Yet More Random Pics

So.....I'd just kind of purposed not to post anything until I got the birth story up....but you can see how well that one's going. So much life is taking place that I fear I'm falling entirely behind on here. I had all sorts of things noted on my phone to remember to document on here....until it was all lovingly erased by children. And since my memory last about as long as a fired .22 bullet right now....this whole blogging thing has gone into abandoned mode. Weather is magnificently beautiful so we're just not in the house much these days. We were miraculously given a vehicle to use until the faithful beast has a new transmission and torque converter installed. So, for the first time in many many months we are once again able to get out on the town as an entire family.  Beach trip looms on the near horizon, along with museums and so forth. To say that it's been a very long while since we've been out as a family together is a little of an understatement....and the comments that are coming keep us laughing. The most popular comment of our outings now seems to be "They're your's???? They're ALL your's?!?! Biological???? You, like....birthed every one of them???" It seemed to be a popular question awhile back and I guess they're at it again. In fact...it seems as though that's about all people can ask at this point. It's a ton of fun, keeps us laughing, and given us opportunities to meet some pretty amazing and interesting people.


So, until I can get the birth story up and some random thoughts to go with the random pics....here's life....in more pictures! Fun.

The Love Project resumes. Hallway and dining/office up next. Sanding paneling due to all the peeling acrylic to which primer refuses to adhere.

The beginning of phase 2 of about 50 in this house. 

When your sander's seen about 100,000 man hours.

The untwins.

Due to more requests for pics of the everybody family closet, here's recent ones taken a few days ago. At one point I really truly will dedicate a post as to how we make it all work and how it's organized. Until then...here's the pics of what our closet life looks like in 1500 sq ft. I can honestly say...having implemented the family closet and now having lived with  it for about 4 or so years....I won't ever go back to traditional drawers, dressers and many separate tiny closet and clothes spaces. It may not be the most aesthetically appealing arrangement....but it is more than practical, functional and an amazing life saver where organization is concerned. Since our washer/dryer are located in tiny kitchen closet and this room is located next to kitchen, the shelf on far right houses all of our dirty clothes waiting to go into washer. Shelves facing camera house all clean clothes. Bottom rack holds all shoes. Oldest  has his own shoe basket since he wears a sz 14. Girls have a basket, 4 middle boys have a basket and then babies have a shoe basket for ease of quickly locating correct ones when hurrying out door. Next 3 shelves above shoes are all clothes organized by child....except for 4 middle boys since they all wear the same size. We have their's organized by underwear/pajamas, shorts, and 2 baskets of jeans. Very top shelf is seasonal items such as winter jackets, life jackets, and then board games. Since we have lost all basement storage completely and everything must be within the 1500 sq  ft of the upstairs it has taken some creativity to store books, curriculum and things such as lifejackets and board games. So, though we lost a bit of clothes basket space for those things...the system is working well. We hang all shirts for ease of locating them quickly and none getting lost in the deep abyss of baskets.

Closet is located in office area of house. Like I said..not the most attractive thing...but it works and is a sanity saver. Worth it all. 

Armoir with microwave and roaster oven on top is pantry for kitchen since kitchen cabinet space is limited. 

So...there you have it. The simplified version!

Washer/dryer space located in kitchen. Since it is used so excessively I just chose to leave doors off and mount valances to cover shelves. Doors were about half the size of the entire kitchen when opened so having them off is pretty amazing, not to mention they were dust catchers since they were the louvered type with 30,000 crevices to keep clean. I love this arrangement. 

Fun in the sun on summer days. With so much thanks to all the people that love on them. To the pool with a very close sweet friend that loves on them like her own. 

 The one who refuses to be caught by a camera. There are no words for how much I love this boy.

Our new temporary ride. It's an amazing thing to watch God bless abundantly when you begin to bless others and give absolutely unconditionally. Lovingly deemed "the swagger wagon". I'm just pretty sure it's taken sex appeal to a whole new level.

The new look coming soon to a dining room near you. 

When your loved a ton by a big 4 year old sister  maybe you get pink blanket love gifts to keep you warm.

Nothing like a little dinner time help. Kitchen cabinets are just painful to look at. Hinges will finally be special ordered next paycheck. Since cabinetry is late 60's type, traditional hinges do not fit and have to be...special ordered! Thus the 5 months of glorious humility. Backdoor will finally be painted when weather cools enough to leave it open all day. And countertops....someday. The kitchen renovation is taking MUCH longer than anticipated. But the two bare butts sure are cute!

 

A peek into daily life.

What life looks like when you decide to finally take the plunge into a completely different way of life.Trying it out for tatse before going home to make our own version at home. And the consensus...kale chips are just plain nasty. As in...I am perfectly capable of going out in the yard and picking up a handful of last autumn's dried leaves and getting the same crunch effect from those. Yeah...probably won't be doing that again. Sesame seed granola was, however, so good I did go home and make our own.

Things now being ingested that have never even been heard of in life. However, with this tea it is capable to make a drink that rivals anything at Starbucks. I'm pretty hooked.

Shrinker Latte:
4 steeped tea bags (cooled)
1 cup almond milk
1 scoop whey protein powder
2 T coconut oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp Truvia
3 shakes cayenne pepper
dash natural sea salt

Mix in blender, add 2 cups of ice.  Blend again.

Growing baby girl.

We start 'em out young around here.

Little boy seriously loved by a generous big sister. Nothing like pics of you crawling around in a tutu to come back and haunt you years later. 

Kitchen help!

Healthy Meatloaf....despite my disdain of cooking. It got everybody's stamp of approval. Before.

After!

Bird seed cake. Without tahini it would've actually been really good. But I've got news....people who eat tahini have some seriously messed up tastebuds. Usually not a picky eater at all...I am quite 100% certain I have never in my life tasted anything nastier....ever. And this lovely little edible bird seed cake is pretty amazing....when tahini is completely, wholly, entirely omitted.

The cat's back.

 Late night tire blowouts. Somehow we manage to make flat tires even fun. I'm pretty certain the unexpected is way more fun than the mundane. Oldest unexpectedly returned early from August campout due to severity of storms.  Late night pick up at church resulted in fellow scout parent making us aware of our predicament. And 2 blocks later...we were stranded in a lonely gas station parking lot needing a college degree to find the spare tire. When complete search of van ended in utter futility and air continued whistling out of tire some good looking, uniformed help arrived. After googling...seriously....where minivan spare tires are located it was found and they popped the flat off and put the spare on. Whoever came up with that spare tire arrangement was crazy in the head. But the 10:00pm parking lot party was fun!

The nail!

This made me laugh. Late night shift party. Reading up before diving in to a whole different world of recipes. My plan is to dedicate a post to this book and begin documenting any results that come from following a whole new approach. It has proven to make so much sense and put all of the years of everything I have learned about health into a sensible way to apply it. Balancing years and years of WW that no longer work, to a Paleo/Atkins life, to a very balanced approach of it all based on this. It's a pretty amazing read. And so entirely do-able....even for the kitchen hater, non-cook, and the busyness that life entails with an insane number of kids. 

So yeah...maybe they're not following the plan yet. All played out.

Just because I know everybody in the world wants to see my food. It's interesting to me so therefore you  have fallen prey to having to endure the pics. So far I've dropped 5 lbs and my size 8's are loose. The book itself is amazing to me since it's an entire family way of life for health and covers those who need to drop the weight, those that need to just maintain, and those that need to gain....kids included! This would be lunch that had me entirely skeptical. It did actually fill me up completely. I repeated it for dinner last night but added sauteed onions and bacon to the mozzarella avocado. So, entirely good. However, it would help your cause a bit if your avocado is actually ripe when you attempt eating it. Tomatoes topped with sharp cheese and drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika.The avocado has a ton of seasonings on it too.

Kitchen duty. It's always more fun when you have a buddy.

7 

weeks!

 On the move. Mall day!

 Date night at the movie!

When you go in for 4 things.