Experiments in parenthood

I am exhausted today. For some reason, Kate hasn't been sleeping well the past couple nights. I blame it on the cantaloupe I've been consuming lately, but I'm not too sure. Lilly had a tummy ache the night before last and Bradley woke up an hour a half earlier than normal this morning. All of this combined makes me one tired lady! John is working an 11 hour day today and I seriously was questioning whether I could make it all day with no rest.

Today after lunch I flopped down on the couch and closed my eyes. I decided it would be interesting to see what would happen if I pretended to be asleep for just 15 minutes (possibly testing to see if maybe, just maybe, I could catch a little cat nap). Lilly comes into the room. "Mommy! Are we goi-...." She stops when she realizes I'm "asleep". I hear her go into the other room and say "Boys, you need to be quiet because Mommy is sleeping in the other room." She then proceeds to get a blanket out of my room and cover me up. When she sees that the blanket isn't quite long enough she fetches some socks (my favorite, cozy pair, might I add) and puts them on me the leaves the room. So sweet! Then enters....the boys! Luke sees me on the couch and uses his toy rolling pin to roll up and down my body over and over. From my toes...to my chin, singing his "rolling pin" song. Bradley, my little trouble-maker, decides this is the prime time to venture into Mommy and Daddy's room to do a little exploring (a big no-no in this house). My experiement was cut short when I heard Luke yell "Mommy! Brad got into your deodorant!" It lasted 5 minutes. So, no cat nap was taken. Too risky. But thankfully, Oh! so thankfully, everyone was willing to lay down for a little quiet time this afternoon and I got a good 45 minutes of peace and quiet.

So the conclusion of my little experiment?
Children are funny!

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet of my day! :) How's your day?

~A

Thirsty

I'm currently reading a book called Thirsty by Amy Nappa. It follows the story of the woman at the well that Jesus met with. It's a cross between a fiction and christian living book. As I was reading today I came across a paragraph that struck me so much and was so meaningful that I had to share it.

"Like that Woman at the Well, you are so much more valuable than your society is telling you. You possess within you that beauty of soul that comes only from the hand of an infinite Artist. God smiles when he looks at you, because he alone can see the heart that reflects his creative light and genius.
When you are a wreck- physically, emotionally, and spiritually; when you find yourself an outcast with voices on all sides spreading gossip about your great failures and hurtful deeds; when you take a good look at yourself and realize the accusations are true, that you really are guilty as charged; when your worst accuser is the voice of your own conscience- then lift up your eyes. Like that Woman at the Well, catch a glimpse of Jesus' gaze. His eyes see who you are meant to be; his arms are open, ready to welcome your soul back into his healing presence.
When you hear your world (or your own voice) telling you something less than that, just smile and suggest that those thoughts go jump in a lake, because you know what your society finds unpopular to admit:
God hides you in his heart.
And that's what really matters."

What a beautiful God I serve!
Be blessed!
~A

It's official. She's a keeper!

My little Kate is 4 months old now. 4 months! Where has the time gone? It's hard for me to believe in a few weeks she'll be starting solid foods (well, semi-solids). She's changed so much during these last four months!

Her eye color has started to change. It's hard to tell by this picture but it looks like we might finally have a baby with the same color eyes as us! John and I both have hazel eyes. Lilly has these gorgeous dark brown eyes, while the boys both have beautiful blue eyes (we get comments on them all the time). It looks like Kate's are either going to be hazel or green.


In other exciting news, I feel her hair is officially long enough to warrant the use of a barrette. If you remember she was born with a good head full of hair. We lost a little bit of it during the cradle cap stage but she still has a lot. If I brush it down it hangs down over her eyes. Barrette time! What is it about baby girls? Why are us moms SO excited to put things in their hair? I'll enjoy it now before she's old enough to rip it out!

Lilly continues to be absolutely IN LOVE with her, as we all are. She begged me to take this picture of them together. The other day she was playing with Kate and turned around and said "Mommy we are gonna be best friends when we grow up!" I said "You and Kate? Or You, Kate, and Me?" She got a big smile on her face and said "All of us!" Ah...warms my heart.


Yep. She's definitely a keeper. I was telling John the other day that I can't think of one thing I wished she did better at. She is SUCH a carefree baby. Which with 4 little children is a major blessing! We are all enjoying her so much. Her giggles, smiles, coo's, even her cry's are so sweet! God is so amazingly good to me even though I deserve none of it.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." ~Psalm 127:3-5

Running the race,
~A

cool summer treat

I don't know about you but it sure is heating up here in southern Georgia. By 9:30 it's already pretty hot and if we want to get anything done outside we've got to start pretty early. I was looking over my past couple blog posts and realized I haven't shared a recipe in a while! Goodness me! I love to share my recipes! So, today I thought I'd tell you about my no-fail, super easy, no-sugar, wonderful on a hot summer day treat.

Yogurt Popsicles

1 container plain yogurt
1 can frozen juice concentrate (100% juice is preferable)
dixie cups
popsicle sticks (optional)

Mix yogurt and juice. Spoon or pour into Dixie cups. Freeze for half an hour and then insert popsicle sticks into each one. Continue freezing until....well, frozen. That's it!

A couple of tips- you can get some pretty fun juice flavors. In my freezer right now, I've got pomegranate cherry! For little children I suggest just letting then eat it with a spoon and skip the sticks altogether. It can get pretty messy! If you look around you can find plastic dixie cups (not dixie brand...just that size) I use those, as dixie cups tend to fall apart if you eat it right out of the cups, and just wash them and use them again.

Hope you enjoy!
~A

Random Question #2

Laura, over at heavenlyhomemakers.com, has been having lots of fun asking random questions. Some of the responses are so funny! Well, I've got lots of questions to ask people! :) Although, I'm counting my poll about your favorite candy as question #1. Here's my question for today:

What is the background on your desktop/laptop? You know, the wallpaper which adorns your computer when you turn it on.

I've been looking around trying to find new ones and wondered what other people had. Mine is a very lovely little picture of pink tulips basking in the sun. It makes me smile! Hope everyone is doing well! I've got some exciting news I'm going to be sharing in the next couple days. Stay tuned!

Running the race,
~A

Preview

What do you think?

This is the sight that meets me in my van after about 15 minutes of travel, on occasion. I'm so nervous to leave town anymore for fear that the thing will overheat. As of two days ago, the dome light will not go off no matter what we do. So we have to jump it off to start it. Did I also mention that it doesn't have air conditioning...and that is was 99* today?

I'm not mentioning these things to complain. Honestly, I'm not! But simply to ask your opinion. John and I try very hard not to get caught up in an American mind frame. We want to see the van as a blessing because we know there are lots of people out there who share a car or don't even own one. But, I stuggle. The van is our main vehicle. Without it all of us, as a family, can't go anywhere. And here in America, especially living in the country, we just have to have a vehicle to get around. We would also have to go back into debt to buy a new (and by "new" I mean new to us) one, and we REALLY don't want to do that. It's so nice to be debt free!

So, here's my question- What do you think? Forget that you were raised in America. Keep a global, godly view in mind as you ponder. Should I just be content with what the Lord has given us? Or is it okay to want a reliable van?

Help!
~A

Another week. Another menu plan.

As I look over my menu plan it seems a bit ambitious for me. But, I'm hoping to get caught up with all my housework, after the great flu bug of '09, before our company arrives this weekend. So, maybe I'll actually have the time to make some REAL meals.

John's brother, sister, dad, and their families are all coming to spend the weekend with us. We always enjoy spending time with them. It's a real treat for us! The children get so excited! Johns's brother is bringing a kiddie pool and we bought a kite last week that the children love. They are arriving Friday around lunchtime and staying till Sunday. Yippee!

Here's the plan for the week:

Breakfast
-pancakes
-egg in a nest
-smoothies
-waffles
-baked oatmeal
-muffins
-giant breakfast cookies (drool...)

Lunch
-Cucumber sandwiches
-P.B. & J. roll ups
-meat sandwiches
-taco rice/ corn/salad
-sloppy joes/ potato fries
-leftovers

Dinner
-Tomato melts/carrots
-meatballs/broccoli/bread
-stuffed shells/salad/garlic bread
-hamburgers/hot dogs/coleslaw/squash casserole/watermelon/avocado pie/pumpkin pie (father's day celebration!)
-leftovers
-egg salad/popcorn/brownies
-zucchini cakes/potato fries

Granted, all of this is subject to change depending on what I get in my CSA stuff this week. I still have squash and zucchini that i need to use up. Hence, squash casserole and zucchini cakes this week. I noticed this week's plan involves a lot of meat! We've haven't this much meat in one week in a LONG time but I'm craving it. And, no. I'm not pregnant. :) Although, on a random note, I did have a dream last night that John went out to buy a new van and came back with an adopted baby....prophesy?? Perhaps. :)

One more bit of randomness. My dear sweet husband, as an anniversary present, got me a new lap top! My other one was hurtin' after someone accidentally dropped it.

Isn't it cute? He even got it in pink for me. It's an inspiron mini 9 and let me tell you, it is mini. But it's so convienent. It's light-weight and compact. I even carried it in my diaper bad the other day when we went to the big city just to see how portable it was. It's great!

Thanks for checking in!
~A