We used to have a double stroller when Jacob, Ethan, and Grace were all preschoolers.  I used that thing so much that we wore it out.  I got rid of it and didn’t replace it because by that time we were spacing our babies out.  By the time the next baby came along, the old baby was old enough to walk with Mama.

Well, here we are:  Jacob is 13, Ethan is 12, Grace is 10….David is almost 8, Caleb is 5.  They all know how to walk like proper duckies behind their mother duck.

But, Seth (17 months) does not.  Seth wants to go his Own Way. 

Baby Sarah (2 months) is just a baby.  She can’t walk.  She doesn’t even stay awake during walks. 

I like to go on walks but I needed help with the little ones.  I’m a mom of seven and I understand that there are lots of near-impossible feats that women can accomplish with youngsters.  However, going for a lovely walk, unaided, with a newborn and a toddler is something that I personally would not ever encourage.  Unless it is a walk of a very short length (10 feet or less)………

Hence, the wonderful NEW WHEELS:

Jacob, Ethan, Grace, David, and Caleb have had Vacation Bible School all this week.  On Sunday night, while they were attending night #1, my handsome husband and I went and bought ourselves a shiny new double stroller.  The first time I used it on my own (at the library) I had to call him at work because I could not figure out how to fold the thing back up. 

I really like the bright, cheerful red color.  It is very easy to push and it turns corners on a dime.  The seats easily lift out so that we can turn them to face each other, the front, or the back. 

Right now Sarah faces us.

And Seth faces front so he can look at things as we walk along.

It’s been such a nice week.  Taking the children to VBS every night has been crazy (it’s a half hour drive to church) but fun.  Instead of going home to enjoy his quiet house, Rich has been driving to church after work to meet me and we’ve gone on dates (with the little ones) each evening –dinner and then a nice long walk around the neighborhood.

We talk and laugh and last night on the sidewalk, as cars were driving by,  I received the nicest long romantic kiss!  Now that we have this awesome stroller we plan on walking (and kissing) after dinner as often as we can.

I was running around, in the midst of a very busy morning, trying to clean up the house before it got out of control, not really listening to little boys who were following me around, just aching for a bit of my time……

After a while, I realized what I was doing and I stopped the scrubbing.  The house work I had accomplished that morning was good enough. 

“Davy, do you want to go for a walk with me?  Let’s go to the field and see if we can find some caterpillars!”

“Okay!”

We left the house with Jacob in charge of the sleeping babies and away we went.

The two of us.

We held hands.

We looked at the stream.

He talked a lot and I listened, really listened.

We admired a big huge pine tree and Davy climbed it.

We saw a fallen down tree across the trail.

We admired the wood, noticed the many layers inside, and took a piece home with us as a souvenir.

The field was lovely, spicy, buzzing, and hot.

We didn’t see any caterpillars.  We did see some interesting bugs.  David said that he wants to learn more about interesting bugs.  These particular ones were long, red with black spots, and had long black antennae. 

We found a couple red ripe raspberries at the edge of the woods.  We ate them.

There are no apples growing on the wild apple tree this year.

We found some mysterious round purple berries.  We didn’t eat them.

Saw a beautiful butterfly.

And another interesting bug: a colorful beetle that proved to be camera shy.

Admired the moss in the woods.  It was like a carpet! (said David)

Enjoyed the lovely pine woods that belong to us, on our property.  “We should bring a picnic table back here!” (said Mama)

We walked back home and that little walk has brought a smile to my face whenever I think about it. 

I’m so thankful for moments like that during these busy days.

My camera dried out and is working fine, all except the zoom button, which I use more than I thought I did.  I miss my zoom button, but am very thankful that my camera is back to life.  Taking pictures during our busy days is something I really enjoy.

After my camera dried out my upstairs computer had a problem and I could not transfer photos into my picture program.  Rich fixed it last night so I am taking the time this morning to post some pictures on my blog.  Sarah is over in the arm chair looking cute (she can chew on her little hands now) and Rich just brought me coffee and half a bagel.

Anyway.

We made pickles this week!

It all began on Thursday.  I was sitting on the couch early in the morning, minding my own business.  I was the center of attention:

We were all hanging out together when all of a sudden our neighbor down the road drove in.  It was Mr. G, the man who has the huge garden (and the kids helped him plant it).  He came to our house to give us 2 boxes of cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash.  He has been selling produce by the side of the road but he had to go away for a few days and decided to give us the veggies.

He told us they would be good for pickles so after he left Ethan came in the house and immediately started rummaging around the kitchen, trying to start making pickles!  He didn’t need to think about it, he knew that was what we had to do.  Of course, he had not a clue how to make them, but that’s besides the point.  He was just gonna do it.  Who knows what he would have come up with.

I grabbed my canning and preserving book (see link below) and we went downtown to get our supplies, just me and E and Seth.  It was a lot of fun because while we were at the store we also bought those new pretzel mnm’s and ate them.  It was a party!  We put the groceries in the back of the vehicle and filled our pockets with mnm’s.  Then we walked down to the hardware store to buy a canner.  Seth turned all the different colors of the mnm’s, I carried him and wiped his chin off with his shirt.  It was a beautiful cool morning.

This was the recipe we decided to make first:

When we got home, we went right to work.

After we made the refrigerator pickles, I made pickled summer squash.  This recipe involved canning/processing the jars in boiling water and this was the very first time I had ever done it.  I was proud of myself.

All the canning made me hot and tired so I flopped on the floor for a minute, with Sarah.  Grace took the picture.

Sarah’s sundress has flowers and strawberries all over it, the same color as the shirt I was wearing.  Little things like that make me happy.    When you spend so much time together it’s good to color coordinate.

My brother Isaac came for dinner on Thursday (pickle day).  I was so thankful that Jacob and I had made dinner earlier and it was in the crock pot.  We made Salisbury steak, a recipe we recently found on allrecipes.com.  It is already a family favorite.  I just have to say,  I have tweaked the recipe.  The original calls for a package of lipton onion soup mix, mixed into two pounds of hamburger.  I thought it was too salty, so the next time we made it I used 3 beef bouillon cubes and a handful of dried onion in 3 pounds of burger, instead.  You could also add herbs and spices, too.  We served the steak with hot buttered egg noodles and raw cucumber sticks (with dip).  There was NOTHING leftover.  Success!

Isaac and I took the kids outside.

Caleb flew his kite.

Caleb canned out on the lower driveway, which is gravel.  He came crying to us, showed us two very tiny scrapes (but I am sure they did sting, poor boy) and then went in the house, muttering “NOW I NEED TO PUT BANDAIDS ALL OVER MYSELF.”

He came back out looking like this:

The large bandaids were much too large but I guess that was all he could find. 

After a while, the little boys wanted to swim so I sat and watched them while Isaac and Grace walked the dog.

I made more pickles yesterday.  Bread and butter.  Four quarts of them.  By the time I was done chopping and measuring, boiling, stirring, timing, turning my kitchen into a disaster, boiling a HUGE pot of water and worrying about someone getting burned, I decided paying 3 dollars a jar at the grocery store was a steal of a deal.

I am happy that I did it, but it’s time consuming and tiring.  And when it’s the first time you try a recipe you don’t even know if it’s worth it!  How will they taste?  Will they be crispy?  Will the children like them?  Am I crazy?

I went out on the porch yesterday to get something and found E and G sitting and talking, each with chickens on their laps and the cat right there with them! 

Someone special sent Sarah a few gifts yesterday and this morning I put her new tiny legwarmers on her.  They are so cute I squealed.

And they have cherries on them.  How utterly precious!

Happy Saturday to all my wonderful friends!  Thank you for being you.

Much love~ Shanda

The children have been swimming in the pond almost every day.

I like to take my pretty quilt and go sit down at the pond and watch them.

On Friday, Sarah slept under the trees in the shade while the others swam.

Ethan gave his chicken a ride on the swing.  But I really took this picture because of Seth and his daring climb.  Seth has no fear, I have to feel it all for him…….can’t take my eyes off him for a moment!

Friday evening:

The sky that evening was so beautiful….

we ended up having to get out of the pond because a storm came in. 

I took some pictures of Sarah Joy in her fancy dress before she grew out of it……it was a gift from one of my xanga friends.  The dress and bow are darling, she’s so cute in it.  Grace and I think she looks like a baby ballerina.

Rich got home Friday night shortly after 9.  I want to say thanks to all who prayed for him.  His flight was almost delayed on Friday……but all ended up just fine and we spent a very happy Saturday and Sunday together again.  We kissed a lot. 

On Saturday Grace and David were invited to a pool party.  After I took a chicken to the vet (she had a sore on her foot), I dropped them off.  Then, I came home and Rich and I put Seth down for a nap and left Jacob & Ethan to babysit Caleb (and Seth, who was napping).  We went out for lunch and then went to pick out a new dryer.  We drove on back roads instead of the highway and we discovered a great meat market on the way home.  We picked up some hamburgers, steaks, hot dogs, and ribs to grill.  When we got home, we all walked the 1 and a half miles to go get Grace and Davy back from their friend’s house.  I love walking with the family, we talked and laughed and got too hot.  We ended up going out for ice creams when we got back home.  The only bad thing was that during our walk I was holding Sarah in the Ergo.  Because I couldn’t carry it around my neck as usual, I put my camera in the back of the stroller, not knowing that Seth’s sippy cup with water in it was leaking…my camera got drenched and is slowly drying out.  So far it is not working, but I have hope!  Live, camera, live!  Come back to me!

On Sunday we went to church.  Rich taught Sunday School and the Lord orchestrated it so that his lesson and Pastor’s sermon went hand in hand.  Its always a thrill when that happens.  People had questions during S.S. that Pastor was able to clear up w/out even knowing about our class.  After church we stopped by the grocery store.  Rich and I went in and got stuff for a sandwich lunch which I made and we ate, on the way home.  We also went through the McDonald’s drive through…I love their iced mochas, yum!

Today my friend Kathy (and her five children) are coming over to play with us.  My new dryer will be delivered and then this afternoon Jacob has an orthodontist appointment.  It’s going to be a  busy (but fun) day, and that’s why I wanted to hop online earlier ….. to say hello …. Happy Monday!! 

I got the camera out and took some pictures this morning of Sarah. 

She’s changed during this last week, beginning to wake up to the world around her, moving her eyes to see, smiling at her Mama.

It’s not possible to slow down time for real and the days are just a galloping, slipping, racing by.

At least here in my online journal I can freeze some of the moments in photos and words.

“Little sack a sugar I could eat you up!”

She’s got the same dimple on her chin that her Papa does, and everyone else except Davy-do.

Davy has my chin. 

This darling yellow outfit was Grace’s, once upon a time.

It’s got eyelet lace trim, light pink baby bows, a nice thick substantial fabric, tucks and ruffles, and a bonnet!

Seth is 17 months old now and quite active.

For instance, I’ve caught him coloring on the wall this week.  And then on the floor.  And then on the TV.

That’s just one example. 

Oh, wait here’s another one……

He does NOT leave Sarah alone.  I have lost count how many times I got that baby to sleep, only to have Seth wake her back up when I was off doing something else (like finally eating lunch or drinking my coffee!).

(notice our new hardwood floor?  we had them put down in the l-room, master, and kitchen)

Our girlies (buckeyegirlie has me using that little love-name now!  love it!)

Oh I am so thankful to have TWO GIRLS.  What a treasure and a joy!  Thank you, Lord!!!!!!!!!!!  I still can’t quite get over the fact that Sarah is finally here!  It has been an amazing year with this gift of a girlie arriving into our family.

And of course I am also thankful for our five boys as well.  They’re all such interesting people, quite fun until around about 6:30 in the evening and I’m totally exhausted from running around all day.  Doing what Moms do.  You know.

Which reminds me, Rich is coming home tonight.  When I think about it, I want to cry, I’m THAT lonely for him.  Please pray that the last portion of his trip, this evening, is smooth and uneventful.  He won’t be home until close to midnight……ugh…..hopefully I’ll wake up and notice him when he slips into bed with me.

There are a gazzillion things I could write about this week, a gazzillion little stories of a moms adventures with seven children…….but unfortunately I can’t think of most of them anymore.

I’ll just leave you a few of examples:

Me:  noticing David had several small bald patches on the side of his head:  “DAVID!  Did you CUT your hair?”

David: with a guilty expression:  “Noooooooo, I didn’t cut it, I used one of those mustache things.”

Also, the hardwood floor guys were here laying the floor in the kitchen on Wednesday.  I was home with the kids, and we were all hanging out in my room with the door open.  I put a Veggietales show on my laptop for them, and when the theme song came on I WAS DANCING TO IT LIKE A LOONIE, just in time for one of the workers to come in to ask me a question!  That was quite embarrassing.  You see, I don’t dance like a loonie for anyone except the kids.  I stopped, turned red, and muttered, “You caught me!  I was just entertaining the children.”  Ha ha, I can’t remember what he said in reply…….yikes……

And, Ethan got to see an incredible sight.  He witnessed two big bull frogs fighting, on the bank of the pond.  He said they were wrestling around!  I didn’t know bull frogs got that mad, did you?

And lastly, the children separated George from his hens and took him to their fort on the other side of the pond.  George got worried about his girls and immediatly FLEW into the pond and SWAM to the other side!  I didn’t know roosters could/would swim, did you?

Happy Friday to you~

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.

I John 4:18

“It is not work that kills men; it is worry.  Work is healthy; you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear.  Worry is rust upon the blade.  It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery but the friction.  Fear secretes acids; but love and trust are sweet juices.”  -Henry Ward Beecher

Where am I going?  I don’t quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere.  I don’t know.

Where am I going?  The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going?  The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.

If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You’d sail on water as blue as air,
And you’d see me here in the fields and say:
“Doesn’t the sky look green today?”

Where am I going?  The high rooks call:
“It’s awful fun to be born at all.”
Where am I going?  The ring-doves coo:
“We do have beautiful things to do.”

If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You’d lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You’d say to the wind when it took you away:
“That’s where I wanted to go today!”

Where am I going?  I don’t quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere, I don’t know.

~A.A. Milne

We went to a library book sale two weeks ago and I found a green, hardcover copy of When We Were Very Young, a sweet book of poetry by the wonderful A.A. Milne.  I was sitting on the couch reading through it the other day, when I came across this poem, and I thought it was precious.  It reminded me of all the countless walks I’ve gone on with my dear friends…my children…especially the little ones who have no idea “where we are going”, but they are so happy to go with Mama anywhere she takes them.  I took Seth on a walk on Monday and another on Tuesday.  These pictures are from his very first walks on his own two feet, as he is usually riding in the Ergo baby carrier.  I was so tickled by him and his explorations in the stream, at the pond, on the trail, and through the woods. 

Iridescent dragonflies flittered about, one landed briefly on the top of Seth’s head.  The wind was gently blowing warm, woodsy-perfumed air around us, and I could hear crows cawing to the left of us, up in the trees.  The stream is low and we need some rain, but Seth had such fun splashing in the nooks and crannies and climbing up on the rocks.  He collected pine cones, stirred with sticks, and threw some little stones, quite pleased to be free outside in God’s big beautiful world.

The hem of my skirt got wet in the stream as I sat on the perfect chair made for me, of one big rock.  I took pictures, I watched and smiled, I closed my eyes and breathed deep breaths in and out. 

On these hot summer days it doesn’t take long for a little boy’s wet sneakers to dry again, out in the sun, ready for tomorrow’s next adventure, “anywhere, anywhere, I don’t quite know.”
 

“But while in the busy household band
Your darlings still need your guiding hand,
Oh fill their lives with sweetness!”
~Anonymous

I’ve been busy since the moment I woke up this morning.  I’m making myself sit for a moment and put a blog up and drink a big glass of water. 

Rich was home all last week and I miss him today.

It is hard work taking care of a newborn plus six other children.  I feel like there is not enough of me to go around.

But, we had our meals.  I did 2 loads of laundry and hung them out on the line.

We all went outside together during Sarah’s early morning nap.

We found some blobs of jelly like pitch on a tree and thought it was neat.

We played at the playset and trampoline, I watched flips and handsprings performed by G and D.

We collected the eggs and let the rabbit out of her cage to explore.

We gave Seth a ride in the wheelbarrow.

When we came in I read some books to the little ones, and our daily Bible portion to all of us.

I nursed Sarah.  Changed lots of diapers.  Put Seth down for a nap.

Ordered ice cream from the Schwan’s woman for later.

The children are all resting now and I am on my way to bed, too.

I have a headache and am sooooo sleepy.

First, some pictures;

The first two are of Sarah Joy.

We had hardwood floors installed on T, F, and S.  The house was in a shambles and I spent most of my time on the porch.

Sarah’s temporary bed was the chair next to me.

I left her for a while and when I came back I had to laugh because she made herself comfy by stretching out her little legs.  So cute!

We all went for a short walk.

I balanced the camera on a pole to take a family picture.

The dog has a way of turning to look at us during pictures, so I threw a rock toward the camera at the last second, to make him turn around.

Rich, with a big baby on his back and a little one in his arms.

Even though it was hot and muggy, Rich is dressed like this because he cannot stand bugs.

The three corner flies are awful and they LOVE him.

I have to beg him to walk in the woods, the bugs eat him alive.

Another family picture, at the big field. 

Jacob took this one of me and Sarah Joy. 

I think she’s beautiful.  Those nice round cheeks and the little double chin, so cute! 

On our way back home, I took one last picture…of Rich surrounded by his boys. 

Rich leaves tomorrow for a business trip and will be back on Friday.

Please pray for his safety as he travels.

In preparation for his absence, I got to go out for some girl-time with my sister this weekend.

We went to the bookstore and a couple stores, then out to dinner.

It was so fun!  It was just the two of us, and Sarah.

We talked and laughed a lot.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am for her!

I hope all of you have a good day!

~ Shanda

“Make your home a garden of flowers,
Where joy shall bloom through childhood’s hours,
And fill young hearts with sweetness.”
Anonymous

Five years ago today we welcomed our fourth baby boy and we named him Caleb James. 

He was my baby when I first starting blogging here on xanga.

He looked like this:

And now he’s five!  I just can’t believe it.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

PS, I took the top picture today.  Isn’t he cute?  Rich and I gave him some dollar store toys to unwrap here at home and then we all took him to the toy store to pick out his own presents.  He got a Buzz Lightyear lego set, a bionicle, and a book. 

One of the things I love about family life is being able to share in each other’s favorite activities.  Now that five of the children are old enough, Rich is thrilled to have his very own team of runners.  During the last four evenings, after the heat of the day, he has told the children to get their socks and sneakers on so they can go running with him.  They all pile into the vehicle, and he takes them downtown to the local High School track.  After they are done running, the children report to their Dad how many laps they did so he can translate the laps into miles & praise them (he reports to me when they get home, and I smile, because he’s happy and proud of them).  They do very well, but Jacob especially has recently turned into quite the runner, running up to four miles (16 laps) nonstop. 

On their way home, they swing by the ice cream place for a treat. 

Rich says he is making memories and he’s right.  The children love every minute they spend with him.