathroom-turned-barber facilities" while the girls got their homemade "salon" appt today. While cutting the boys' hair is now a no brainer and turns out a better haircut than any I have ever paid for the girls' hair is a different story. But, as always, practice makes perfect....eventually. And today I was quite impressed, despite the amount of cussing I did while in the midst of the hair cutting process. Not bad and I even managed to layer it a little.......yes, intentionally........and frame around their faces. Not bad at all! I'll get the hang of this in the end.



I was thinking today.....prioritizing really..........about the busyness of life and what I would like to accomplish over the next year. With the constant of our life right now.....the day in-day out school stuff along with readying life and home for a new baby what is it that I really want to pursue beyond all else. So, I made a list and began to ponder what seemed to be all of life and the essence thereof. What is truly worthwhile, life enriching endeavors and what it just trivial stuff that creates a busyness that does not need to exist and only manages to makes our lives crazier and me more insane than when I started it all. All of this done in the hopes of finishing it and seeing a task to the bitter end.........so like myself in everything I take on. Yes.......there are many things that need to willingly be laid down for a season for the sake of my children. There are many things that just do nothing but produce stress in an already filled day of just keeping up with hearth and home. I have no greater joy than to see my children seated around the kitchen table every morning with heads bent low writing out their Scripture verses and toiling away at their spelling. It truly brings me such inner joy as I watch them discover the world around them and just how big it really is. As we dug into Spain, Norway, Germany and Tokyo this past week they all reveled in the marvel of the culture and what exactly life is like in these different countries.



I sat for a moment in the busyness of the morning routine............amidst the lively chatter of younger ones, the questions posed by older ones and the happy squeals of a baby now walking like a pro and playing squealy, happy games with a toddler sibling and I am again reminded that this is my priority. Always...........first and foremost. "I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in truth." That they are surrounded by love and security in their worlds. That we are here, free, studying the Bible, practicing pretty cursive using Scripture verses, talking openly and including everyone in the school day happenings. I watch as they all take a break and get some fresh air as the boys run and tackle each other, laughing and hollering............sounds that emanate and resound happily through open windows. The girls run with the wind blowing through their hair and I see our freedom. I hold it dear to my heart. Again , I am reminded that even though some days I am tempted a bit to be a little disappointed at all of the things I aspire to do and accomplish that there is definitely a season for everything and a time for everything in life. This time is so fleeting. They are little for only so long. They are young and teachable and absorb like sponges for only so long. They are captivated by life and what is around us for only a period in time before they leave my care and start to discover this life on their own. I only get to watch them discover for a very short season the butterflies, bees, flowers, ants, chickens, twigs, blades of grass and the many everyday things I so often take for granted. When looking at life through their eyes my world is changed and made into a better place. And when I take the time to declutter my day and discover life alongside them I realize how trivial the other stuff really is. This time is short........so very short. And when I look back and maybe having accomplished everything I wanted to check off my life will I have wished that I had just settled and reveled in the life of my children a little more???? And will the children remember me out tracking the ant with them or guiding them on how to nurse a cat back to health...or will they think I was preoccupied and busy on things. I want them coming into smells of warm bread rising, clean bedrooms that they can take pride in having been taught how to keep their things, where they feel organized and safe and secure knowing everything has a place and everything is in its place. Knowing that I will help them and discover with them with their best interest at heart.



Distractions occur so easily. They seem to sneak up on me and take hold. I began to realize one day when I looked up that I am growing increasingly irritated at them for what I want to accomplish but feel that I cannot due to "interruptions". As I sat contemplating all of this and feeling the Lord tug at my heart in so many ways I began to see that what I am viewing as interruptions are not at all interruptions but what I have been called to do that I am so easily being distracted from. The world constantly screams that one needs time for ones own self. I cannot count the number of times I have been told this by curious and, sometimes just downright, outspoken people. Usually the questions are posed, "How in the world do you ever get time for yourself??????" But sometimes the ones come that are not always so encouraging. "Honey.....you need to go take some time for yourself. You deserve it. You need to get yourself a maid and a sitter one day a week and put some of the boys in a mother's Day Out where they can run and interact and make you some shopping time. 5 boys???!!! Isn't that considered insanity????" As I have evaluated and contemplated it over these last few months and study in the Scripture I can find no where in there that it says to dump your responsibilities and make some "me" time. In fact...I find all of these opinions to be self focused and self centered. All in the light of being able to "cope". I am not opposed to alone time or a date night with Brad. In fact, those are indeed healthy. What is sad is the mindset of the modern parent. I LOVE my children....but I guess what could even go farther than that is that I LIKE my children. I love their company, the joy they bring to me when they are around me, the gifts that we have been given in them. I have no desire to stick them in a Mother's Day Out for "me" time. I don't really even have a desire to have a sitter one day a week. We leave them rarely. It would be fun every once in awhile to have a day to go shop in FW with Mother but this is the rare exception to the rule, I suppose. But in this modern theology I do not find myself wanting to get "rid" of them but rather find myself growing irritated with what I wish to accomplish that little hands and feet impede. As I made out my list I laid it before the Lord. Some of the top aspirations were learning more and growing better at photography. For years I have longed to take a class at the local college.....something that is completely impractical to do at this point in life. Just to be able to take incredible pictures of my own children as they discover life and to see life as a whole through a different perspective. I see so many things in the everyday here and now that scream things to me. Old faded red barns that we drive past, deteriorating houses that once were home to probably many children...many of whom were probably born inside those crumbling walls, trees with branches outstretched in the fading sunset, the intricate grains and texture of a screen door that fell to the ground many years ago, the look on one of my children's faces as they watch as snake slither swiftly into its hole, the laughter in their eyes as they play with each other, oblivious to the world around them or who watches, the color of sunset in their hair as they sit, eyes upturned to the sky as they converse about the array of colors. I Long to freeze frame these moments in time. These innate objects that scream the handiwork of God and speak to me in some way that day and these very living objects that I hold in my arms for such a short time.

So, photography was at the top. Along with becoming more and more efficient in sewing. Though I have come a long way and now have the ability to indeed sew dresses to pj's to even some easy maternity patterns I grow weary or the slow moving, painstaking process of taking the time to get good and fast at it. It comes with time...but there again, where is the time to be borrowed from? Another was bow making for the girls..especially now that Ivye is well on her way to joining us. I absolutely cannot anywhere within me bring myself to spend 9.99 on a hairbow that is simply a piece of ribbon tied lavishly and extravagantly around a hair barrette. These are just to name off a few of the many things and hobbies I have begun to take on and then grow frustrated at not being able to finish. This does not even begin to include what I long to become really good at it to instill into my children in order to both be frugal and in order for Brad and I to teach them financial freedom and responsibility, how to serve the Lord with their finances and save what they can in order to both be responsible adults but also in order to be able to bless others, as they have been blessed in their lives. This would include areas in which I am still very much learning from bread making, to cloth diapering to sewing the girls longed for Sunday dresses and even day dresses to making their hair stuff to cutting everyone's hair to simply organizing in order to be the most effective and efficient I can be to be successful. I want them to grow up knowing these things instead of having to learn them later on in life as they plow through it in their finances, marriages and personal growth.

Enough of the soap box, I guess. I could go on forever about what I wish to accomplish but find myself recently hearing even more clearly that still soft Voice that says to simply sit down and enjoy what it is before me. Just as the seasons change so fleetingly and summer so swiftly turns to fall so do the days of my children pass before my eyes.....my unseeing eyes, at times. I know that I can no doubt pursue these things I aspire to do and the God given desires but I have need to keep it all in perspective and my life balanced. So, as I make my list and it continues to grow I grow excited about all the things before that this new year holds and what I can teach myself and learn. But I also hold dear in my heart that none of this is worth sacrificing my children over or letting these things subconsciously get in the way of what my main job really is...and that is loving them, raising them, teaching them, guiding them and instructing them in what is really the Truth in life. The rest will fall into place as I am successful in this area.

As I think back through everything I have just thought out I discover that once again I am finding it hard to follow. This jumps around just as my thoughts jump around moment by moment from one to the next. This post, despite the difficulty of following it anywhere to any real destination, is just the inner ramblings of what I find that my heart is being pulled toward and the tug, and conviction, within to focus. Sometimes I find it so easy to put thoughts to paper and other times it seems as if the hardest thing in the world to convey myself. So, I close this feeling as if I have conveyed absolutely nothing but feeling better at just having put this part of the story in...this part of me that has so easily been distracted.

Simple Family Favorites - Requested Recipes

These are a few things we have been doing in our kitchen lately. They became easy family favorites in a very fast way and are now part of our regular menu planning due to the ease and amount of time...or lack thereof.......they take to fix.

Most of these recipes call for Real Salt or sea salt. Anytime salt is used we use this, as it is a much better alternative. It can usually be bought in bulk at giant health food stores such as Whole Foods or through a dry goods co-op if you have one near you to participate in. Most of these recipes also call for expeller pressed coconut oil which is far superior to any other kind of oils. If you are unfamiliar with coconut oil I highly recommend the book Virgin Coconut Oil by Brian Shilhavy and any of the coconut oil books by Bruce Fife that can be found easily on Ebay. Virgin oil, used by our family medicinally to treat ear infections and any kind of skin infections and also eaten in place of butter on bread foods such as toast, rolls and muffins and added in oatmeal, can be found at Tropical Traditions for much cheaper than buying at health food stores. We now buy this and the expeller pressed oil, used for all cooking needs and seen in many of these recipes, in the 5 gallon buckets. It is costly up front but the savings add up quickly......especially if you factor in staying out of the dr's offices and the copays involved there. Not only is the savings immense but we have been overly pleased by the quality of Tropical Tradition's oils. It has so far excelled anything else we have bought in our coconut oil use.

And I LOVE pumpkin so this time of year many of our recipes are focused around this great seasonal veggie. We also eat a ton of squash and sweet potatoes as this time of year rolls around. I'll see if I can dig out some of our tried and true squash recipes too. Usually we just 1/2 them and pour a little olive oil over them. I season with whatever seasoning sounds good at the moment and then bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Everybody loves it served this way. But we do have beloved squash casserole and sweet potato casserole recipes everyone loves too. I'll see when I can get around to posting those. The children also love just plain mashed sweet potatoes as opposed to white mashed potatoes, so they rarely ever eat white potatoes anymore unless they are the little red ones being served with slow cooked roast.


Sweet and Sour Meatballs w/ oven baked brown rice
from Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Moms by Marilyn Moll

2 lbs gr beef, turkey or venison (we use 5 lbs and then freeze 1/2 of the prepared meal for a later meal)
1 cup oatmeal
2 T dried minced or 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup very finely minced green pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten

Combine basic meatball mix in mixing bowl. Shape the meatballs using a small cookie scoop if avail. or by hand using 1 heaping T of mixture. Place on broiler pan so grease can drain while cooking. Bake in 350 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Sauce f/ Meatballs - I do this while meatballs are cooking
14 oz can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup honey
3 T cornstarch
1 1/3 cups beef broth
5 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup green pepper strips (optional)
2 T. naturally brewed soy sauce

Combine sauce ingredients, stir while boiling for 2 minutes. Let simmer, covered, until meatballs are ready to be added. Add cooked meatballs. Serve over a bed of oven baked brown rice with cooked veggies and a salad.

Oven Baked Brown Rice - this great versatile dish can go with most any meat meal
(we triple this recipe for our use)

1 cup brown rice
1 cup beef broth
1 - 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 350.
In a 2 qt casserole dish mix together all ingredients. Bake covered for 60 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.



Pumpkin Pancakes
(these are sooo good that we don't even use syrup on them)

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 T. brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 ground ginger
1/2 tsp real salt or sea salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin
1 egg
2 T. expeller pressed coconut oil
2 T. white vinegar

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or skillet to 350 or med high heat. Scoop the batter on the griddle, using 1/4 cup for each pancake. Batter will be thick. Spoon mixture out evenly for cooking. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Homemade Pizza (new easier crust recipe!)

from Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Moms by Marilyn Moll

4 cups whole wheat flour

1 T. yeast

1 T olive oil

1 T honey

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

Preheat oven to 400. In a mixer add water and then remaining ingredients, adding enough flour to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead dough 3-5 minutes or until gluten is developed. Use 1 1/2 lbs of dough per crust. Make the pizza dough more stiff than normal bread so that it will be easy to roll out without stickiness. Roll out dough on cornmeal dusted pizza pan. Brush crust with olive oil and prick with a fork. Prebake 5-8 minutes. Spread pizza sauce over the prebaked crust. Garnish as desired and bake for 10-15 minutes. The children's favorite toppings are 1 lb of taco seasoned meat with mild cheddar cheese. They also love Mexican pizza with bean paste, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, lettuce and corn.

Fast and Easy Homemade Pumpkin Chili

from the Zesch Recipe Collection

2 lbs. gr beef, turkey or venison

1 onion diced

1 cup celery

30 oz red beans

46 ozs tomato juice

28 ozs diced tomatoes with juice

1/2 cup pumpkin

1 T. pumpkin spice

1 T chili powder

1 T. honey

In a large pot over med heat cook meat until browned, drain and stir in onion and celery. Cook 5 minutes then stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes, pumpkin and seasonings. Simmer for 1-2 hrs.

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

from the Zesch Recipe Collection

2 1/2 C. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup expeller pressed coconut oil

1 C Rapadura or honey

2 eggs

1 can pumpkin

1 1/4 c applesauce

In a large bowl combine flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda. In med bowl combine eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir well, add applesauce and mix until smooth. Don't over mix. Fill greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Golden Sweet Whole Wheat Cornbread

( I modified this to cut out the white sugar and sweetened it with honey instead - it turned out great though the cooking time took a little longer. It was super moist and everybody LOVED it!)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup honey

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup expeller pressed coconut oil

Preheat oven to 400. Spray or grease lightly a 9 inch round cake pan. In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, honey and oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cooking time may vary as require as much as 40 minutes.

Simple Lasagna

(The water in this recipe allows the uncooked noodles to bake while cooking, thus cutting out the time it takes to prepare lasagna noodles before preparing the rest of it - I LOVE this! The greased foil keeps the cheese from sticking to it)

1 lb gr beef, turkey or venison

2 egg whites, beaten

2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 container part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup dried or fresh parsley

1 large jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup water

12 whole wheat lasagna noodles - uncooked

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in large skillet on med high heat. Mix egg, 1 1/4 cups of the mozzarella cheese, all ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parm. cheese and the parsley until well blended. Set aside.

Drain meat, return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup of the meat/sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9 inch dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/4 cups mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup Parm. Cover with greased foil.

Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

This Whole Labor Thing

......yep, you'd pretty much think you have this down by the time you get around to #8. But, apparently I am the exception to that rule on most occasions. Let's see here.........with the last 2 babies alone I have now been so far off that it's laughable. 2 babies ago I was so totally assured that it was labor that I went in to the birthing home to have a baby and then proceeded to have to actually get labor started..........as long as we were there............since I was 3 days late and no where near labor....as in that whole labor I was so convinced I was in...wasn't anywhere close. So, after that whole thing and absolutely dreading and really down right refusing to mess with labor in any way at all I camped out here at home with my last one. And I was so convinced that nothing was labor that even 5 days overdue and my water breaking I was quite assured that it wasn't my water at all. In fact, since it had never in my life happened before and never broken beforehand that there was no way in the world it could even be remotely related to it. I mean, afterall this is baby #7 and if I ever had a tendency for my water to break it surely would've happened with some of the others. So, I go back to bed and upon waking come to the realization that it might actually have been. And by the time contractions get going I promptly deliver a baby on the bathroom floor 4 hrs later. So, apparently my maternal laboring instincts aren't serving me too well in this whole delivering babies thing. Especially considering in the gestational materanl instincts thing that I didn't even know I was pregnant with baby #7 until I was 4 months along.


So, here we are. As of 2 nights ago my back began to hurt tremendously and impeded all efforts of sleeping at all. I just figured it was due to having overdone it that day. But upon getting up and moving around yesterday I was in total pain and contractions were almost unbearable due to the back "labor". By last night I wanted to cry. To have gone from being rather pain free and only suffering minor discomforts to this was a new and shocking thing....an unexpected one that seemed to have come out of nowhere. I started putting it altogether and I realized she has dropped and probably hit a nerve or something to trigger all of the back pain. According to the books and well meaning, other-mothers-of-large-quantities-of-children-opinion-givers once you've had a ton of kids babies don't drop until once you're actually in labor....but then, what do books and other moms really know?????? Contractions stayed fairly regular all day yesterday and by last night I just wanted sleep....peaceful, pain free sleep. And I did up until around 4am. I awoke to the same thing today as contractions seemed to ebb and tide, though they never differed in intensity or got anywhere closer together. Though if I get up they do pick up in speed and strength. But laying down always spreads them out enough to know this is going absolutely nowhere. I even began to wonder if I might could possibly be farther ahead than I think by about 2 wks. It would make sense and go with all of my dates. Maybe even just 7-10 days more ahead since she always measured exactly a week ahead on both sonos. And if you track down my dates it's possible...though not likely. But, if I were really 2 wks farther along than I think I am then I would actually be 39 wks instead of 37 tomorrow. Not that that's ever made any difference seeing as how I have never in my life had a baby early....except for 2 induced labors which were very forced, long and hard and in which one didn't even take the 1st time around. Ugh. It's amazing what ignorance will allow you to do.


But, maybe this is the beginning of the end of this pregnancy. I could continue to contract for days, and even weeks, on end or this could be warming up for the real thing. Who knows. I do know that trying to stay lighthearted, energetic and in a loving mood for the children is quite the challenge at this point since the back pain and contractions make me a little more than irritable. The days are absolutely beautiful though and so they have spent the majority of the last 2 days jumping joyously in the fall air, digging up all kinds of unearthed treasures, and pampering our newest mammal addition to the family...that would be the 1/2 dead cat that they begged to bring home and nurse back to health. I can't ever tell them to turn their back on anything in need whtehr it be animal or human.......and I think animals are sometimes the forerunners in life to helping see people in need...whether it be physically or spiritually. In all of that they have also managed to make forts and lookouts and created rocket ships in the living room, lining up all of the dining chairs in pairs as they take off. It's amazing how incensed older ones get as younger ones fail to stay seated for lift off....and sometimes dare even topple out of the chair altogether during the process. I just figured it'd make it a little more realistic but according to them they were supposed to have been "seat belted" in.


Amazingly, it's almost easier to get their school stuff done in the midst of feeling like this since I have been sitting and not trying to run a house and cook while they work. Today I did manage to make more bread before just sitting and helping them fold some clothes. But since I was in there with them while I cooked it still seemed to fly by. I think the weather beckoning them outside also aided their hurry up and get done efforts.


And I have found the way to make bread!!!!!!!! They turned out to be the most perfect loaves yet....thanks to the Good Eats guy on www.foodnetwork.com. This is by far the best way to get the highest rise and tastiest loaf. Reading through the directions it sounded complicated but after the fact I was entirely impressed with the ease of it and how great they turned out. I modified it for freshly milled flour and just went by the measurements for the Basic Whole Wheat Bread Recipe so that it would make our standard 4 loaves. And when doing it we used bottled mineral water instead of our sodium softened and filtered water from our faucet since it has been softened with sodium...which I recently found out has an adverse effect on bread and the rise. I just put 1/2 of the flour in (5 cups) and then 1/2 of the yeast (1 T.) and all of the honey. I skipped the whole let refrigerate overnight thing........who in the world has time to do that??? It'd turn bread making into a 2 day process. Ummmm.........no. I was trying to simplify this whole procedure and still get better bread in the end. So, instead of the whole slumber party in the frig thing I just let it sponge (bread talk for letting water, flour, yeast combo along with the honey sit there covered for 15-20 minutes) and then went on with the directions. But when adding the remaining flour and yeast along with the salt I also added in the dough enhancer the basic bread recipe calls for. I mixed that up until it was good and mixed and then let it rest again, covered, for another 20 minutes like the foodnetwork thing says to. All the while I was sticking in wash, teaching math and spelling lessons and changing sheets on beds so this all went by really fast. I just kept setting the timer to remind me.......otherwise it'd definitely be forgotten. I then went on to knead it for about 10 minutes. It was already looking better than any of my other bread making dough. I put the dough into 2 massive glass bowls and marked it's starting point with a dry erase marker so that I could definitely tell when it'd doubled in size....not that you really need to have a visual! It's pretty obvious. Rubber band also works great for this though if you do find yourself wanting a visual. I did the warm humidity rise in the oven by pouring boiling water into a glass 13x9 inch dish. In only 1 hr the dough was reaching amazing heights. After that hour I got it back out and punched it all back down and followed the foodnetwork stuff. Since he only made one, round delicatessen loaf I had to change it up and once I punched it back down from the 1st rise and balled up perfect little loaves in the bread pans the 2nd rise began as they sat covered on the cabinet. They got so big they lifted the towels up! After that rise was complete I baked them at 350 for 30 minutes with the hot water dish still in place to provide the needed cooking humidity. And the result was amazing! Of course, as usual one entire loaf was eaten right after it emerged from the oven but of the other 3, 2 went into freezer storage to keep us stocked up and one went into the frig for toast and sandwich use tomorrow. Not bad! I have to say I thoroughly impressed myself with that one. And the ease with which the bread was made was shocking. I can't stand all of the little pauses that go into bread making. It makes me crazy to think about 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, an hour to rise, having to mess with it again and then another hour to rise and THEN having to bake. Ugh! Just make it and get it done. But this actually was pretty painless and I found it easy to go back and forth between just messing with it and doing everything else. It definitely beat the frustration that comes with little tiny crapped out loaves that don't rise much higher than the edge of the pan. I was so excited! It pays to educate yourself about bread while attempting your bread making endeavors. Though it seems entirely finicky there is actually a ton of practical scientific chemistry that goes into the process. Once understood you have the ability to make some great stuff.

Along those lines we have successfully used up all of the grain stock we had going. So, next time in we are picking up not only hard white but soft white for the muffins, pancakes and "tea time", pretty breads but also corn to mill our own cornmeal and beans to make our own bean paste, or rather"refried" beans for burritos and Mexican pizzas. I love this stuff! And I also found this out the other day too.......but did you know that not only is homemade bread superior nutritionally due to not ingesting all of the additives store bought breads have in them to make shelf life infinitely longer but that a loaf of store bought, whole wheat bread right now is right at 3.50+ and to make a loaf at home only cashes in right around 1.00-1.25???!!!!!! I was amazed. I figured it was cheaper but never took time to figure out the savings. And by the time you factor in not buying any premade pancake, muffin or biscuit mixes the savings triples. We do go through a ton of grain though. But for the 35.00 cost of a bucket of grain you can only buy about 9 loaves of bread, whereas one bucket for us will make bread for all of us for 2 months....and we go through about 5 loaves a week......along with pancakes, pizza dough at least twice a week and tons of other various flour needs. Pretty impressive that not only are we saving substantially but that we are eating far superior foods............even if they are only 4 inches high sometimes.


And I have begun the journey into making our own homemade "Nutrigrain bars". We mastered the granola, both hard cereal and soft bars but it was too hard for Gavin to eat. All of the children around here have been hooked on Nutrigrain bars for a long while and they were easy for Gavin to eat....and he loved them. I hated the additives and stuff I knew were being dumped into all of the children as they ate their weight in those things so I began searching the world over for a similar homemade recipe that I could alter with our milled oats and coconut oil and lacking all of the unpronounceable stuff the Nutrigrain bar boxes have on them in their ingredients list. I found a recipe but am still improving since our's are being made with real fruit. So far, I have found the only real way to make it work is to use Simply Fruit preserves or something similar until I can make my own jelly and preserves type of fillings. And this savings totaled up to 60.00 a month since we bought the Wal Mart brand of the Nutrigrain bars and each box is 2.00. We would buy 15 boxes per shopping trip, which occurs twice a month. I about choked...or according to Garrison and Grant....chuked.......when I added it up. I always preferred the bars over candy and empty filler foods knowing they were somewhat of a better choice than others. We always kept these bars, apples, grapes and bananas on hand for snacks and they all made great on-the-road food. But to see that we were spending THAT much on something that wasn't even great for them was an attention getter. So....on a money saving nutritional note we are making our own Nutrigrain bars that are far better taste-wise and health-wise than anything prepackaged in a box. That was surprisingly one of the few boxed things we still bought. It's amazing what you pay for stuff when you start figuring it up though!!!!


So, back to the baby note. As of now, I highly doubt this will go anywhere at all and that I still have a good 4 weeks left, as planned. But all of this does seem to speak that the pregnancy will soon be over and we will be holding a sweet new little girl in our arms in only a matter of a few weeks. How I got on the bread making/grocery note I don't even remember. But in light of that I will post in a separate entry some of our newest recipe favorites that the children and Brad are all loving.

Another Trip to the Dr

Well......we are still counting our blessings for staying out of it as long as we have and still have yet to visit them for any kind of sickness or ailment in now over a year and a half...except for Aubrey's round of bacterially infested water hose induced strep throat that occurred over the summer. But this time around I finally told Brad we really needed to go and he was in agreement. As all days go, the children have spent massive amounts of time on the trampoline. 2 weeks ago all of them rushed in the house ushering Garrison in ahead of them saying his head was bleeding. Much to my dismay he stood there covered in blood, dripping down his head and into his eyes and his hands covered in it all. He just stood there like he had gotten a sticker in his foot and said matter of factly, "Mom, it's bleeding." Ummmm.....yep, I definitely got that part. Trying not to be freaked I wiped gently and cleaned it up with a ton of younger nurses aiding also in the endeavors and other various onlookers by my side. I finally got down to this tiny, tiny puncture wound. Story had it by all that he was jumping and got jumped into one of the netting enclosure poles. That story didn't match up too well since this was more of a tiny puncture/cut. It finally did come out in the end....as in just a few days ago.....that he did a somersault and hit a stray mesquite twig with his head resulting in the small but deep puncture wound. That made much more sense after going through all of this these last 2 weeks.

The initial wound took forever to quit bleeding but finally did. But then....everyday thereafter it bled.....and bled......and bled. It became part of our daily routine for him to come in and say exasperated, "Mom! It's doing it again!" By the end of it he knew the routine well and Evye or Aubrey would go get the needed stuff and I'd sit and apply pressure for 5 or more minutes while he stood still. We finally started limiting his activity level since jumping on the trampoline, riding scooters or running seemed to set it off. After close inspection Brad and I realized a few days into it that it was healing into a tiny blood blister on his head but never fully healing back to normal. We decided we'd give it some more time to see if it would eventually heal back up since it was just a nuisance at this point. By this past Sunday with Brad on shift I had to deal with his head on 3 different occasions and by the 3rd time it was all I could do to get it to stop and we were debating a trip up to the station to see what Brad might could do for it. We were all tired of dealing with it and it was so sad to tell him not to jump, run or ride with the others. We decided Brad would call 1st thing in the morning and we'd go in at their next available time. They were able to see him Monday morning so off we went with everybody in tow. Garrison was amazing and, though he was a bit quiet, he never even came close to shedding a tear and had the attention and adoration of everybody in the entire office. He captivated the ladies' hearts. As they cauterized it he sat perched on the exam table good naturedly sucking away on his massive Blow Pop sucker. He refrained from giving hugs to everybody when we left but he was great about telling everybody thank you and bye and off we went. It was so much less painful than I had hyped myself up for. I think I dread the appt more than anybody since I guess I had envisioned a screaming, wiggling little boy and having to hold him down while this awful invasive procedure was performed. But instead my stoic, good looking miniature little man sat there and answered questions and then just let her do it and get it over with. And off we went to finish our day in town with a small little black spot on the top of his forehead!

Now for the hard part. Dr's instructions were to limit his activity for the next 3 days as his skin had time to completely heal over the spot. After explaining this to all of them on the way home everyone helped pitch in and agreed to stay off of the trampoline and limit activity to only tricycles...and bikes for the bigger ones I figured they were lower to the ground so less chance of hitting his head when colliding with all of his fellow racers. It is just insanely unrealistic to think of him sitting on the couch for 3 entire days when he doesn't even feel bad....not even anywhere close to even feeling bad. And since they rarely ever watch any movies these days the attraction of the TV has seemed to lose it's allure. I figured after months and months on end of not watching movies it would only prove to make them a novelty when they could...but instead they become disinterested with it easily and grow bored and just want to go outside and play hard. How could you not on these 70 degree days????!!!!!

Of course, after trying to protect him and cushion the world around him all day long the 1st day into it he promptly and expertly was crawling around on the bedroom floor in the dark making everybody laugh and cracking them up. He got to going way too fast and fell head 1st into the wood floor. As always, no tears but the bleeding was back! Ugh! I am now convinced they could live in a cushioned bubble and still find ways to harm themselves. The bleeding this time stopped almost as fast as it started and all was over. So we had hope! But, with that, Brad saw the absolute absurdity of trying to protect him from bumping his head all day evervyday so he turned them all loose on the trampoline the very next day. I couldn't believe how easily he gave in but he hates more than anything to see them unhappy due to having to be inactive. They all rejoiced at their release and have been jumping non stop every since. According to Grayson they just "jump easily" around him. Hmmm.........I have yet to see how that one works. But so far so good!

Testing the Waters

Alright.....so once in private mode you're only allowed to have a max of 100 readers.......for whatever reason I'm sure I'll never understand. But I've now maxed that out with still more asking to read. So, as a result I figured I'd take it off of private and test the waters a bit. It's more work for me in the long run keeping track of the traffic that comes through but maybe Spanking Stalker has given up. If the SS IP address does come through again then I'll address that when we get there, I suppose. But for now I'm quite at peace and know that no amount of sarcasm in my words on any given, particularly trying day would ever lend itself to child abuse.




It is my hope that this blog, started many years ago in a complete and total desire to just track our daily life and the joys, triumphs, tribulations and lifechanging journey of it all, will continue to be an encouragement to those that do want to read about our daily ongoings. I never dreamed it would have such an interested audience following our lives along with me. I hope that the reality with which I depict our lives will help other mothers know that this is indeed a completely blessed and incredible life with which we have been given.....days that are filled with laughter, funny moments and too many funny phrases too ever try to remember but also full of work and a constant need to overcome myself, keeping my own human, sinful nature in check and a continual journey of bettering myself in this journey called motherhood. I hope that it will continue to bless others and encourage those with many young children and that it will continue to satisfy those that are curious about large families and how they function....or rather, how on somedays they don't function. LOL! No one knows this statement better than myself and it continues to be one of my all time favorites that I find myself contemplating on a daily basis.

"Motherhood is the journey out of self-centeredness." - author unknown

If I do end up putting it back into private mode than all of you that are already on the invited list will automatically be right back where you were and have the ability to access it just as before. In the meantime, if you are the spanking stalker and back for a visit feel free to introduce yourself in the comments area and leave a form of contact so that we might can visit further.



Back to life!

"The foundation of our national character is laid by the mothers of the nation."

"About every true mother there is a sancity of martyrdom-and when she is no more in the body, her children see her with the ring of light around her head."Godey's Lady's Book, 1867

36 Weeks???!!!!!

36 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. "Info taken from http://www.babycenter.com/."

Less than a month to go????? I got an email this evening from a dear fellow homeschooling mom who has 13 children. She was checking up on us since I have less than a month to go, stating that today is the 19th and I am due the 15th of next month so she wanted to know of any specific prayer request we may have as it gets closer. I think I stopped and never got back around to finishing the email after reading that I have less than 30 days left. I had to go back and think through it all and make sure she was right. She then gave the dates of the other moms who follow only a few days behind me with their due dates.....and I was shocked to see I am the next up in line due with a baby!!!! Are we really THAT close???? I suppose it always seems like forever and a day away and we'll eventually get there. Right now we're just busy doing our day to day routine...school work, house stuff, errand running, planning prenatal trips to FW and, of course, rounding up wild donkeys. I did manage to wash all of the baby girl clothes last week. I was heartbroken to find that about 1/2 of them have those massive yellow stains on them from being stored for so many years. I'm still trying to resolve that issue and get them out so they'll be usable again. We pretty much have everything else ready..or as ready as it gets. I need to get the swing down and wash it. We already have plenty of Goldenseal left over from Gavin for her cord needs (I LOVE that stuff!!!!) and really all we need to pick up is the lavender baby wash that Brad is entirely excited about using again. He said of all the things he remembers about Evye and Aubrey as infants is the way they always smelled after they were bathed and lotioned up in the lavender baby wash. I tried using it on Garrison and Grant but he quickly shot that one down saying they smelled like girls. So, back to the orginal baby scents we went. I think he's more excited about buying lavender again than I am.

With the realization that we have only days to go at this point I added the little baby countdown novelty to the side bar of the blog. It helps me keep track of my own pregnancy. I again found it shocking when I installed it that it stated I have only 27 days to go from today....and today's already over. For the 1st 12 weeks of this pregnancy to have drug by like they did the months since then have flown by. I can't believe we're here and I can't believe I'm facing labor yet again....in probably only a month's time. I figure if she comes on the 20th or so we're right at a month out. So, here I am contemplating how on earth and why on earth I am doing this yet again. I'm amazed by how many comments we get about how easy it must be for me to carry a baby and how easy and pain free my births must be to continue doing this over and over again. Ummm.....no. No, no and really really no. Yes, the pregnancies are not fraught with complications as some have to suffer with but my platelet count still proves to be a constant prayer issue in every pregnancy. We'll retake that at my next appt on the 31st to see where it stands. As He has proven so faithful in the past, the Lord has heard the cries of our hearts and kept it up there above the 50,000 mark.....even more so this pregnancy. We are blessed each and every time such wonderful reports come back. Aside from the little platelet issue and some anemia issues there has not been much to deal with in any of the pregnancies...except the medical profession when twins were concerned. Ugh. Don't even get me started on that one. So, yes....though I can't exactly say pregnancies are wonderfully enjoyable as I grow huge and weigh more than what seems humanly possible and the discomforts of being large and whale-like kick in and the little minor aches and pain nuisances are experienced we have been very, very blessed where health is concerned.

BUT....on the pain free, easy, popping out baby, birthing theology.......well........let's just say that people are ignorant. There is no easy way to have a baby. Hospitals suck...spoken from many of my own personal experiences, epidurals suck....there again spoken from many experiences, and despite the freedom of homebirthing...the pain of labor sucks no matter how fast it is. I have to laugh when people make it out to be that I can just call Brad home and say in a shocked manner "Oh honey, I think I need to push." Nope....no matter how many you have there is no, "Oh honey, I think I just delivered a baby" thing. Though Gavin's was fast and furious and by far, the best labor and delivery I have ever had, it still was just painful.....no matter how you look at it. It was a dream birth. It was the most personal, couple bonding thing I think Brad and I have ever done in our entire marriage. It was one of the most amazing things in life I have ever experienced. But, it's still just painful. So yes, I laugh at those who say my births must be entirely easy, pain free and I have it so much better than others. I absolutely love the freedom that comes with homebirthing. I love that I am not hooked up to IV's and itchy baby monitors. I love that a BP cuff does not go off everytime I have to take it off to go pee. I love that I am not pulling an IV stand with me to the bathroom and having to work around it everytime I have to go. I love that there are no needles stuck in my arm or hand for hours on end. I really love that I can get up and walk around and carry out my daily duties. I can do dishes, take care of children and walk around. I am not stuck on my back or my side in pain in a hard, cold hospital bed. I can get in and out of the tub freely and eat and drink when I feel like it....no more ice chips for hours on end. I love that my baby is safe and monitored without the fear tactics of mad nurses when they get so irritated that I won't submit to hospital "policies". I love that no one is standing there threatening me with a c-section due to the fact I am not progressing according to their schedule. And I am in love with the fact that my baby is not whisked away to a nursery or even taken from me at all. They didn't exactly whisk Aubrey away but they did take her and bathe her almost immediately in the sink in the room with me instead of letting me just hold her for awhile. I dearly love the fact that when I don't feel like holding my babies immediately after birth.....which in all honesty, I just don't....that Brad is standing there cradling the new one in his strong arms standing next to me making sure that all is right with the world.

But....even given all of my love of homebirthing labor just hurts no matter how it goes. It is never easy to welcome the pain. It is never easy getting this close knowing what lays inevitably on the horizon. I can't exactly say I am one of those that just entirely embraces the whole birth experience......though I am entirely excited and in love with the fact that this baby will be a water birth baby. So, here we are with it looming before us. I again wonder how it will all pan out. Where Brad will be, if it will go as fast as Gavin's did and how long it will take Brad to get there. I cannot imagine ever doing it without him. I wonder if I'll go over maybe even to the 25th, putting me 10 days overdue, but freeing him up on the 1st day of his 96 so that he will already be there. I have complete and utter peace just as I did with Gavin, that the Lord will orchestrate it all perfectly and according to His greater plan and the desires of our hearts. I know that despite all that I cannot see now that He knows it all and already has it planned out perfectly...minute by minute...which is about the way it goes when you're in labor. But, still I can't help but wonder how it will all come to pass. I had a dream last night..before ever even realizing we are this close to it, that I had her 2 wks early here at home and Brad wasn't even home for it. I had to call him at the station to tell him I had the baby. Let's hope it doesn't quite happen like that. Not only is he my biggest advocate and greatest supporter but I rely on him for so much more. I love him more than life itself, more than anything I ever imagined, and I honestly cannot ever imagine going through one of life's greatest moments without him there with me. I am amazed by his love for me and how he would drop everything in life to be by my side at the slightest need of mine. I love watching him be a daddy to our children and how devoted and in love with each of them he is. So, having a baby without him is not even an option. My dream didn't seem to take that into account though.

And as the time draws closer I can't help but wonder just who she'll be and who exactly this new person being welcomed into our family is. Thoughts I usually don't have time or really take time to ponder on, before now. Will she have red hair like Grant's or brown hair like Evye's or blond hair like Garrett's? How different will she be from Evye and Aubrey since she has so many more older siblings unlike what they had? Brad and I have both marveled over Garrett's and Gavin's outgoing and loud little selves as we watch them grow. The 2 of them are so different than the others......and we can't help but think a ton of it is due to having so many older siblings and always being around constant activity, people and always being held and cared for....or picked on...depending on the moment and the day. Gavin has twice as many children loving, holding and playing with him than any of the older 3 ever did. And his needs are met on a normal daily basis by a variety of people so that not everything comes from me at all times. So, I wonder just how different Ivye will be as she grows in the love, noise, fun and chaos of our lively household. And who exactly will she look like? Even Brad has been caught saying that he wishes she would just hurry up and get here and that he can hardly wait to meet her. I think with each and every one our excitement and anticipation just grows. It really is like a present waiting to be opened.

So, here we are only 26 days away. And we all wait and grow more and more excited. I still can't help but be in some state of disbelief that we are already to this point. And I still can't help but have some trepidation as to the impending labor that awaits. But our excitement grows and as the plans and preparation for our travel and her arrival get kicked up a notch I realize it is not THAT far away at all.

The New Girl

More to the ever evolving life saga of farm life. This is our newest, very unplanned on, spontaneous addition to the livestock clan. She had been running free around town for 2 days standing on people's porches, eating their potted plants and demolishing their already dead flowerbeds. No one claimed her and no one tried getting her off the streets. After her days on the loose she finally came to befriend handsome, good ole' Fletch......afterall, who wouldn't??? After asking around on the 2nd day we found that no one knows anything about where she came from or who she is. An angel donkey, maybe? Brad had come home and gone to bed after an entire night awake on the engine so the children and I loaded up trash and did our usual Sat morning routine of taking trash and doing the PO run and every other errand around town...which mainly consists of just driving around aimlessly letting children and dog hang out the bed of the truck, hair blowing in the wind, feeling the crisp fall morning air on little faces while everybody laughs gleefully as we waste gas. We decided to go check jenny girl out and see what we could find out about her. She stood on the other side of our fence as she and Fletch took turns honking back and forth. She was obviously scared and wouldn't let us get too close. Brad did eventually get up and, having been alerted to her presence a few hours before by excited children who couldn't dream of letting him sleep through it, he woke up asking if she was still hanging around and if we had been able to track down her owner. To my surprise, Brad was willing to try and round her up to get her off the streets. According to him she was not too big at all to get hit by a truck on the hwy if she chose to wander back that way. That began another 2 hr donkey rodeo roundup......the 3rd in our lifetime now. I had seriously hoped we would never find ourselves in that boat again. At least we weren't chasing around Fletch's stupid butt. I suppose it made it a little more exciting and fun when trying to corral a wild donkey....or wild ass if you look it up on wikipedia.com. I stayed in the house this time around since it looked as though Brad, Grayson and Evye had it pretty well under control.....or well, as under control as chasing a scared, wild donkey around town could be considered. Brad finally called from his cell in need of my services since they were getting close. Of course, as all donkey chasing stories of our's go, she darted straight out towards the street instead of turning into our well laid out plan of corralling her into our pastures. It got to looking pretty bleak as she ran across town. I fired the truck up as Brad and Grayson continued on foot and Evye stayed with the younder ones. By this time we had plenty of curious onlookers that apparently were nowhere near offering to help or offer their services in our ludicrous endeavors. To make it worse....everyone in town knows that we own a donkey and they all just assumed he was out yet again. But with the help of one of the cool guys in town and his gator-like 4 wheeler Brad hopped on, I picked up Grayson, who was now unable to run due to his 3 or so mile run for the past hour of chasing, and between the gator and Brad's truck and alot of prayer on my part she amazingly and finally ran right straight down our driveway. Between the help of all of our children, right on down to 2 yr old Garrett, standing in the gaps and corralling her into the right directions and the strategically parked van and truck we opened up the gate into Fletch's pasture and into it she ran. My plan had been to put her in the now goatless goat pasture since our experiences of combining animals have been far from optimal up to this point. I was a little fearful of what aggressive Fletch might do to a jenny..though he LOVES company and is in dear need of a companion. Brad had worked so hard just getting her into the general range of our pastures that he said she was much more likely to head willingly into Fletch's rather than trying to fight her scared self into an empty one. As most always, Brad was right and Fletch was exceedingly happy beyond all measure. After greeting her and showing off he then proceeded to take a dust bath and roll around "getting pretty for the lady" as Brad put it. And so it is that they have been inseparable every since. The children were begging to keep her long before we ever got her into the pasture..long before the chase was ever on. Brad and I both thought that surely someone would come claim her but, as of yet, she she stands in our pasture unclaimed.

As all small towns go, it didn't take long at all for word to get out. By this afternoon we had already received a phone call from someone in town who had heard of our previous morning's donkey roundup and the success thereof and was offering to take her off of our hands. As today wore on we began to see just how much the town stands by and watches it's happenings from their porches. Seems they all watched us run around town wildly yesterday chasing this girl around....and they all got a good laugh....along with their morning coffee conversation as they observed the new donkey on our property. I never in my life thought Brad would ever agree to keeping her but so far he's turned down the offers that we have received and has just stated to our numerous begging children that "I think we'll hold onto her for now". Gleeful little grins emerge from the older ones while the younger ones just hoop and holler exuberantly, not even trying to hold it in check. We've warned them all though that her owner's may be out of town and might come looking for her within the week so not to get attached just yet. We have tossed around the idea of maybe offering to buy her from whatever owners she has, if they do come forward, since most animals around here are owned by people that live less than wonderfully and do not tend to the animals they do have. So..for now and maybe pretty infinitely we now have Fletch, Pearl and the 7 chickens roaming together amiably.

Oh yes......about a week and 1/2 ago Grayson went out to discover only 7 chickens. Somewhere along the way we lost one. There was no sign or feathers leading to any clue of what it's fate might have been and we hopefully waited for its return for a few hours and even into the next day...but it never came. It was one of the roosters so it wasn't a huge loss, as we would've just killed him off anyway, though the freezer is kind of missing him. In our donkey roundup yesterday Brad and Grayson discovered a fox living in the gin and so it was determined with some assurance that Mr. Fox is more than likely the culprit in the chicken disappearance. The chickens still free range during the day and we haven't lost another. We just became extra cautious and started putting them up before sunset when Mr Fox goes looking for dinner. Hopefully that will be enough to spare the rest until Brad can go hunt him down with his shotgun. The grass is still too high and the snakes are still moving too much to risk going out to the gin just yet.....though he didn't hesitate to tromp through it yesterday in his donkey endeavors.

And in a funny little twist to the story of Pearl the donkey.......she's pretty definitely pregnant. I'm not sure what's just fat and what's pregnant. So, after some internet research and reaching no real conclusion we still are not 100% sure but are tending to lean towards the side of being in the donkey family way. So, I guess we'll find out. She's quite a bit lumpier than Fletch but I'm not sure what's just donkeys being built differently and what's lumpy with a huge bloated stomach meaning a pregnancy is involved or just being overfed. Though I did manage to find out that donkeys are pregnant for 12-14 months! Since Pawpaw has proven to be a wealth of info where jacks, jennies and mules are concerned Brad said he may try going to him for gestational donkey wisdom.

So, welcome to the family, Pearl. The children are loving her and there is no doubt that she will be spoiled rotten and well taken care of if she does stay.

Another Trip Down

The Pumpkin Patch Crew....all 15 of them

Well, here I am at 35 wks. Due to the many, many ongoing request for belly shots I figured I'd finally post one before I actually deliver a baby and forget about it. I haven't been real wild about taking belly shots this go around since I feel like my butt has done more growing than my stomach ever has. So, I kind of avoided the camera this pregnancy. Oh well. It's just weight and can always be lost. I have every intention of doing Weight Watchers online once she arrives. It is unrealistic to think of making it into town on my own without any of the younger ones once a week for a meeting. And after looking their online plan over really well I am thoroughly impressed and pretty excited about putting it into motion after sweet Ivye makes her debut. I feel really really good this pregnancy and am not feeling like the beached whale that I finally felt I had become with Gavin. I am still moving freely and quite lightly. I don't get out of breath easily and have an overall feeling of not being very pregnant. The discomforts of peeing every 5 minutes kind of get to me at times since I am a woman with a mission on most days and the laborious and time consuming task of peeing that often only serves to interrupt my one track mind. And then of course, do I dare even mention trying to travel this late in the game without making at least 5 stops in a mere 3 hr trip?????? We seriously had the FW trip down to a science and by the time this pregnancy rolled around the children and I could do the entire trip without stopping even once and made great time, accomplishing it in only 3 hrs. It took us 4 yesterday and I had to stop at every bathroom along the way. And the endless miles that stretched without one proved to be pure torture. It doesn't help that I have some swelling and due to trying to down a gallon of water a day not only am I draining off the gallon but the extra fluid as well. Ugh.

35 Weeks:
So you're going to have to seriously ignore the lack of any and all make-up and the unmatching clothes. I'll try to get a better, more glamorous pic tomorrow if I can remember it. But for now, this is as good as it gets. Seeing as how it's midnight I'm thinking makeup is not really required at this hour. Oh well. I figure it's better than nothing since the last pic was posted when I was something like 12 wks along or so. Brad calls her our little basketball baby since she is just so stuck out there like a little basketball. In all fairness, I haven't gained THAT much this time around..but considering the fact I stood to lose a few pounds before getting pregnant makes me feel a little unnecessarily large. But since I haven't seemed to really tremendously grow anywhere else my belly looks like I stuck a ball under it when clothed. Kind of funny.

But at my now 35 wk appt my BP ended up being high thanks to dealing with our insurance for an hour before ever going in to see her. It didn't help that the night before we had spent at Jackie's house in excitement over going to the Pumpkin Patch the next morning only to find that it would be an absolutely sleepless night for every adult in the household. Channing ended up sick and having to be tended to in the den floor while Gavin decided that he is way too dependant on a noise maker. With the lack of any noise at all he awoke at 2 am, about the time I was ready to turn in for the night after sitting up and talking with Jackie into the wee morning hours. It quickly became apparent that he had no intention of going back to sleep in his silent, foreign sleeping quarters. Ohhh.....what happened to my flexible little traveling baby?????? He proceeded to scream until 4:30 am when put down. I even tried having him sleep with me but since that is a very foreign thing also he was not having anything to do with it. We finally dozed off at 4:30 only to wake back up at 5 when Curtis got up for the day and readied himself in the bathroom attached to our guest room. And at that point Gavin was also up for the day. I don't think I've ever been so ready to pinch a kid's head off in all of my life. To say that I was a bit exasperated and at my wit's end is a severe understatement. With no other option I finally just decided we were both up for the day and went downstairs to see what I could come up with for his breakfast. By 7:30 many of the other children were up and he began to play and get happy with life. Absolutely exhausted I fell asleep on the couch about then and woke at 9:30 to find out the lady that was meeting us to go with us to the Pumpkin Patch was on her way there at that very minute. Not only did I have all 8 of us to get ready, I also had to pack everybody back up and prepare for my 2:30 appt that would immediately follow the pumpkin filled morning and then lunch. Soooooo.....in my state it wasn't really coming together and was a far cry from really happening. With Jackie having spent a very sleepless night with Channing she was facing the same delimna that I had going. In an absolutely overhwhelmingly kind gesture this sweet lady I had never met offered to take her 3 children along with the 7 of Jackie's that would be going and the 5 of mine to the Patch anyway...despite our absence. Yep....that would be something like a 200% increase of kids for her......or something to that effect. In all she would be responsible for 15 kids....only 3 of which were her's. After meeting her and falling in love and knowing just exactly why Jackie loves this woman I agreed that the children would have a blast and could indeed go without me. We came up with a buddy system that seemed to work really well. Madison was responsible for the youngest of the group, which were the 3 rowdy boys consisting of Garrison, Grant and Charles. Maggie had the giggly group of girls that never separate that consisted of Evye, Aubrey, Milly and Mercy and then Curtis Wade made sure that Grayson and Pearce stuck with him. The morning went exceedingly well and all reports came back with nothing but praises......except for the small little interlude when Garrison and Grant saw their dearly beloved John Deere sitting wildly within their reach and very open for them to climb up into. They did stray and clamored right up into the driver's seat without ever asking or telling a soul. The rest of the time all did incredibly well and stuck together like glue.

Madison had requested the camera for picture taking since the day had been so blown and she knew how badly I wanted pics of the morning. She did amazingly well with the camera too. I got home to discover all of these on the camera and couldn't help but be impressed. And the fun and surprise of not knowing just what's on your own camera is always kind of fun. I love seeing life through the eyes of the children. Inevitably with each download of pics I end up with at least 15 pics that I never knew were taken. Most by a 10 and 8 year old that got ahold of the camera for something they thought was entirely interesting and worthwhile. I love seeing life through their eyes. The pics that were taken at the Patch seemed to capture the essence of their day without me ever being there. I was so glad they got to go despite the harried night that precluded their fun day. We have every intention of going back before Ivye arrives. Maybe for an early November, get-in the-mood-for-Thanksgiving day.

So, I was amazed to find that for the 2nd appt in a row I have not gained any weight. Total weight gain for this pregnancy now totals 16 pds. Granted, I stood in need of dropping about 25 pds before I ever got pregnant. Baby is definitely growing by leaps and bounds but thankfully my thigh and butt growth has seemed to trail off a bit. Technically this should be the time when I'm packing on a pd a week as she gains in preparation for delivery. But seeing as how I have gained every bit she needs earlier in the pregnancy I guess my body recognized that and said all is well and we're both good for now. I go back again on the 31st or so and then go back for my last appt on the 14th where the children and I will stay until she arrives, which I'm guessing will be around the 20th. We'll see. It still seems a bit surreal that we are this close. If we weren't having to go up there and stay I'm actually not sure I'd be giving it much thought. I really feel so good and so normal to be this pregnant....maybe because this is becoming my normal!!! I have to say that I am extremely excited about the cooling weather, the upcoming holidays spent with family and a new baby in our arms and finally being able to drop the weight. The change of seasons motivates unlike any other motivator and inspires the soul to take on everything new and challenging....everything that summer seems way too hot, sultry and draining to do. I can hardly wait to hold this sweet baby girl in my arms, nurse her and find out just who exactly has been growing for these past months. While Madison was here we climbed up into the attic and pulled out all of the baby girl clothes that have been packed away for 5 1/2 years now. It was fun seeing the stuff that I completely forgot we had. And it was fun seeing pink again. I love more than anything having all of these boys but I am falling in love once again with the thought of hairbows and pink little dresses. I have forever been longing to learn how to make hairbows. We could easily spend a fortune on them and I see it so needless to fork out what they are asking for them now. After seeing some of the amazing creation my cousin has come up with for her little girl that is only a month younger than Gavin I have been inspired. So, with the Ebay gift card I received for my birthday I did some researching today and bought an instructional book and DVD on how to learn the basic and advanced art of making hairbows and how to get started in the hairbow making business.....not that I ever aspire to make hairbows for a living. But I could save us a fortune and dress the girls like I envision without ever spending the cash that goes along with the boutique girly little look. Right now it's either figure out how to do it myself or skip the frills and just use the ones we have left from the older 2 girls. That collection has pretty much been whittled down to near non existence since they have now been used to pretty their horses, dolls and Athena. I can hardly wait to get started on them and see what I can come up with for all 3 girls......that is if I can get Evye to wear them. She seems to have a thing with bows in her hair. Seems odd since she is so entirely girly. Maybe if I can concoct a camo bow she might be a little more willing.

Grant and Charles scaling the blow up mountain

You'd think I'm bored or something. I still have the children's pajamas to make for Christmas. And here I go again taking on yet another project and potential hobby. I figure by the end of this I'll either suck at it all or I'll be an expert on anything and everything you ever wanted to know in your entire life on homemaking. At some point I still have to get to the cloth diaper making, gardening, dairy goating, egg producing, hairbow making, outfit sewing, canning and preserving and everything else I have ever mentioned in here that I have begin to take on where cooking, bread making and homemaking is concerned. Oh well. Where there's a will there's a way. I'm living proof of that one.

So....back to the road............in my sleep deprived state exhaustion did prove to eventually set in and by the end of our trip I was sincerely praying that I would not fall asleep on the road. I called Brad to tell him my predicament of fighting off sleep and needing someone to talk to to keep me awake. He was quick to give instructions of taking some caffeine loaded stuff I had on hand and to stop and get a huge coffee at the next town we went through. I did as instructed but still managed to pass up our exit. After giving Daddy a hard time and some teasing about blowing past our exit on his way out here last week I succeeded in doing the very same thing. Although, to our credit, it is very easy to fly by...especially when consumed by conversation or in a sleep deprived state. So it was that by the time I realized it we would have had to backtrack 30 miles to correct it. We found a new way home and, thankfully, a very beautiful one that was completely new to us. As we sped by the sprawling Texas ranches we were all captured by the rolling beauty and the livestock that dotted and graced the pastures as they grazed. It was enough to give me the energy boost I needed to make it home. Upon arriving home I discovered Brad had prepared a huge gourmet meal...complete with desert.....and was finishing up the last of the preparations of it. The children unloaded the van and then went out to jump and exert the pent up energy that comes with road travel. I took Grant, who wasn't feeling so great at this point, with me and piled up in bed. I dozed while he just chilled out until we were summoned to dinner to feast on this meal I had no part in preparing. It was heavenly. It was like going out to eat right here in the comfort of our own home. Grant did eventually run a low grade fever and showed some signs of getting what had rifled through Jackie's crew but it was short lived in our family, for which I was extremely grateful. He ran fever at 5 after we returned home and then it came back up again around 4 am. He slept until 11am this morning and never ran any again. None of the others ever showed any signs of getting any of it. Since several of her crew sounded croupy I didn't think there was much hope of avoiding it going around through everybody but we were indeed mercifully protected. I let them all sleep late...though no one even came close to outsleeping Grant with his 11am rising......and after pulling the house back together they played outside for the remainder of the beautiful day. They jumped the majority of the windy, overcast, 79 degree day. I love these days. I love the open windows, the cool fall winds and the cloudy skies that seem to promise rain. I love being on the go and doing everything fun that our trips always consists of but I so entirely love coming home. I love where we are. I love our place in life. I love our little life filled with tons of children and surrounded by a family that loves us in every way. I love our little house that seems to burst at the seams with children. I love the children's laughter that tinkles in like faint, far away wind chimes. And so as not to paint a picture not too far away from reality, I too am in love with the screaming and yelling that goes along with someone being hammered by a ball that was thrown too hard or a small finger that was accidentally slammed in the workshop door or the howling that comes along with a goat head that mercilessly pierced the heel of a bare little foot. I am so in love with the change of the seasons, the moving growing baby that lives within, my crawling/walking/laundry basket baby that laughs at anything and everything that passes him by and the sounds of my children that drift on the winds that blow through the house. I am so grateful for where we are. I am so blessed to be here.

Aubrey and Mercy

2 of my little pumpkins

4 little pumpkins

The whole crew...there were so many they filled up the wagon on their own.....too funny!

Playing Dress Up

Is she not the most beautiful thing ever.....or, well....one of them????? While Madison was here we talked of weddings, marriages, married life, future husbands for all of these upcoming girls within our family and all of the talk that accompanies growing from girlhood into blossoming womanhood. Somewhere along the way she asked if I still had my wedding dress. Not only do I still have it but it occurred to me just how easily accessible it was. So, after all of the little ones were tucked in and asleep that night I went and pulled it from it's closet space where it has hung for many years....unopened and undisturbed. As we unzipped I was taken again with just how incredibly beautiful it really was....and still is. With my expanded 8 month belly there was no hope of me ever trying it on just now so I handed it over. She is right at my 5'7 height and, though a little thinner and not nearly as hippy as me, she is not far from the size I was on my wedding day. We slipped it over her head and she was transformed from her 14 year old self into something that took even me by surprise. Suddenly you realize that these events are not all that far away for her...or even for my girls, which were now standing transfixed by the sight of her. She was breathtaking. It was a bit like having my own personal real live Barbie doll to play dress up with. She is beautiful in every way. I think the way she helped while she was here and just having some time to spend with her, seeing how much she has grown and getting to know her sweet spirit all over again, was eye opening even for me. She is breathtaking both inside and out. She radiates a glow that I hope my girls will have as they grow and mature and come into their own teenage years. And I love that they have someone like her to look up to.

Upon dropping her back off at home I was filled with a bittersweetness that always accompanies a parting of ways with family. I don't think I expected to enjoy her just as much as I did. My crew was elated to be reunited with Grayson so there was much joy and many hugs and hanging onto him as they greeted each other. And it did my heart good to hold him in my arms once more. But eventually the parting with Madison did hit Evye and when it did it hit hard. She came to me once we had finally returned home from our trip yesterday and was working hard to hold back the tide of tears that threatened. As always with Evye she wasn't too great at holding back and ended up sobbing that she missed Madison more than anything and that life is just not the same without her here. I comforted her and told her that Madison was going through the same emotions as well, fighting back the dreariness of separation and returning to "normal" life, and that Evye was free to call her and talk to her anytime. She did and it cheered her up pretty quickly. But once again when bedtime rolled around we went through the same scenario all over again. Now with her tired and overly emotional I finally just left her crying in her bed since nothing I was saying was really seeming to help at that point. So it was that she cried herself to sleep as she declared that it had been just like having an older sister and she missed her that much. I love that they love each other that much and that each of our children feel bonded like siblings. It just doesn't get much better than that.

And He's Off!!!!

He decided now is the time to finally take off! It would be while Grayson is gone for the entire week but Madison was here to get in on the fun of his 1st true steps. They spent almost an hour of laughing and loving on him as he tottered back and forth between Evye and Brad and Madison and Evye. He squealed in delight as he finally put it altogether and began again. As the night passed he was quite confident in his ability to walk back and forth between them all by the time he was more than ready for bed. So, here we are at 14 months 3 weeks and 1 day and he is walking! Now no more crying when all of the bigger guys go out to play and he is stuck looking pitifully through the window as they run and play in the great outdoors. Crawling is very rarely allowed outside due to the imminent dangers of being run over by young, flying, amateur motorist, all sorts of hostile bugs and way too many rocks that happen to be right at choking hazard size. Once on their feet though they earn the right of passage to the outdoors to take part in the play of the older ones. It definitely won't be long now! There's just not a lot of baby left in him anymore. I think that becomes all too apparent when they finally get mobile. They just grow so fast.



This week we have had Madison here with us to take a home-ec class of sorts. Am I even anywhere near being able to teach her this stuff????? I'm thinking not. I guess we'll find out! She came to learn how to cloth diaper, make homemade wet wipes, do the whole Charlie's Soap, vinegar, lemon juice laundry thing, homemade baby food, whole nutritious meals from scratch, haircuts for boys and learn how to make bread ranging from grinding the wheat to the everyday family bread needs to pizza dough to dinner rolls to herbed french braided loaves. Hopefully she'll take a little something home with her to prove our time was not spent in vain.....well, or spent in nothing but play! I must say that the french bread she made tonight after having done this all week proved she has indeed learned something here. Brad was quite impressed. And she is even convinced more now than ever that cloth diapering is the way to go. Even she agreed that it's just not as disgusting or nasty as it first sounds and, in fact, is not only fun but enjoyable and easy. She can hardly wait to go home and get started on their crew.




Brad went to Ruidoso with his dad for the annual deer hunt weekend and Grayson went to Jackie's to spend the week with their family. We did a kid swap in which everyone was so excited!! So, it left Madison, the other 6 and I with the entire weekend to ourselves without Brad and Grayson around. From staying up til all hours of the night watching girly stuff Brad would never on earth agree to watch with me to teaching and learning how to do stuff we have had a ton of fun. And Grayson has spent his cousin filled week fishing non stop, in which he has been absolutely overjoyed. The children and I leave for FW on Th and I'll drop Madison back off at home and pick Grayson back up. Plans are to go to the Pumpkin Patch on Friday morning and then do my prenatal Friday afternoon. We leave from FW early Sat morning and drive to Nanny and Pawpaw's where we will meet Brad and spend the day before coming home.



And more fun stuff the week has included was lots of girl talk and playing hair dresser. Evye and Aubrey have been in heaven. And I can't even begin to convey what it is to finally be able to get a taste of what it will be like to have a teen girl around our house. She has come in and kept the wash going and then continued on to folding the clothes with Evye and then keeping all the dishes done. I see glimpses of what life will be like for us in a few years as both Evye and Aubrey take on more and more of these responsibilities and grow out of the training years. What I work so hard at now as I train and teach and instruct became apparent as she has stayed with us this week. It gives the heart hope that things do begin to run like clockwork as the children grow and the joy is visible that is derived from keeping the home and playing with the little ones...not that our's don't enjoy it now, just that they are all still very young. The ability that comes to cook, clean, feed and put little ones to bed and in general have an extra pair of very capable hands that know what to do without being told is unreal to me. Gavin is absolutely in love with her and has let her do all of his feedings and bathing, in which she was thrilled with. Garrison, Grant and Garrett have all declared their undying love for her and all have at least at one point, if not many, stated that they are going to marry her. She just eats it up. Brad said that Jackie and Curtis may just not get her back. And, I have loved all of the company she has been and the conversations that we have had the opportunity to have that range from very deep to downright funny. It's definitely safe to say that she will be dearly missed once we return her home.

Doing hair...with a bunch of onlookers for company

The end result....2 very proud and beautiful girls

I think the mesquite bush won...this would be the result after he fell into it on our walk

Laundry Basket Baby

And his collection of them

This would be how we found him as I went to check in on them

Tired tired boys