we have a new kitten

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Shanda

Feeling incredibly lazy at the moment because I am so gosh tired.

We have been gone all weekend, Jacob drove his car “back home” to NY for the first time and ugh was it stressful (for me) but he did an awesome job. He’s a natural driver, it seems. After all, he is 18 and a half years old, it’s time to drive and he’s doing it well.

We had two hotel rooms side by side with the kids. Jacob and Ethan shared a bed, Seth and Caleb slept on couch cushions on the floor, Grace and Sarah shared a sofa bed, Dave had a sofa bed to himself, and Rich and I slept together in the other bedroom.

The hotel free breakfast diningroom used white fiesta!

We were in NY for a family reunion. I’m going to post pictures probably tomorrow of the weekend but now that we are home, I only have time and energy to show you our new baby.

He has no name yet! We are thinking about Smoky or Michael. Rich calls him Smut (a noun meaning, “small flake of soot or other dirt”) He’s a little boy and we got him from my Aunt Carol’s house. My cousin Katie was giving him away. Isn’t he adorable?

He rode home with Jacob, Ethan, and Grace. He came with a box. He threw up and went to the bathroom in it during the ride.

He seems fine now that he’s out of the car. Here he is, watching a little TV.

He’s also taken a nap with me which was very relaxing for us both. I could feel his tiny body snuggled into my back and when I woke up he purred for the first time at his new house.

He watched the ceiling fan go ’round and ’round and he started getting playful. He batted at my eye as I read my book.

This new kitty belongs to our Dave, who has never had his very own animal.

Dave’s birthday is the end of the month so I guess you could say this is an early present.

“A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment.” ~St. Francis Agassi

“I only want one cat said no crazy cat lady ever.”

“I love him, Mom.” ~Dave

dave gets hugged

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Shanda

This is another blog post dedicated to our vacation to Jekyll Island, Georgia.

These photos were all taken with my phone.

I had bought Crackerbarrel gift cards for Christmas presents for last Christmas…but never gave them out…so we used them ourselves for a nice breakfast. I do feel kind of bad about that.

There was a tiny baby at the Crackerbarrel sitting at the next table over. She was so little I wondered how she was going to sit with out falling forward and bumping the table. But she was strong and did great and was sooooooo cute. I watched her as she kept her eyes on the spoon her Dad was feeding her with. I ended up holding my own very big baby on my lap by the end of breakfast.

This is Caleb doing artwork and eating oreos during the trip.

Taking naps during the trip.

We finally arrived! Sarah was just so thrilled to be “in Georgia”.

This is me and my sister, with our girls Abbie and Grace.

Food at the Pier was amazing. It’s my favorite place to eat on Jekyll. I had the boiled shrimp and this is the plate of seafood that Jacob and David shared.

One morning I left the Sans Souci with just my little Seth (6 years old). We were the only ones awake out of my family. We snuck outdoors, holding hands, and went over to the main Jekyll Clubhouse to get my complimentary cup of coffee. On the way back we met Isaac and Cassandra about to go on a bike ride.

While all the men in our family went golfing, I took Caleb, Seth, and Sarah to the little shops by the Clubhouse. Seth quickly chose this dog puppet. He named it Jekyll. At the next shop, I had him sit on the bench outside and play my phone so I didn’t have to keep track of three small kids. Later I discovered that he had taken this picture of his new friend.

If you bought a soda you got free refills with your cup all day long. The kids all LOVED the Shirly Temples. We got them over and over. There is nothing like an ice cold soda on a hot day.

Amanda took this one of my mom and me walking with Cassandra and Maria.

Rich took Caleb, Seth, and Sarah biking.

Mom took Ethan and me to Brunswick to do a little shopping at some antique stores.

I took this picture for my son David because he collects Coke bottles. This purple one was purple, heavy and cost 40 dollars.

In Brunswick there was a park square every few blocks. Each one was named and had nice places to sit and relax next to flowers and fountains.

I took Grace to the shops. This is one of my favorite pictures. We were missing our own cats back at home and were happy to find and make friends with this nice big one outside of the bookstore.

My favorite stationary….curly girl design.

Grace lost her necklace on vacation. It was her favorite one, too. (she’s wearing it in the picture).

I lost my new kindle fire. (!!!!!!!!!!!) makes me ill.

On Friday night we played beach volleyball.

It’s amazing to have a family big enough to have a game, and it was so much fun.

When we hit it out of bounds someone would say “Look out for the alligators!” or, “Look out for the rattle snakes!”

I was supposed to be playing my position but still managed to get some good photos!

Sunset making the road look like it was on fire…….

On Saturday morning it was time to say our goodbyes and travel back home. I love this sister-pic of Maria, Cassandra, Melissa, Amanda, and Shanda (yours truly). I love how all our names end in “a”, the “uh” sound. I especially loved visiting with Maria and Melissa because I don’t get to see them as much as I would like. I’m so blessed to have the best sisters.

Aunt Amanda, Uncle Jason, Grandma, and Grandpa leaned into the van to say goodbye to the children.

But one was missing!

It was Dave.

He had ran over to the pool to try to find his flip-flops (another thing lost..ugh)

So Rich and I hopped in the van, ready to leave, and watched as the family gave Dave lots of hugs. And he’s the type that gets shy with too much public attention! It was the best little moment……

He’s in there! Surrounded by his adoring family.

Look at that face!

goodbye, goodbye!

God be with you ’til we meet again.

“You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” Frederick Buechner

{this moment}

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

boredom buster for all ages!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Shanda

I wasn’t feeling well on Saturday so Rich took all the children out for a few hours so I could rest. David stayed home with me because he loves spending Saturdays at home in his own little world of creativity and good wholesome fun that involves things like balloons, vinegar, cornstarch, food coloring, yarn, wooden Thomas the train tracks, and empty play dough buckets.

He was so utterly interesting that I got off the couch and sat next to him on the floor. He was attempting to catch a bird. He’s been catching birds for about 6 years now. He doesn’t do it on a constant basis, just when the mood strikes. We had a lot of bird activity at the feeder on Saturday and when David stopped and noticed them, the mood struck once again.

I typically have a terra cotta planter on this little table, filled with sunflower seeds. David removed the planter and put a pile of seed underneath a big play dough bucket. He propped up the bucket with a train track and tied a long piece of yarn to it.

The little table with the bird seed is only about five feet from the side entry way door. The storm door is full length glass so David ran the yarn under the door and sat right on the other side of it with the end of the string in his hands, which were charmingly dirty from other experiments.

I sat next to him with my camera and a piece of paper to jot down his quotable quotes. Everything he said made me laugh.

This chickadee landed on the track and knocked it over, causing a loud groan from Dave.

He went out to set things in order again.

Whenever there was a “misfire” he would go out loudly apologizing to the birds. “Everything is okay….that was supposed to happen!” He wanted to make it clear to the bird community that there was nothing to get suspicious about.

“I love to do this,” he told me as he settled back down with the string in his hands.

He had to get up to brush the seeds completely UNDER the bucket because they were choosing seeds that were in safer locations……”Now they’re dedicated to go all the way under there.”

He was very patient. Much more than I. A bird would come and I would say, “Why didn’t you pull the string?”

“I couldn’t! It wasn’t all the way under. I don’t want the edge to come down on the bird’s neck and break it!”

Hearing this piece of wisdom made it easy to bring the conversation around to the subject of the guillotine. “What’s that?” He asked, with his eyes on the bucket. “When you lay down and they let the sharp metal fall on your neck.” “Oh yeah. I hate those!” I laughed, imagining that this hatred was typical of the whole of humanity.

He was also very careful because if he killed one right in plain sight of the other birds they would never come back around to the feeder, he said.

After another miss, he sat down and immediately another bird came around. He was astonished. “Mom, look at this. Stupid birds, they go right back. Fool birds. That’s what I call them. Fool Birds.”

“I have to wait for one to stall, then I’ll get it.”

“I love to do this.” He was all smiles. “It’s like fishing, hunting, and trapping.”

He caught one.

He took a clipboard (you could also use cardboard or whatever) to put on top of the bucket. He wasn’t planning on holding it but I encouraged him. He was shaking a little as he tried to gently catch it in his hand.

“He is the hero of the woods; there are courage and good nature enough in that compact little body, which you may hide in your fist…….” Ernest Ingersoll

“Thus it is, that in all the lands of snowy winters the chickadee is a loved comrade of the country wayfarer; that happy song ‘chick-a-dee-dee-dee’ finds its way to the dullest consciousness and the most callous heart.” Anna Comstock

The little chickadee was a brave fighter. He bit Dave’s thumb and held on tight.

I got to hold it, too, and then we let it fly away. He caught three that day.

Now that you know how Dave catches birds, you can try it too! Let us know how it goes. It’s a great activity for anyone, old or young.

This morning I found Dave peeling a balloon off of a big ball of ice. He had made a water balloon and put it in the freezer over night. He was surrounded by siblings as he peeled it. It wasn’t frozen all the way, so he trotted it back to the freezer……

{this moment}

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

the ring, billy cat, someone growing, the ring again, and a quote from sarah

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Shanda

I woke right up this morning thinking about the ring. I fell asleep last night thinking about it, too. I’d rather not blog about it. Suffice it to say that I lost my Tiffany ring that Rich gave me for our anniversary a short 5 months ago. I have looked all over the house, cleaning as I go. If you ever want to get Spring Housecleaning done in February might I suggest losing something tiny and valuable in the house? It’s been remarkable how much I’ve found but mostly dirt and dust, about 1,000 marbles and legos, bobby pins, small change, pony tail holders, an earring that I thought was gone forever, a set of keys, crayons, pens, and pencils, but no ring, and oddly nothing belonging to my poor husband. Only crap that belongs to myself and the children.

This morning Sarah and I went to town. I had to go to the Post Office, which I don’t like doing, and I was struck once again by the cheerful attitude of my little girlie who doesn’t mind going out into the cold with Mama on a constant basis. She puts her hand in mine and we go. “Mom, remember. Cars go FAST.” she says as we cross the street. We bought a bag of books for 2 dollars at the thrift store. We went to the grocery store and then home again to read them.

The cats are always inside now that it’s been so cold. Billy amuses us all the time. Today he decided to get a drink from the kitchen sink.

I began taking way too many pictures of Billy drinking water from the faucet.

Then something caught his eye and he forgot all about the water.

What could it be? He stood up on tip toes.

And he pressed his orange head against the screen. His tail was twitching.

Birds. Lots and lots of birds. They were politely taking a seed and flying right by the kitchen window in front of the orange cat. He wanted so badly to go and catch one but I said no.

I poured my coffee and invited him to sit with me for a chat instead.

He had a hard time focusing after all the excitement of water and birds.

“I’d rather have bird.” he says. “Also I would rather scratch you.” he confesses.

Grace is shrinking. Either that or Davy is growing taller. I’m not sure.

She is 15 and he is 12. It’s an odd thing to see the little brother catch up in height. His feet are already bigger.

This was my napping buddy yesterday. The children had no school because it was (NOT A SNOW DAY –I know hard to believe!) President’s Day. I read Seth a chapter of Henry and Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary. And then we fell asleep back to back in the big bed. He’s the apple of my eye. Rich and I took him to his wrestling tournament (states!) on Sunday and he placed 5th.

Back to the Ring Saga:

Last night, Rich pulled the washer and dryer out to check for the ring. The boys were right there watching the entire time.

At dinner Rich prayed and thanked the Lord for the food. Before he forgot, I interjected, “And please, dear Lord, help me find my ring,” prompting Grace to groan aloud, “PLEASE!” “Amen” said Rich, and when we opened our eyes Jacob expected the ring to fall from the sky onto my plate. If only!

David read this in his book last night:

This picture does a good job at illustrating what’s been going on in my house. I’m the one in the long striped skirt.

******

In other news……..

Sarah watched “Finding Nemo” for the first time yesterday. When I tucked her into bed she asked, “Mom, can I watch ‘My Me Me Mo’ again tomorrow?”

{this moment} and a video announcement

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Shanda

This is me, blowing out my candles at 9pm at night after a long long day and wrestling practice for the guys. I wish you could have heard the family’s rendition of “Happy Birthday” it was goofy and I think it was in three part (or more) harmony, too.

It took a while for the smoke to clear from the kitchen!

And, thank you so much for having fun with me here on the blog regarding the perfume sample giveaway. Here is a video announcing the winner. We did no preparation and we only did one take. I love my Davy.

how to make homade slime (his own spelling)

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Shanda

What a great morning this has been, sun shining and so much accomplished like laundry, cleaning bedrooms, dishwashers, and matching tons and tons of socks. I started a new photo album on FB of my church family, which I’ve wanted to do for a while. And Sarah Joy had a bath. She is feeling much better today for which we are thankful. Everyone has had the stomach bug except Ethan and Rich, time will tell!

Aunt Colleen made an apron out of old blue jeans yesterday! We were messaging on FB and she inspired me to make Sarah a purse out of the jeans I ripped when I fell on my knee. Here are pictures:

The apron:

and the little purse made out of the back pockets sewn together back to back:

When Sarah woke up I gave her the purse and she said a soft “thank you, mama.”

Sewing is great but what about something else to make? Like a science project? I’m constantly growing mold in the fridge and the shower, but lately I’ve been in the mood to do something more challenging and this is the area in which Davy-do has become my inspiration. Perhaps you too would like to do a simple science project. How about homemade slime?

Here is Davy’s original recipe, with original spelling. He was so kind to write it all up for the blog.

What you will need

1. 1 1/2 T. of elmers glue
2. laundry detergent
3. food coloring (optional but your choise of color.)
4. water
5. flour
6. 1 bowl

Steps! Put your 1 1/2 tablespoons of glue in the bowl then pour 1/4 of a cup of water in it, then put 1 tablespoon of laundry detergent in it. Next let it sit for 2 minutes, then pour it all out on a flat surface that you don’t want wet, quickly scoop up your slime and put in a small container, nows the time to put 2 drops of food coloring in it and store if you want it thicker add flour, the more you put in the thicker it will be.

I have so many questions!

And a few opinions. One of which, as a mom, I do not suggest allowing the food coloring to be used. It’s just really stressful. Also, the laundry detergent is not a good idea. My little scientist used so much that my hands felt funny after one touch of the slime….also, doing laundry now gives me flash backs to the slime situation, because of the aroma. Other than that, you’re good to go with this one.

He moved on to recipes from outside sources, all of which used GEL & CLEAR ELMER’S GLUE(s) and borax. I have gotten him about 7 containers of glue so far and he has had the most wonderful time making slime. We have it in baggies and bowls all over the place but he still doesn’t let the little kids play with it. (he is very possessive of his slime!) The recipe is here.

And/Or you can make a rubber egg. This was sooooo weird. He let the egg soak in vinegar all day long and the shell turned rubbery. He loved his rubber egg so much but I accidentally dropped it on the floor after playing with it. It broke, the dog ate it, and he will never let me hear the end of it.

more information here.

Last but not least he has been making “instant ice” with FIGI bottled water. He requested FIGI water one day and I forgot to get it at the store so after I dropped off Ethan at school I had to go to the store AGAIN because I was afraid of disappointing my little scientist. Thankfully the local grocery store had it in stock.

Here is the fun explanatory video on “instant ice”: click here

Dave loves to watch youtube videos to inspire him to try different experiments. I can’t wait to see what he tries next!