Today is Grace’s birthday. I remember when she was born, I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon.  I was still two weeks from my due date.  Later on, at about 10pm, I went to bed, opened up a book, started reading…. and then almost right away I began contractions.  Rich said, “Are you serious!?” It was about to be an all-nighter.  We had moved (away from home) into an apartment just a few months earlier and had made arrangements for a lady from the new church we were attending, to come over and watch the boys until my parents could arrive (they were 2 hours away).  So we called the lady (I don’t even remember her name now) and when she came, Rich and I drove to the hospital.  I had an epidural for the first time and it was WONDERFUL.  I smiled all through labor and delivery.  What a nice way to be born…while your Mama is smiling.  I love that.  She was born at 3-something in the morning.  Dark hair, 5 lbs, 13 oz.  17 inches long.  A peanut, they called her.

Of course I was thrilled that she was a girl, after having two boys.  I held her nonstop.  The nurse noticed and said, “You don’t like that baby, do you?” Teasing me.  I knew that she would grow just as fast as her brothers did so I wanted to enjoy every moment.  My parents came to the hospital with the boys to see their new granddaughter, and then they took them back to NY for the next week.

The first week home with just Grace was a treat.  I could concentrate on my new baby and rest.  I was 23 years old when she arrived.

Jacob, Ethan, and Grace were all born within a three year period and it’s been such a joy to watch them grow up together.  They are the best of friends.  And now we have David, Caleb, Seth and Sarah, too.  Grace is a big sister and a very good one.

It rained all day today but it felt nice and cozy.  I polished Grace’s nails for her at the kitchen table with boys all around us.  Seth sat in my lap (learning, no doubt, how to polish nails), Caleb kept showing us his Clifford library book, and the other boys drew pictures of Star Wars figures.  Sarah was napping.  But when she woke up I plopped her on big sister’s lap for a few pictures.  Just think, I took pictures of just Grace and the boys last year and now……my heart is full of happiness to have two girls and I keep thinking about how grateful I am that Grace has Sarah for a sister.  A most wonderful gift~

I took Grace out for a quick, drive-through lunch at McDonalds and stopped to buy some birthday candles. 

We got home and spent time in the kitchen.  Sarah sat on the counter and kept me company while I baked the cake. I was going to make one from scratch but to my astonishment I had 40 pounds of flour in the house but NO SUGAR.  How could that happen?  I ransacked the cupboards but came up with nothing.  I was grateful that I had a cake mix. 

After I was done baking I took Sarah and went to bed and took a very lovely dark and dreamy nap for over an hour.  Warm baby was tucked up next to me and it was bliss.

When I got up, Jacob had taken the cake out of the oven and Seth had dug a hole out of it.  I whipped up some homemade chocolate frosting and covered it right up.

We had a sandwich dinner and now we are waiting for my sister and her family to come for cake.

I love birth-days.  They are such a nice day for remembering, and doing special things, and being GRATEFUL. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog~ I appreciate all my friends~ and love you~xoxox~  Love, Shanda

Once in a while, I get my spice rack down off the counter and let the toddler play with the little jars of spices.  I remember Jacob doing it when he was a little boy, and today Sethie got to play with them.

My days are full (if my day was a cake it would be VERY spicy!) but, sitting here at the end of this day I’m remembering that the little spicy dash of *watching Seth play* was a bit of quiet time that I really enjoyed.  I sat right down with him. 

I think little spice jars are a wonderful thing to play with.    Bright and happy.  They remind me of baking, the kitchen, good smells.

Just make sure the lids are on tight when you play with them. 

Cinnamon, dill weed, paprika, minced onion, cream of tarter…we liked the red lidded jars the best.  They were stackable.

I bought the wooden spice rack years ago at a tag sale.  The kids love to take the jars out and put them back in.

Look who showed up for play time.

Here, have some ginger~

It was really cozy sitting in the kitchen, on the warm floor, in the sunshine.  Watching my precious little ones.

We tell her that she’s a PRITTY GIRL.  (I know I spelled it wrong, but that is how we say it– PriTTy Girl!)

Seth is 21 months old and I am trying to teach him how to count to “5”.

In this picture, he’s putting jars back and saying TWOOOOOOOOOOOO, (which, to my happiness, was followed by WEEEEEEEE), in a long sing-song voice.

Then, he got really silly:

We laughed.  Then, I got a washcloth for each of us and we washed of all the little jars, and the spice rack.

Saree (another nickname) got a pat-pat on the head. 

It was so sweet, I really enjoyed the time I spent with Seth and Sarah today.  It was one of the first times they played together.

It’s almost 9pm, I have had a long day…I have a headache…so I’m off to bed.

Good night, friends!

Here she is…little Sarah Joy, five months old now.  She’s on her big girl bed, all made up in new sheets (I love: shabby chic, Target).  Of course for now, she sleeps in her baby bed, but it’s nice to also have a big bed in her room for Mama to use in the middle of the night.  Alas, she is still waking up at night (this morning I am QUITE tired).  She started eating cereal last week, but so far I’m not sure if anything is going down, it seems like every mouthful gets spit back out.  And I mean she actually SPITS with force and a little spit sound.  It’s pretty unusual and Rich says he would never have the patience for such things.

Her big brothers pick her up and hold her.  They bring her toys to play with.  Seth gives her kisses (he learned to do that from Mommy) and pushes her in her swing wildly (which he did not learn from Mommy)…Sarah laughs and laughs at him.

Grace holds her the most.  This morning she got her dressed for the day.  Sometimes Grace takes her into her room and gives her little girlie toys to touch and play with.

She truly is a precious joy!

Happy first day of November.  Ethan found ice outside today for the first time.  “ICE”, we cried, “IT’s ALMOST WINTER!”  The little boys want snow more than anything, but the ice was a step in the right direction.

Grace’s birthday is the 4th and she is busy making a list because I have no idea what to give her.  Any ideas?  I don’t want to get her toys or clothes (she has plenty of those).

A couple quotes:

“If God has touched us with his mercy, thereby infallibly securing our salvation, then we must thank him with grateful hearts…..”  ~James Montgomery Boise, The Doctrines of Grace

“by the grace of God I am what I am….” (I Corinthians 15:10)

Creation, life, salvation too,

And all things else both good and true,

Come from and through our God always,

And fill our hearts with grateful praise.

Come, lift your voice to heaven’s high throne,

And glory give to God alone!  ~J.M. Boise

Rich and I went out for breakfast downtown this morning, and on the way we had to stop at the gas station to fill up the tank.  We pulled up in line to wait, behind a couple of other cars, and as we sat we both noticed a slow old man, carefully making his way to the garbage can.  He stooped to pick up a piece of garbage from the parking lot and I noticed that his hands were already full of little bits of garbage.  He was dressed in old navy work pants, a thick jacket, boots, and a hat…the kind that has flaps over the ears.  His nose was cold.  He threw the garbage away and as he walked by, he noticed us watching him, and said briskly, “If we all dump, we’ll live in a dump, right?” and kept on going.

I’ve cleaned up the sides of the road we live on, but I never thought about picking up litter from parking lots, or gas stations.  He was out for a walk around the town, and had stopped to pick up garbage and throw it away.  It did my heart good to see it. 

When it was our turn, Rich got out to pump gas.  He noticed another small piece of litter by the sidewalk and walked over to pick it up and throw it away.

I keep thinking about it and the next time I go out I’ll probably be picking up garbage, too.

(Besides, as you may have noticed in the last post, I’m pretty good at cleaning up messes. LOL)

When Seth cracked, so did I

Jacob (throwing open the door to the office, with Seth in his possession):  “MOM.  You have GOT to come see what SETH did!”

ME (noticing Seth was all wet):  “Did he make a mess?”

Jacob (dramatically):  “Oh yeah”

ME:  “What is it?  Tell me!”

Jacob:  “No, you have to come look.”

ME (scared):  “Is it poop?”

Jacob:  “No, it’s WORSE!”

ME (more scared): “Worse?  Are you sure?”

So…………I grabbed my camera and away we went, to the kitchen.

Seth ran over to show me with his finger, pointing frantically to the floor.

I had baby Sarah on my hip and when I screamed, she jumped, looked at me like I had slapped her, and starting crying hysterically.

For mercy’s sake, please don’t let your toddlers out of your sight, and don’t let them get bored!

Don’t let them push chairs across the floor.

Don’t let them climb up on chairs.

Don’t leave all your eggs in one basket.

Don’t let your toddler watch you bake. 

How to clean up raw eggs:

They do not absorb.  You must scrape them off the counter into the garbage (hold the can level to the counter or the egg will drip down the bottom cupboards).  You must use your dustpan and push them into it when cleaning them off floors.  If you have a dustpan with a rubber edge, it is very handy to use like a squeegee, just turn it over and scrape the egg off the floor toward you.  Use paper towels so you can throw them right away in the garbage.  

Eggs are sticky and IMO could be used as a glue substitute.  After you clean up all noticeable egg, you must all wash all involved surfaces repeatedly with soapy water.

Wash the toddler, too.  I had Grace take care of him, I could not even think about cleaning the kitchen AND Seth.  Grace ran his bath water, washed him and his hair, dried him, put a diaper on him AND dressed him.  I am so proud of her.

Rich came home from work while I was on my hands and knees, washing the floor (I now have one corner of my kitchen floor spotless clean!).

I stood up to talk to him as he walked toward me.  I had jeans on, a scoop neck T, and brown flips.  My face was flushed, I was out of breath, and my hair was wadded up in a bun, with flyaways.

He looked at me as I talked and when I paused for breath he said that I gave him the shivers.  (meaning he found me very attractive at that moment).

Isn’t that romantic?  So I forgot about the eggs added yet another, better thing to my “to do” list.

All’s well that ends well.

Your Mental Garden

Resentment is an ugly thing,

It crowds the roses out;

Keep your mental garden fair,

Put harmful things to rout.

Seed-thoughts that you cultivate

Within your fertile mind,

Bring forth varied blossoms

According to their kind.

Anger, malice, worry, fear,

Are noxious mental seeds;

Quickly rid your mind of them

Before they choke as weeds.

Faith, gentleness, humility,

Truth, patience, selfless love,

Are specimens of seedlings rare,

Approved of God above.

Your mental garden is a place

In which you daily dwell;

Let nothing ugly flourish there,

Safeguard and tend it well.

~Grenville Kleiser

You live with your thoughts—so be careful what they are.  ~Eva Arrington

(Just a poem and a quote that I read this afternoon that encouraged me.)

PICTURE POST:

I sat and watched our little half grown chickens yesterday.  This one is Satin, she belongs to Miss Grace, and is very pretty and soft looking.  I love her green legs.

The half-growns are in their own chicken group and as I watched, one of them decided that it was time for their mid-morning nap.  She made a certain noise and they all went running under the bushes.

These two sat on a branch together, while the others sat down all feathery, to groom and sleep.

Ethan took this chicken picture this morning.  They were under and in a pine tree.

My sister bought Sarah a cute hat and asked me to take some pictures of her in it.

These are from this morning, when the sun shines through the front windows of the house~

We went to the library today.  I asked Grace to keep an eye on Seth while I went to the cookbook section.  

When I came back, I saw this.  I was glad that I had my camera in my purse.

After the library, lunch, and school, I went for a crispy crunchy walk with the boys and Sarah.

The leaves have fallen and make lots of noise as we walk….

The first thing Caleb did when we got to the library was run, wonk his head on the corner of the counter, and fall to the floor crying.  He did it right in front of 2 librarians and no one helped me.  Grace hugged him and I checked to make sure he was okay.  It was a mercy he didn’t do it any harder or there would have been blood everywhere.  The above poem, in the beginning of the post, has helped me get over the *feeling* of not being cared about today, in the library.  Maybe they care, maybe they don’t.  But, my little boy was hurt and no one said a word to him or asked us if he was okay.  I asked for ice and someone walked back to get some, but still…without any concern for the poor boy.  He was crying and holding his eye.  **sigh**

Anyway, he’s okay.

Oh.  Do I have to mention the pot?  Yes, It’s part of his “knight” costume.  I’ll show you the sword later………

Leaves are everywhere, including the stream.  

David jumped off this rock and hurt his foot.  Not too bad, thankfully.

The sword.  This picture was taken by The Knight Himself.  

(The sword is actually the rotissery thingy from our grill.  As soon as we got home, I made The Brave Knight put it back.)

This picture was also taken by The Knight.

Witch hazel.  Every season brings a new discovery around our property.  These trees were right in plain sight but this was the first year I noticed them.

Pretty yellow, isn’t it?  I put Sarah down in the dry leaves so I could pick a couple branches.  They are now in a tall jar of water, on my table.  Along with a candle and a beaver log (a log that has been chewed at both ends by our beaver.)

 ***(the following was added later)***

Sorry for the abrupt ending.  I had to go clean up a mess, which was, in Jacob’s opinion, “worse than poop”.

Stay tuned.

The End.

I drove into the city today to get the kids out of the house for a little while.

We went to the science center.

Years ago, when I first learned to drive, I was scared to death.  I hated every minute of driver’s ed.  It took me three tries to get my license (because of my nerves).  I was sooooo scared to drive.  I was scared to drive today, into the city, but I did it. It was much easier than I anticipated and the Lord was with me (really.  I had written down the wrong directions but still got there w/out getting lost, I credit the Lord for that!).  I had to park in a parking garage, I was nervous again, when I pulled in.  I drove up to the drop down bar and it did not lift up and I thought idiotically, “Oh no, it’s closed.”  Then, to my embarrassment I realized that I had forgotten to stop and get my ticket first, I had driven right by it.  The big man in the booth had to get out, walk to the ticket dispenser, and give it to me through my window.  I just said thank you like it was supposed to happen that way.  

So we parked and then got out the mammoth double stroller from the back of the vehicle, which I am very thankful for because it gives me an upper body workout.  I pushed it from the garage right straight INTO THE SCIENCE CENTER..so convenient!  so easy!  I was quite pleased that I did not have to walk outside on the streets of the city with the kids at all.  It will be nice to go back again on a rainy day.

Driving there was the most stressful part…once we were there I had a great time watching the children’s faces as they learned and explored a variety of scientific topics.

First stop….water play for David, Caleb, and Seth.  It was precious to see Sethie having fun, too.  Water and balls, you can’t get any better than that.  

They put on these little water proof smocks…so dear….and played around to their heart’s content.

This water went whirly whirly as the depth rose and fell….the little ones could throw balls into it and watch them move in the water.

The gray lego bases in this table had water flowing down them….Caleb is on the right hand side…doesn’t that other little boy look like his twin? 

After the water play, we explored some of the other rooms and then had lunch.  Rich works not far from the science center so I gave him a call so he could meet us for lunch.

It was such a treat to see him in the middle of the day.  So handsome and nice, my man is.

This was a marble run sort of game…only it used a few golf balls instead of marbles.  David LOVED this (and the other runs that they had)…he worked on it for quite a long time.

David has gotten calm and mature in the last few months.  He had a wonderful time today and was the first to say THANK YOU, MOM when we left to go home.

I had Davy take my picture, so I could remember that I was there, too.

By the way, as I was sitting with Sarah, I was also watching Seth and David play with the golf balls, and helping them when needed.  The four other children were in a different section of the room (in outerspace, if you must know).  Anyway, a nice lady came over to me to encourage me,  “You are so brave”, she said, “for venturing out with three children!”  Ironically, she didn’t seem impressed when I told her I had 7 with me, I don’t think it quite registered in her mind. 

After we explored and played, we went and watched a 3D movie about airplanes.  We left at 2 and my eyes were so tired.  I stopped and got myself a iced mocha from McDonald’s.  And 7 ice cream cones, one for each of us.

PS.  I just checked on baby Sarah.  Jacob is holding her on the couch and the two of them are sound asleep together.  I must go take a picture………

okay.

I’m back.

Are you ready…..

to see a very heart warming sight?

Here you go………

Peace.

Don’t worry, she likes it.  

Up until now, Sarah has been spending each night in the livingroom, in the playpen.

This weekend, Rich and I finally got the old crib out of storage and put it up in her new room upstairs (the room that used to be the office).

Aunt Phyllis re-finished this crib for us years ago, when we were expecting Jacob.  It was his, then Ethan’s, Grace’s, and David’s.  Then, when I was pregnant with Caleb, some friends of ours were moving so they gave us a white crib for him.  Seth is sleeping in that one now.  

I didn’t really think we would ever need this old crib again, boy am I glad we saved it!  All we had to do was buy a new crib mattress.

Sarah’s crib bedding is a set that I bought for Grace, 11 years ago.  I bought it at Kmart.  It is from the Martha Stewart baby collection.

I love the white, and the simple pink flowers.

Old crib, old bedding, new baby.

Wonderful delicious baby girl!  The doctor, my mom, and my sister all say if I start her on cereal maybe she will sleep all night and give up her middle of the night feeding.  Well, I don’t know what to think about that.  She’s probably my last baby and I don’t want to admit that she’s growing so fast.  She had a doctor’s appointment last week and was 13 lbs, 14 oz (50%) and 24 1/2 inches (75%).  She’s a big girl compared to her siblings at that age.  How can she be almost 5 months old already and wanting to eat cereal?  

Sarah’s room is still half office.  We are trying to figure out what to do with the big desk, computer, printer, filing cabinet, and extra bookshelf.  The half that we have done is nice~ we set up a twin bed and I made it up in Shabby Chic bedding from Target. She has a white bookshelf with all the sweet little girl books we could find, and her silver piggy bank from our pastor’s wife.

When it’s completely done, I’ll post pictures.  We’re having so much fun arranging her room together as a family.

Big brother Seth is smitten with his sister.

When I was taking pictures, he was right by my side, munching on Ritz crackers.  He desperately wanted to get in the crib so I wiped the crumbs off and plopped him down.

“Do you love me?”, he asked, and she said, “of course I do! You’re great!”

“Let me give you a kiss”

“Let me smother you with kisses.”

That’s what Daddy does to Mommy, too.

And this is usually how we look after a big kiss.

It’s okay, Sarah.  You’ll have to get used to it.  There is lots of love here.

“Friendships in our own home, to be deep and true and heart-satisfying,

must be formed by the patient knitting of soul to soul and the growing of life into life,

just as in other friendships.”  J.R. Miller

“God wants us to fill our homes

with happiness. “  ~J.R. Miller

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day so Ethan and I went for a walk together.  Ethan walked the dog, and I had darling baby Sarah in my arms.

As we walked, we talked about things effortlessly.  It’s easy to talk to a true friend and that is what Ethan is to me.  My son, but also my friend.

“We should put into their childhood days just as much sunshine and gladness, just as much cheerful pleasure as possible.  Human lives will never grow into their best in gloom.  Pour the sunshine about them in youth; let them be happy; encourage all innocent joy; provide pleasant games for them; romp and play with them; be a child again among them.”  J.R. Miller 

Sarah was wearing the reversable smock that I made while I was pregnant with her.  It gave me such a happy feeling to see her wearing it for the first time that I now have the sewing bug again.  I want to make another one, in a darker color, for fall.

I put her down by the roots of a tree and she looked up at me while her little hand scratched around and found a dry leaf.  As soon as she had it, she had to investigate it with her wondering eyes.  She kept trying to taste it, too.

Then I sat her up and took a picture.  The stream is reflecting behind her.

I love this picture.  She’s looking at the running, gurgling water in the stream, with her little paws in soft green moss.

She’s growing and learning.

Ethan and I walked back to the house and came across Rich and Jacob, walking together with fast, long strides from the garage, and talking.  It gave me a start at first, I didn’t know who Rich was talking to.  I didn’t recognize Jacob because he’s getting to be as tall as his dad.

We went to house and sat together on the porch.  Ethan got me a blanket for Sarah (the blanket that the children and I made for baby Seth, two years ago) and I sat and rocked her.

I asked Ethan, “E, if I was going to bake something today, what would you want it to be?”

He said, “Cherry pie.  I love cherry pie.”

“I don’t have any cherries, how about blueberry?”

“Yeah!”

“And we better make an apple, too.” I said, “That way there will be enough for all of us.  Do you want to help me?”

“Yes!”

I handed a sleepy Sarah to Rich on the couch and covered them up with a quilt.  Soon they were both asleep, Jacob was reading a book, the little boys were playing outside, Grace was in bed reading.  It was so peaceful.

Ethan and I were in the kitchen together.  He peeled apples while I mixed up a bowl of pie crust.

I told him about his Great Grandma.  I always think of her when I make a pie because she gave me a great tip years ago.  Here it is:  To keep a baked fruit pie from running, sprinkle some cornflakes on the uncooked crust before you add the fruit.  I was so surprised when she told me that, I would have never guessed they were there.

Hours later, after they had baked and cooled just enough, Rich and I ate pie and ice cream around the table with the children.

It was fun.

When I went to bed last night, I pulled out my copy of the always encouraging book, Home-Making by J. R. Miller.

I put a couple of quotes in my journal with a pencil……

“To bring them(the children) up in the nurture of the Lord is to bring them up as Christ himself would, and surely that would be with infinite gentleness.”

“Conversations in the home should be loving and thoughtful.”

An opportunity for good conversation comes three times a day, during meals. “Spend lots of time together in bright, cheerful, sparkling conversations.”  Table-talk should vary to suit all ages….an idea for conversation would be to introduce some interesting new fact per meal.  You could even make a scrapbook of these daily talks.  For instance, if you talk about dinosaurs, have one of the children color or cut out a picture of a dinosaur, briefly write the fact you talked about, and date the page.

It’s after 8:00 am, and all of the children are awake now.  Grace just set the table for breakfast and we have a candle burning.  It’s time for me to put the babies in fresh diapers and go enjoy my children around the table.

Have a good day, all!

This is why Sarah Joy now has to be safely buckled into her swing.