Things To Come...

I really enjoy spring time. After fall, spring is my favorite season! Partly because we might have a few days of pleasant weather before the inevitable 4 month long heat wave called summer here in central Texas, and partly because of the promise of things to come!!

We have a garden so spring just screams new life to me, and sinse we live in Texas we have been able to enjoy the fruits of our labor through winter here.

See thIs worn out broccoli!

We didnt even collect the last of it florets and it will give us more I am sure.

The spinach the girls have been enjoying, in fact, for lunch today!

Now on to the promise of things to come!

Here we have beautiful blossoms that will be growing into peaches! We are very excited because there are lots of blooms!!

Arent they so pretty and delicate looking!

This is my Valentines day present:

Lemon trees! I drink lemon water all day long. I lurve it!

And I love the smell of lemons...breathing in, breathing out...imagining the smell...mmm.

Thirst is overcomming me!!

These little buds are the beggining of lemons....YAY!

Now we finally have some strawberries growing. This has been a two year process of getting one or two random little bitty strawberries that we always have to cut in half ( we must share you know!)...ugh. But these are looking promising!We also have blue berry and black berry planted. We will see how they do! We planted some grapes along the fence so I am really excited to see how that goes!

The veggies are just in the beggininnig phases but here is some corn we planted, We just planted a little and then we will plant more later so it will last us longer!Here is our surprise! We put the pumpkins we carved for halloween out to watch them decompose.

It was very intersting to our girls. We put them in the empty planter we hadn't used last summer. Well guess what we have growing!!??

Pumpkin! What a neat lesson for the girls to learn: that ultimatEly death leads to life!

Hmmm... all of creation does point to heaven doesn't it!?

So as we prepare for the commemoration of our Saviors death and then resurection, all I have to do is look outside to be reminded of the promise of things to come!

7 Little Things That Make Me Disproportionatly Happy!

Heather at Want What You Have posted this and I love it!

We all need to think of these things especially when we get in the habit of thinking of the things that bother us, which, ahem...would never be me!

1. When My husband really really smiles, which is rarely caught on camera cause those are always posed. But this smile comes with an awesome laugh that anyone who knows him would recognize. In fact it has happened that someone heard him the next aisle over in a grocery store and came looking for him. It is the best and no matter how I am feeling it evokes at least a smile, if not a full laugh!

This is K when we were dating and is the closest I could find to the real thing!

2. When I use my creative juices to make something! I love making things, whether it's an outfit for one of my girls or decorative letters or something educational like -- I love it! I feel so accomplished and like I have done something useful and beautiful which is the best feeling ever!

This is the easter dresses I made for the girls out of womens skirts. One was a quarter at a garage sale then I found the matching one at goodwill for like 4.00 which is more than I normally pay but it matched! I was so pleased with how they turned oit!

3. Baby kisses. I love having a baby that I can kiss all over! I love love love baby kisses! And now she is getting big enough to give me baby kisses by grabbing my hair on either side of my face and pulling me toward her and usually my nose ends up somewhere close to her mouth and she just laughs...oh makes me want to wake her up just so I can get some!!! Well. Almost...

This is actually "A".

4. "O"s antics. Although these antics can sometimes drive me up the wall... most of the time they provide great laugh therapy which I need! There is nothing like seeing her look sideways out of her big blue eyes because she knows she is doing something that will make me laugh.

5. Serious conversations with "A". I love discovering how deep she thinks.
Whether it about how she will marry daddy when she grows up so she never has to leave our family, or the eggs that are inside her that will grow to be babies someday (yes I told her that casually one day when she asked how babies get inside...we even looked up pics! How did I know how wonderful she would think that was!) or whether it is about the house in heaven that Jesus is preparing for us: "Will it have pictures on the wall too? Will we need a fridge? Will we drive cars? Will there be a grocery store?" These moments of quiet conversations with her are like medicine for my sometimes weary mommy soul!

6. Finding bargains! I have to agree with Heather on this one! I LOVE finding bargains! I love when we find something we have been wanting at a garage sale for chump change!

Little things like a barbie watch that "A" had been asking for everytime we walked past the watch section at walmart: Garage sale for a quarter.

Nice Tommy Hillfiger shirts for "K" to wear to work: garage sale for fifty cents.

Ceramic Hair straightener I had been longing for: $19.99 with a $10 off coupon to be used on my next shopping trip to Walgreens. (and it works well, I tried it as soon as I got home!) YIPEE!!

7.The family routines we have made.

-Like sittting outside on a blanket in the cool evening while "K" plays his gutair and sings worship songs. We really do this and I love it!

-Like "A" asking every night at dinner, "What was your favorite part of today?" And we all answer in a particular order too!

-Like the silly songs we have made up for almost every routine or phrase we have to say repeatedly:

"Its Night night time, Night night time..."

"The only thing that goes in your mouth is food and drink..."

Well I was singing them as I typed but it doesnt translate well....

My Two Cents

So we don't watch much TV and yet I am surprised at how much negative coverage I have heard and read about the mother of octuplets.
And it irks me.
So I thought I would give my two cents.
The reason it bothers me is because I feel it is another attack on life...and I will tell you why.
Sure we may not agree with her choices.
Sure we may think she is irresponsible.
We may think she is a little off her rocker...
But would the media be giving such a hard time to a woman who seemed as equally irresponsible, crazy and made repeated mistakes resulting in 14 consecutive abortions!
NO!
Because it was her choice, and after all, we live in a pro-choice nation and she may have made bad choices but she has the right to terminate her pregnancies if she wants to...

The octomom as she has been called (even thought she has 14 children not just 8) I guarantee you was given the option to "reduce" when it was discovered she had multiple babies growing inside her, but she didn't. She chose life.
We do live in a pro-choice nation after all.
So.
That's why it irks.
My two cents, that's all!

Sisterly Love

I took this photo in the middle of the night last night, hence the off-centered aim!

I couldn't see where I was aiming!

The flash makes it look like its the middle of the day but it wasn't!

Aren't they sweet!

Aaahhh sisterly love!

Can I Do It?

I hear this question all the time, and if I am on top of things I say yes. If I am feeling rushed and not living in the moment I say no and something along the lines of "Please leave the kitchen (or where ever) so Mommy can get this done." And that is a lost teaching moment!

Annelise was cracking eggs into bowl, scrambling them in the frying pan by 18 months. She watered the yard with Daddy and helped with yard work...like really. She did.

Unfortunately, Olivia did not have the same experience. With the addition of another child I lived less in the moment and more in the future. By that I mean I was thinking of all the things that NEED to be done, of all the things I HADN'T done, instead of being there in that spot when she wanted to crack an egg, or wanted a hug, or needed a prayer said, or wanted to see if she could do it...

***Oh Lord, how much have we lost in all areas when we wast mind space thinking of what is to be done or hasn't been done...

Martha welcomed Him into her home.
She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word.
But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."
But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10: 38-42***

Although I have tried to foster independence in most areas of their lives: they dressed themselves and put their own shoes on by the time they were 2, they usually help in some way with all the cooking...so YAY I have done somethings right!!! There are many things I had intended to do as a young mother with just one, that have slipped to the wayside as 2 more came along...


But I have been re-inspired!


As many of you know, we plan to home school and I have been rereading about Maria Montessori and her education philosophy. One of her famous quotes is that a child says "Help me to do it myself".


I love it!

One of the first activities she advocates for young children are called practical life activities. What does that mean? Real life activities you would do in ... real life!


So as a mom who feels always behind, why do I not offer more "practical life" !?


Folding, washing tables, dusting, washing dishes, setting the table. These activities are introduced to toddlers in a Montessori environment.


Having work to do makes children feel like they are contributing to the family, and an important member because of it. These activities are often repeated over and over by the child because they have a need to master it, and the repetition helps build concentration in the meantime.


So the other day I set up a dish washing station right next to the kitchen. I have a dishpan full of warm soapy water, a smaller bowl of cold water to rinse and a towel to dry. They LOVE it! And I don't have to clean up their breakfast dishes!!

***Lord help me to sit at your feet, the only thing that is necessary, and not be distracted and worried about so many things. And when my children sit at my feet, help me to see that they are needing to be taught...and I can't teach them well unless I am at your feet!***

"A" Wrote A Story

"A" drew a picture and then asked me to write down her story. So this is what she said word for word!

Once upon a time, there were two little birds sitting in a tree. One was a big one, one was a little one.There was a little girl named Marrissa who loved birds. She loved big ones, little ones, pretty ones, all kinds of birds. She had a brother named Sam.

One day Marrissa called her parents. She said, "Mom! Dad! Come look at these pretty birds I found!" So Marrissa's parents and her brother came outside and looked at the tree but didn't see the birds. So Marrissa said, "Look kind of to the left and then to the left." And then her parents finally saw the pretty birds.

Sam still couldn't see them. So Marrissa said to her brother, " Look kind of to the left and then to the right!" And then Sam SAW THE BIRDS!

He said, "Sister, come see what I did! I put them in a box for you!" So Marrissa's parents bought her a big, pretty cage for the birds.

They moved the birds out of the box into the cage. They gave them food, water and lots of love.The family lived happily ever after with their pet birds.

The End

I did no prompting except for the birds in the cage thing. I asked her if the birds would be sad to be in a cage and she replied that Marrissa would be sad to let them go. I told her Marrissa could look at them every time she went outside to play...but apparently that wasn't good enough cause she ignored my prompting and continued with the story as she imagined it!

Also we don't know a Marrissa or a Sam.

And the picture she drew is soo cute. It even has a family dog, a squirrel in the tree and and the brother is sticking out his tongue (how does she know that's what brothers do!)and there is an airplane flying over the parents that she is disappointed with. She asked that I teach her how to draw airplanes!...

I know I am her mother and therefore think everything she does is stupendous so bear with me!!

Can You Tell Who's Who?

Obviously the Date on the last one might give it away!

But the first one is Olivia, the second is Julia and the third is Annelise!

Don't we make cute babies!!!

Do You Know What Today Is The Anniversary Of?

Today is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
Today marks 36 years of legal abortion.
The number of lives killed since then is too staggering to even wrap my brain around.
Many assume that this stance, pro-life, is one of religious roots. Of course there is obviously a faith based root to believing killing a human life is wrong, which is why murder is against the law as well. But I believe that anyone who values human life can see the depth of injustice that is called abortion.
No one argues that the aborted fetus was alive. Look an any medical text book. The cells are multiplying and the life is growing. It is alive.
Not only is it alive it is a human life.
We are horrified at accounts of others choosing death for an innocent being. There was a recent news report of Al Qaeda strapping unknowing people with bombs only to detonate them in a crowded place, those unknowing innocents were people with down syndrome. Shocking isn't it? Horrifying even. But everyday human life that has been diagnosed with such a disability is ended at someone elses will.
Then there is the tragedy referred to as the Holocaust. An unthinkable amount of human lives were killed at someone elses whim; actually he had a very calculated and deliberate strategy to wipe out a whole race. Did you know that African American babies are aborted at 3 times the rate of white babies? Did you know abortion clinics are strategically placed in poorer neighborhoods or neighborhoods that are predominately black?
Lets look at the current situation in Uganda. Children are being recruited as solders and sex slaves by General intent on achieving more power and rule. We are moved ti tears and rightly so when we think of all the children who's lived have been lost or negatively impacted because of one mans ambition. And yet one of the most voiced concerned in having an unwanted baby is the fact that this baby would hinder its mother from achieving what she could. Is the ambition and hope for one life worth the cost of another?
We watch in horror when the news reports of a mother killing her children, and yet...
men are charged with 2 murder when his pregnant wife is killed.
Is it the wantedness of a child that makes its life worth saving? Would it then be appropriate to murder the unwanted child given up for adoption? Of course not.
These "medical procedures" have been disguised as such, when in reality they are what they are: the killing of an inconvenient, unwanted, or disabled innocent life.
I could argue against many of the points pro-abortionists make but I will leave the numbers to speak for themselves:
6 million killed in the holocaust
unknown killed in the longest lasting war in Africa, but at least 2 million have been affected
4,000 a day in US and 130,000 worldwide EVERYDAY killed by abortion

http://abort73.com/

And... she is Rolling!!

Well I have other posts I needed to do to get this blog up to date...mainly Olivia's birthday, but I had to post this!

Julia just turned 4 months old on the 7th and she is officially rolling! She's quick too! I tried to get progress pics but she is too quick!!

So here are the pics of her rolling! My parents warned me that she may be more active than Olivia...watch out!!

Here she is on her back...

Arrgg..she is trying to roll...

Almost...almoooost..

And she made it! Even with big sister excitedly crawing around her!!

yes she has a stain on her outfit but it's not fresh and too cute so we wear it at home!

Heres my big girl on her belly like no big deal!

I have to say that later she did several in a row and ended up where the girls are! Could it be that my just turned 4 months old baby is already trying to travel!

It is exciting, but in the same instant sad. In one moment I lost my baby baby! Now she is moble. And on time flies from here!

Christmas Day 08

Merry Christmas!!
I am cramming it all into one post!! We kept it pretty low key this year and it was very refreshing! We started off Christmas Eve Day with making sugar cookies. It was great fun! The girls had such a blast, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
We went to a local Episcopal Church for Christmas Eve service with a pagent. It was great to experience a liturgical service like the ones i was used to growing up, and Annelise and Olivia were enthralled with the children acting out the story!! And Of course they were thrilled to wear their gorgeous christmas dresses that Daddy bought for them. Dont they look gorgeous! Julia's outfit was given to me by a postal worker when I was mailing our Chrisatmas cards! She had been watching for a baby girl Julia's size to give the outfit to, isnt that amazing! I love how the Lord provides for even the little things!!!

Daddy Fox posting here!

On Christmas Eve, after trying to get the girls to go to sleep forever. Annelise woke up about 11PM and said to Steph, "Mommy, the first thing I am going to do I when I wake up on Christmas morning, is run in to see... ( Steph just knew she was going to say 'what Santa brought me') if Baby Jesus is in the manger." That was refreshing! (Steph here: It was just what I needed cause I had a little pit in my stomach when Annelise spent so much time making sure the cookies and carrots were just right for Santa! Does anyone else feel this way! I mean Santa isn't real!! Jesus IS!!!)

Although we chose to produce a light Christmas this year, my mother and brother blew in to town with a car full of gifts, and bought the girls a trampoline!! Yes, so for the first time ever on Christmas Eve, I spent it outside in the cold and dark, other than the floodlight, putting together a trampoline, which by the way, had way WAY more steps and parts than the one we had growing up!In the morning, as tradition, we came to the tree in the front room that has the manger under it, the girls were very excited to see that baby Jesus had arrived. (we keep him hidden until Christmas morning) We read the Christmas Story, this year only once. Last year we read it 5 times before we got to the presents. Then they wanted to see if Santa put anything in their stockings.

Here are the girls discovering that the cookies had been eaten and the carrots are gone!!

Now I have to say on this note that we already told Annelise the Santa was a real person in history and he did give children toys and so on, but he died as all men do, and now people just pretend that he is real and give gifts in his name etc etc, but that the real story about Christmas is Jesus. Well, she decided that she would believe in Santa anyway! Funny.
So our main gift this year, a kitchen, we bought on craigslist. We actually already had a wood kitchen that we bought from our neighbors behind us at their garage sale. The girls wanted a plastic kitchen like the one they have at the church. So we sold the wooden kitchen on craigslist for more than we paid for it and bought this plastic one which is almost brand new on craigslist.

Well our big gift was trumped by the trampoline of course. We asked the girls if they wanted to take MeeMaw out to get the eggs from the chickens and she walked out and didn't even notice it at first until she had almost walked all the way past it. Then it was surprise, shock, awe, and lets play!!! Thanks Uncle J and MeeMaw for the trampoline. We love the gift of being active!

It turned out to be a great day. My ham was good, the pies were good, everything turned out well and it was a beautiful day, actually maybe even a little on the hot side. It was a great Christmas! Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year!!!!!!

A's Birthday... I know. I am late!!

Well, "A" is now 5 years old and I just can not believe it!! She is so big and has been so excited for her birthday to come AND she is thrilled that it is close to Christmas. She loves the story of Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. She loves to be Mary with a baby in her tummy and to rock baby Jesus. She could play the nativity all day long. SO, she asked to have a Nativity Birthday! So our guests were invited to come dressed as their favorite Nativity Character. Of course sinse no boys were able to attend we had a bunch of Marys with their own baby Jesus's!

We read the christmas story which most of the girls knew by heart and I think they were frankly a little bored.

Kevin took the children on "donkey rides" in the wagon with a donkey head taped on!

Then we followed the star (little hints written on stars that led them thru the house and into the Kitchen) to the Baby Jesus cake.It was very low key and I was so glad! Although Annelise told me "Mommy, We never acted out the Nativity story!!" I told her it was 'cause we had all Mary's!

Annelise is my Beautiful, Intuitive, High Needs, High Empathy Daughter who I am so proud to parent! Happy Birthday My First Born!!!Thank you Lord for entrusting her to me!

My Little Busy Body

Well those of you who know our family know that Olivia is my little busy body. Once she was able to crawl I would find her all over the house. It was quite a shock to my system sinse Annelise was always attatched to my hip, and would cry outside the shower curtain for me until she was at least three... But Olivia has never lacked in the area of adventure! Once she was 16 months old she'd climb the playground equipment with the big kiddos. She has climbed to the top of our upright piano, to the top of our counter height table (naked no less, digging through my purse). She climbed up to the spice cabinet while dinner was simmering (AAK!! heart attack!) and a million other stories! And for the record, most of these things happened in the 2 minutes I was putting away laundry or going to the restroom; I do supervise my children!!! The thing is, she is as sweet as pie. She always says "no thank you" and "yes. please" and gives kisses for no reason. She throws fits, but what 2 year old doesn't? But the latest Olivia spree is wearing me out! She has started marking. Marking the door jams, the cement floor, the pretty sewing desk kevin bought for my sewing closet, tables, chairs. Spanking don't scare her. Timeouts are effective for the afternoon, but forgottent he next day. I guess she has my artistic streak! But her latest marking episode was too much! I wish I had taken a picture, but I was too dumbfounded! Yes folks, she marked the baby. There were scribble marks on the balnket all around her head and one strong green mark on top of Julia's pretty little head. I knew I had something to fear when she was hiding as I walked in... But I couldnt help but laugh! I mean come on!... the baby!!!