H E L L O   F R I E N D S:

I’m sitting here, still feeling weak and tired, but slowly getting better.  I had to go to the local (happily, only five minutes away) hospital to do my 28 wk. glucose testing this morning so that I can get my Rhogam shot later on this week.  I saw a sign in the lab office that said, “Happiness is when your blood work is done” and I agreed, especially because this time they had to stick me twice I was so dehydrated.  (I’ve got a mug of water by me as I type this……)

Rich and the children are all better but it is taking me longer to perk up, I think because I am pregnant and was already tired out to begin with.  Rich had to leave this morning for a business trip and will be back on Wednesday night so that was making me all tense yesterday, the later it got in the day the worse I felt about him leaving.  He worked so hard getting things as ready for me as possible; did loads and loads of laundry, cleaned out my vehicle, worked outside, went to the store, took care of the children so I could rest and nap…..and what does he get in return?  A crying & sad wife.  His birthday is next week and I sure hope I can think of some ways to show him how much I love and appreciate his love for me and the children.

We had wonderful weather this weekend, I think the temps reached 70.  Needless to say, I still managed to get outside once in a while, and it sure was nice to watch the children play and to feel the sunshine on us.  Rich even took a nap outside on the picnic table (out of reach of chickens, lol).

Before I put up the pictures of our outdoor adventures, let me show you the reversible smock again.  I’m so happy!  One of you nice ladies left me a comment a few posts back, explaining how the pattern was supposed to be…..sure enough, I ripped off the ribbons, crossed the back panels, and tied the straps together on the shoulders and now it looks perfect!  I had *a little someone* model the smock for us…….then I took it right back off again because Rich was alarmed. 

Pattern for Reversible Smock

Rich and the boys did a lot of cleaning up outside and started a fire to burn junk and stuff.  One of the things to get burned was Our Christmas Tree….so long, tree of December beauty and delight!  I’m so glad to have you off my driveway getting browner and browner.  Rich and the boys enjoyed watching it burn.  Hot dog, anyone?

Ethan and Seth enjoyed a little hug in the sun, on the end of the slide.

Rich and I watched as Sethie walked through mud for the first time.  He really didn’t react to it at all, I think he was concentrating more on his destination, the chicken coop.

Rich gave all the boys buzz cuts, except our exception, CALEB, we let him grow hair because his actually stays in place nicely.  Rich and Caleb got to go get their hair cut together on Saturday.  Rich said that Caleb sat as still and quiet as a mouse and then he got to have a Dark Green lollypop.  Dark Green Things are all the rage here, it gives David and Caleb something else to argue about.  When we set the table they always yell, “I want the dark green plate! (or mug! or bowl!)” 

We did a lot of resting and reading this weekend.

We got a really tiny egg on Saturday.  We all laughed at it and Rich said it wasn’t worth laying.

The creamy white one is an average size, the brown speckled was so small, I saved the shell and Jacob fried up the miniature insides for a snack, and he said it tasted really good. 

By the way, the April issue of Food Network Magazine has 50 ways to prepare eggs.  I snatched it up.

I like all the action in this picture….Jacob beckoning to me, Ethan getting his dog some food, Grace walking down to the boys, and Caleb sitting with a sweet smile.

M A R G A R E T   T H E   P R E T T Y   H E N

First frog caught this spring, first turtle caught.  The boys got them while I was napping and saved them for me to see when I got up.

Speaking of frogs, we are beginning to hear the call of spring peepers!  So exciting!

Sister helping by retrieving the wayward baby boy.  His bare feet do not slow him down.

Wintergreen leaves in the woods, I like to bend down and pick one, and chew on it….yum!

H I C K O R Y   T R E E S   H A V E   S H A G G Y   B A R K

Ethan and I found a nice sweet hickory nut by the stream and ate it up, cracking it between two rocks.  Then, we decided to find the tree so we could eat some more.  We found some nuts, but sadly, NONE of them were any good.  It was still fun, though, and we learned things together.  The woods were warm and smelled of crispy dry leaves, and pine.

Rich was playing catch with the boys at the end of the day on Sunday and I couldn’t resist taking Seth out for a picture of my husband, and my five boys…….

We weren’t feeling our best, and I was mostly miserable, but looking back on the weekend,  I see and remember good memories, anyway.

Please pray for Rich as he travels, and for us as we miss him and wait for him to get home again.

Happy day to you all and thank you for stopping by!

And the Lord
shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.

Isaiah 58:11

On Thursday afternoon, Rich came home early and grilled us steaks for dinner.  As we ate, Grace confessed to me that her stomach had been hurting all day long, and she couldn’t finish her dinner.

Round about 8pm that night, Rich and I were both violently sick with the stomach bug.  The same stomach bug David had last week, which is going around at his school, and at Rich’s workplace.

Grace was sick, too.

So was Jacob.

So was Caleb.

All night long, we were all running to the bathroom.  I had not been so sick in a very long time, and being six months pregnant it was awful.

Yesterday Rich and I spent the whole day surviving…….Ethan was healthy so he was in charge of Seth when we could not get out of bed. 

Rich was able to get up and out to the grocery store in the afternoon, to get us Gatorade, popsicles, and ginger ale.

I was so lonesome and sad for my Mom that even though I thought she was at work, I called home….when she answered, I cried.  God knew I needed her (she was home for a little while after an appointment and then she was going back to work later that day).  I’m so thankful for my Mom.  Just hearing her sympathetic voice made me feel better.

By the end of the day, my stomach was settling down.  I had to do some laundry because Caleb’s bedding and all sorts of towels were dirty and couldn’t sit and fester.  I did the laundry, and scrubbed the most-used bathroom.

We slept better last night.  Ethan is sick now, and on the couch.  Rich is happy and up and full of energy.  I am not.  I am exhausted and weak, so I will be laying low this weekend.  The other sickies have recovered enough to actually want scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast but I didn’t set foot in the kitchen.  Grace and Jacob are the chefs this morning.

Happy First Day of Spring!  What a wonderful thing to think about today!  God is good, wonderful, & amazing!

Back to the couch I go, to my family, and my little pink washcloth that I am crocheting.

(I have been deliciously inspired by this blog lately.)

Inspiration is one thing….actually doing what it is you are inspired to do is quite another thing altogether.  I’ve been bitten by the sewing bug, who knows how long it will last, but I have patterns coming to me in the mail, and in the meantime I found a free print-off pattern online for a reversible smock.  It won’t fit Sarah until she is a year old, but the project was so simple that it was a good one for me to practice on, before I try more challenging ones.

I made it yesterday evening, in fact.  It was that easy, and didn’t take much time at all after I figured out that the incorrect tension on my sewing machine was caused by a bundle of fuzzy lint caught in the bobbin compartment!  You should have heard the moaning and groaning I did, trying to solve that mystery.  But I did.  *whew*

The smock is done with a pale blue material on one side, which has pink rose buds all over it.

The dress itself was made for me, over 30 years ago, by my own mama, who loves to sew.

The free pattern was a little wrong, however.  The neck ties were supposed to be long enough to knot, just like the bottom ties.  I had to sew on a thick green ribbon, so that I could tie it in place.  For this reason, I want to try to make another one, and extend the pattern/fabric so that it looks right.  This does not look right to me, a fabric knot and a ribbon bow on one baby back is a little too much, IMO.

For the other side of the smock I used this sweet vintage material, found in a box of fabric that I bought at a yard sale years ago.

I had little boys hovering about me, as I took the pictures this morning in the yellow morning glow of our living room.

I can’t resist including a picture of this one.  He is as soft and yummy as he looks.

 I’m sitting at my desk in a dark house, it’s just after six and the children are all still sound asleep.  They are sleeping a little bit longer in the morning because of the time change, so I hope to have a good hour of quiet before the day begins.  My husband left for work not long ago, he has a big day today so I will be praying for him a lot.  He sure looked handsome…with dress pants, dress shirt and a sweater vest, and a suit coat over all.  He always looks so attractive to me in his best clothes! 

This morning a friend of mine is bringing her two children over for the day.  Grace will have a girl her own age to play with, which will be wonderful….and Jacob and Ethan will have a boy their age to play with, too.  Everyone will be happy.  These five children get together almost every week, I feel so blessed to have Christian neighbors nearby, with children for my for my children to grow up with.  I imagine that today, even though I will be responsible for eight young ones, it will be easier than I think…the weather is so nice that they all plan on playing outside as much as possible.

Yesterday after schooling time I was hit with exhaustion, but I knew I would be disappointed if I did not enjoy the day, so when Seth fell asleep for his nap I took a blanket, some ice tea, and a new Country Living magazine down to the pond.  Caleb was also napping, it was relaxing to lay in the sun, listen to the wild birds singing, the chickens scratching around the pond, and Jacob and Ethan laughing and talking a mile a minute, over at the play set.

Random comment about magazine:  Did anyone else notice the family with seven children in the April issue?  It was fun for me to see….such a beautiful family and home, and there were plenty of inspiring pictures.  My favorite was the one with the mama and *a girl on each side of her*, and she was reading to them on the sweetest & coziest little loveseat.

The sky was brilliantly blue yesterday, I noticed it several times, and how beautiful it was.

Here is big Jake, with one of the chickens.  I think this one is Star-chick-un.  (their funny nicknamey way of saying chicken)……..

Jacob made me smile yesterday at school because he had to write a list of 8 things he would take with him to a deserted island.  He read his list to me:  cake, a camera, a videocamera, food, matches, “me lad”, blankets, and a gun.  “Me Lad” is Ethan; his brother, best friend, and all-time side-kick.  Grace overheard but said, “I’m glad you didn’t pick me because I would have been BORED.”

Later on during the day, I hung some clothes out on the line.  I made my own laundry soap yesterday.  No, I am not trying to mimic the Duggar family, but I did get the idea from them, and then another blog, and I admit….if you dangle an idea in front of me and tell me *it will save money* and *is easy* than I am all for it.  It was FUN to make, and FUN to use, and it did a good job!

Seth was awake and he watched me hang the clothes.  It was one of the highlights of my day when I saw him frozen and staring with amazement at those clothes, dancing and flapping in the wind.

Our hammock is on the porch so Grace and I gave Seth a little swing.  I love this picture, and the way his eyes are crinkled and smiley, and his hands gripping the ropes.  He would not lay down though, he kept sitting up and we would push him back down again…which ended up being just as much fun for him as the swinging.

My beautiful porch was a PIG PEN after the winter of neglect, but Jacob did a good job cleaning off the clutter and lining up the shoes.  Then Ethan swept it. 

Seth wanted to go explore…..he was so funny going down the hill a little too fast.

I had to get up and go get him back.

Caleb wanted to play on the front steps with his trains and Seth was determined to get one of those trains and run off with it, he was being a stinker and knew just what he was doing.  He would grab one, turn around, and start to run.  Caleb would say, “He wants to go THROW IT IN THE POND!”  Grace and I were with them, and we tried giving Seth his own truck, trains, and cars, but he only wanted Caleb’s.

I had to leave the house at 2:45 yesterday, for a conference with Davy’s teacher.  I had Jacob watch Caleb and I took Seth with me.  Seth and I went to school, and he held my hand as we walked the halls to Davy’s classroom.  Seth’s cuteness was stopping traffic, “Look at the BABY walking!” “He’s SO CUTE!”

David’s teacher had so many nice things to say about him.  She said that her favorite thing about David was his imagination.  She told me a little story about David playing outside with another student who he doesn’t normally play with….they were swinging together and were having the most wonderful time pretending that they were over the ocean, and telling each other what they could see.  She told me that most children seem to need to BE entertained, but that David was able to play, and imagine, and entertain HIMSELF.  She showed me his journal, and read it to me…stories about snow ball fights, fighting with golden swords, ice skating with his friend Emily, and so on.  She loves his art work and drawings and has encouraged him so much that he now wants to be an artist, and believes that he IS ONE ALREADY.  She opened my eyes once again to the very special and unique things about David.  She knows that I plan on homeschooling him starting next year, and she smiled and told me that she thought it was great.  I left with my heart feeling full and happy with my sweet seven year old.

We went home together and then David got to play outside, too.  I went out after a while to see what they were up to. 

Ethan had found their net at the bottom edge of one of the ponds and so he, Davy, and Caleb were all extremely focused and busy catching the first slimey critters from the ponds.  They were excited to see me coming, “David just caught a tadpole!  With his bare hands!”

They had a system going.  Ethan used the net to catch things and Caleb would take them and run them back to the collection bucket.

He had a tadpole in each hand. 

After he dropped them in the bucket, he showed me his muscles.  He knows they are small (I overheard him tell David, who thinks HIS are BIG).

Davy, at the pond, in the last of the sunshine for the day.  He ended up coming inside for dinner wet from waist to toe.

On the other side, was Ethan.

During all this time, Jacob was in charge of dinner and was busy inside, cooking….shrimp scampi (from a box, we buy it at Costco), and pasta.  He set the table with matching fiestaware and lit a candle, too.

A lovely day, watching all my boys enjoy God’s great big world….I didn’t realize until the end that I didn’t get any pictures of their pretty sister.  So this post is basically about “me lads” (to borrow Jacob’s expression). 

Hope you all have a wonderful day today!  Love, Shanda

Hello friends,

What a glorious spring day we are expecting to have today!  My energy level has increased dramatically, all because of the sun and the weather forecast.  I am looking forward to a nice morning of schooling with the children, and then spending the rest of the day cleaning, airing the house, and playing outside.

I’m sitting here, chuckling to myself because of this blog post.  Last week, the children came rushing into the house asking for my camera.  When they came back, there were several wonderful pictures for me to see.  We had never seen this sight before…..Our Chickens In A Tree.

If that’s not amusing enough………

I grew up watching Sesame Street and when I saw the pictures I immediately remembered a song that I had heard and enjoyed as a child.  Do any of you remember it?  I found it on Youtube (what an amazing place youtube-land is!) and figured out how to include the video here, so you (and our children) can listen, too.

Grab your nearest baby/friend/loved one/stuffed animal and enjoy the song!  I have Caleb and Seth here with me, and I’m about to play the video for them (Several times, no doubt.)

Hugs and Love, and thoughts of springtime to each one of you~

Shanda

As most of you know, my husband and I are eagerly awaiting our seventh child this coming June.  We are thrilled to add another girl to our family of one girl and five boys. 

During each of my pregnancies, one of my favorite things to do as I waited was buy a few outfits for the baby and then look at them now and then during the remaining months, imagine what he or she would look like, and what it would be like to finally hold my baby after all those days and days of dreaming of him or her.  I pick up each outfit and look at it, then fold it up and put it back away……..’til the next urge strikes, to do it all over again.

My seventh pregnancy has been no exception.  The weekend after finding out she was a girl, the whole family went out shopping to buy her some things.  Since that time I have also found some clothes here and there.  It’s so fun to look through girlie things again after having three baby boys in a row!

Here are some little dresses that I picked out.  Rich wasn’t crazy about the pink one (not sure why) but he loved the green one, with polka dots.  They both came with little diaper covers, so cute!

Rich picked this one out on his own.  I was surprised that he chose a dress.  I remember when Grace was a baby, he didn’t like the way she felt in his arms, all lost in skirts and ruffles and other slippery things like that.  But, he liked this one, and I do, too.  It is simple, and sweet, and made of linen.  The other outfit he picked out and we bought, is a soft yellow shirt and pants set, with duckies on it.

The children and I were shopping at JC Penney a month ago and couldn’t resist this soft-as-a-cloud blanket:

I bought this at baby GAP not long ago. 

A few more practical things, pretty little sleepers, these were chosen by Grace.  Under the cupcake it says, “Little Sweetie”.  The kitten is saying “purrfect”.  I like the feet.

This next one is sort of special, because I had bought it when I found out I was pregnant with my sixth baby, the bundle of joy who turned out to be SETH.  I had gotten this before I found out I was having a boy.  I couldn’t resist this dress because it is green (my favorite color) and because of the embroidered cherries (which I think are darling).  I have had several opportunities to give this dress away to friends who had new baby girls, but for some reason just couldn’t part with it……but now I know the reason, it was meant for my Sarah Joy.

This weekend, I handmade some little softshoes for Sarah.  There is something so special about MAKING things, vs. buying them.  My sewing skills are limited, and so is my free time, so these little shoes were the perfect thing to make for her.  I had so much fun, but Rich wondered, why no pink?  So, I might end up making a third, pink pair.

I made these first:

The Prairie Baby Softshoe:

And then, these:

The Colorado Sunshine Softshoe:  (Sarah was conceived on our wedding anniversary, in Colorado Springs)

Yes, we are having lots of fun thinking about, and planning for, baby Sarah.  In another month or so, I’ll buy a container of Dreft baby laundry soap and wash all her things…..I love when it’s time to do that!

Seth loves going outside and it’s fascinating to watch his wonder and joy at such a nice, big world.

He sees a car go by:

He hears the dog barking loud:

He notices his brothers down at the playset, and says “BAH!”  which means, “Hi, here I am, can I play, too?”

What I personally love most of all is that he is beginning to learn to hold Mama’s finger when we walk. 

Sometimes the very best thing a mama can do, is to just sit and be available.

Seth wasn’t feeling well this weekend and couldn’t seem to rest.  I scooped him up out of his crib, got the two of us comfy on the couch, took up a favorite book, and quietly sat and sat for over an hour as the rest of the family continued on with dinner and clean up *gasp* without me or my help whatsoever. 

A warm baby in my arms, finally sleeping so peacefully.  An inspiring book about domestic art, my handsome husband at the other end of the couch, and warm, homemade crocheted blankets over us equaled a combination guaranteed to relax any harried mother.  To relax, and to remind her once again, what really matters most of all.

Life is not all about busily maintaining our material possessions or pursuing selfish interests, but about cherishing and nurturing the eternal, soul gifts God so lovingly gives to us…the gift of a relationship with Himself, and the gift of our very precious loved ones. 

Davy is currently sleeping on the couch, sick with the stomach bug. 

Seth is beginning to notice and enjoy picture books.  And he always seems calmer when he knows just where to find mama.

Caleb just adores Beatrix Potter (Timmy Tiptoes is the current favorite).

I’ve got three older children who also do well when Mom is available and not distracted by many things.

Imagine, all I need to do to rub the feet, talk and comfort, hold and pat, and read some books, is just sit still and let the little children come to me!