Little Hands

One of the best feelings in world just might be when little hands are gently stroking your face or hair with love.  I get that... times 3.  Things to remember when everything else seems crazy

A few questions

As I was doing chores today while the kiddos slept, I was thinking...as I often do. And I came up with a few questions I'd like to ask a few different people.

To Mrs. Duggar (mother of 18, going on 19 children)

1. We know what life is like now for you...but what was life like 15 or 16 years ago when you "only" had 3 or 4 kids, all very young. Now you have lots of older children that can help with tasks like cleaning, cooking, putting socks/clothes on little ones. How did you handle just having a few little ones? Were you as calm and organized then?

2. Again...16 or 17 years ago, how did you handle the emotional stress of having a handful of little ones. Did you have lots of other, adult helpers throughout the week, or did you do it on your own? How did you discipline them?

3. When your little ones were a bit older, maybe 12 or 13 years ago, how did you homeschool with school age children while also caring for newborns?

4. When your children were preschoolers, did you spend much time teaching them throughout the day, or did you just sort of do what needed to be done to keep life as in order as possible?

To an Amish mother...

1. How do you discipline your children?

2. Your children are always so quiet, calm and polite when a guest is over, how did you teach that? At what age did you expect them to be quiet and not interrupt?

3. How do you do everything you do all day without modern convenience? Tell me your routine and schedule so you can clean, wash, cook and garden.

To an average mother of  3 or 4 children...
1. What was your favorite time with you kids? When they were infants & toddlers? When they were in elementary school? When they were in middle or high school? (When they move out doesn't count! haha)

2. What advice would you have liked to have had when your children were younger.

3. Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

What other questions would you ask?  Who else would you like to ask questions to?

Good morning

I had a great start to my day. Got to sleep in until 7:30. Got the girls dressed and fed, man, I was on a role. So, I started cleaning up breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher....


....only to figure out after nearly all the dishes were put away, that my dishwasher was never turned on last night. Oops...Hope I found all the dirty ones in the cabinet and put them back in the dishwasher.

The weather, organizing and games

Like the rest of the country, it's been incredibly cold here. Well, that's changing today. This afternoon it is a beauitful sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s I believe. Perfect! Does anyone know of a place where the high is in the 60s and 70s at least 90% of the year? If so, I would like to move there. Thanks!

Anyway...last week, even Florida dipped into the freezing temperatures! Saturday was the worst day for me. It *might* have made it to 40, but I'm pretty sure it didn't get out of the 30s AND it was raining. A slow, nasty, cold, steady rain all day. I can handle one day of that, and then I'm ready for my sunshine. I have really enjoyed the cold temps, even the really really cold temps, mostly because the sun was still shining so there was a hint of warmth on your face. But, when there's no sun, it's no fun!

I also think it's hysterical to look around here when it's cold. Today I went to the grocery store. My car temp gauge said it was in the mid 40s, and people had on what looked to be snow books with fur and fringe all around and big heavy jackets. Seriously....within an hour of that temp reading, it was already in the mid 50s. I have lived here my whole life in the warmth, but I can't help but giggle at the people who bundle up like it's going to snow. I'm sure that lady I saw is sweating in her boots now.

I have loved wrapping myself in blankets (even when it's 80 out I like to do that. I've enjoyed having the windows open. I feel like the air is easier to breath when there's a little chill in it. I'm sure I would feel MUCH differently if I were in snow covered Ohio, or worse, North Dakota where I heard of temps (maybe it was wind chill, I don't know, in the negative 50s!)

I think I'm rambling and procrastinating from doing housework. Here is a picture of Jeremy scraping the ice off his van on day last week. We don't have an ice scraper, so he used a spatula from the kitchen.


Subject Change
If you watched the treadmill video, then you saw our garage. We just finished organizing it a few weeks ago. Over the past couple of months, we painted the floor and walls, built new shelves, organized all of Jeremy's items into drawers and simply worked really hard to get HIS space back in the order He likes it. I think it looks great too.



AND...here's a pic of the girls sporting their home made aprons. I love 'em.

Finally...here's a cut picture of the girls playing with a Christmas present. Nicole insists it's a tent and not a tunnel.

My cousin Colt

My cousin, Michael and his sweet wife Jyme Beth have 4 very adorable boys, Colt (almost 7), Judd (almost 5), Lane (3 1/2) and Jace (1). Colt was born with his hip out of socket, a problem which required surgery when he was a little baby and a body cast for 12 weeks. He is now almost 7yrs old (his birthday is the 16th) and a vibrant, growing and very strong little boy (who has had quite a rodeo carrier thus far. I'm not sure what all these events are, but he is first in the down & back and barrels and second in stick horse race and goat tail tye in his age category).

His parents just found out that he has to have another hip surgery because one of his growth plates was damaged during his first surgery. Now that Colt is growing up, this is causing a problem because one hip is growing faster than the other. Unfortunately, he has to have this surgery this Thursday...before his Rodeo season ends. He is very disappointed because he may not be able to finish his season the way he hopes to. He will not be able to have any physical activity for at least 6 wees (that's gonna be tough on Jyme Beth too!).

Anyway...I wrote this for two reasons....one-so you can be praying for him. His surgery is this Thursday morning and should last about 1 1/2 hours.
And 2...they would love to have cards sent to him while he recovers. So...if you'd like to send a little get well card to Colt, please contact me and I'll give you their address. It would cheer him up, because he is scared about the surgery and bummed about missing out on his favorite things for the next month and half. (Plus his birthday is on Saturday).

Thanks guys!

Two videos

I have two videos to share with you.

This one is what we do when it's to cold for us Floridians to go outside (this was the day it barely got into the 40s! I don't care who you are...that's cold! haha) This video is a little long...but I think it's hysterical! Jeremy gets the treadmill up to max speed...and the girls have a turn trying too.



This video is more for our dear family who live in a land far far away. Nathan is really starting to smile and coo....however, I caught him at the tale end of his smiling time. Oh well...you get to see it anyway. Hang in there until the end (or fast forward to the end) so you can catch a little glimpse of Nicole and Hannah....and, what I generally look like during the day (unbrushed, unmake-uped, and perfectly "real" haha

Pizza Cupcakes

For Christmas, I got a cookbook called The Cooking for Kids Bible.  It is filled with all sorts of fun, yummy recipes.  I used several this last week and I wanted to share one that I made for lunch.  They are called Pizza Cupcakes.

Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated biscuits
1/4 C diced red sweet pepper
1/4 C diced onion
1 C spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese

Saute red pepper and onion until soft.  Meanwhile, place one biscuit in each cupcake tin and spread up the sides of the cupcake container, making a well in the center.  When the veggies are cooked, add the spaghetti sauce and bring to a boil for 1 to 2 minutes.  Fill each biscuit cupcake with a scoop of sauce, top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. 

These were a pretty good little lunch.  I was happy that I was able to sneak in some veggies too.

Iguanas

Picturing this gave me a much needed laugh today.  Taken from this article.

Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s. Iguanas were seen falling out of trees; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized and lose their grip when the temperature falls into the 40s or below.

More pictures

You know...I have the opportunity to post, so I might as well. This may not happen again for another week or more:-)  In case your just checking in...you have some catching up to do, so keep reading:-)

First....Nathan has been left out in the past few posts.  But, not in this one.

He's smiling and cooing a lot.  It's so sweet.  After all the crying, the smiling takes the stress away.  He's being calmed more now by the girls too.  I think he gets lonely, because he cries if he's by himself, but then Nicole will go over to talk to him, and he stops.  He seems to love them already!

 

Last week we went to the park where the girls rode around a racquetball court on their bikes while Jeremy and his friend played....aren't they cool???

I love this picture of Nicole on this very cool tree swing. 

Aprons

For Christmas, I decided I would try to make matching aprons for the girls and I.  I have no idea how I found the time (yes I do...it was late...late...late at night), but I was able to complete the aprons for Nicole and Hannah.  Mine is not done, but it will get done!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the back is purple with sparkles all over.

I wanted to add some embellishments but I didn't.  One, because I didn't have enough time, and 2, because I didn't know how to.  I have another little project on my mind now.  Hopefully I'll have time to get around to it soon.