Just to keep you happy...

Some quick pictures of Mighty Mouse. He is 5 months old now!! He is eating rice cereal and will finally take a bottle - FREEDOM!!! :-) I will get some pictures of the rest of the "fam" up soon... and some of the projects we have going on, besides the chicks! :-)

For now, we are off to the park.

Our "Farm" Adventure

There are 14 little chicks... hens we hope. Wyandotte and Black Sex Link. These first pictures are from the first day we got them from the Country Store. I think there were about one week old then.
These pictures were taken on 4/8/09. They have grown quite a bit! You can clearly see their feathers coming out now, and their combs are starting to show better.

They are really starting to fill up this space, so Big D is working on their next home.
Do you see the one in the middle? I think it is a different kind... a slightly different coloring than the rest of them. I hope it's not a rooster!!!! ;-) More updates to come.

Here I am!

OK, things are getting closer to "back to normal" around here. Everyone is happy and healthy - can you believe Mighty Mouse is 5 months old now?? We are finally into somewhat of a routine with the four kiddos now and we are so happy that Spring is here!

I had been trying to not be online so much (it sucks away so much of my time....), but then I found Facebook and got sucked in again. I think I am now "over it" and have leveled out my online time to a "reasonable" amount.

I am excited to update you on the happenings around here, inside and out. But it will have to wait for another day. Pictures coming!!

Oh so much to do...

OH man. I am back at that point again of wanting to be so much better than I am. I mean, better at doing things, I know I am just a fine person - God loves me, right?, I just have so many thoughts of things to do and so little action steps actually doing them. I'm guessing because I am on here all the time. That kind of throws a wrench into getting anything done!

And yet, I know I really don't have all that much time right now either. Have you really ever logged how much time you actually need to attend to an almost three month old baby and an almost two year old toddler?? Not to mention all the to and from of the preschooler and kindergartner. Yes, I realize I am busy doing a very good work for these kiddos. However, there comes a point where I know there is more. More I should be doing. Or rather more I want to be doing.

I have been reading great books lately (over the last 6 months or so) that have really helped me be happy in my station as a Mother - raising these kiddos to know God, and I mean to really know Him and WHY they know Him and should want to know Him and hopefully where to find all these truths from the Bible. And being a Wife and being a helper for my husband (which I unfortunately fall down in constantly.) I am totally understanding, now, more of the reasons God put me here and that I need to embrace this - trying to fight it all only leads to strife on many levels.

I am learning that I have always been, and still am, so incredibly selfish!! Oh, I can justify it in many ways, like a sentence I was typing earlier that didn't fit there and now I realize why: These kids just take so much time from me, I automatically go to "me time" (ie - computer) when I have a spare minute and I don't do the chores, or the extras that I know would be benificial. Why do I do that? Why can't I just, again, "get it together" and get stuff done?!!

I don't want to justify any more. I just want to DO and be done. I have got to get more disciplined in my life. I am starting a "chore chart" for the kids - they have been clamoring for it for awhile... and I think I need to do one for myself as well. Maybe it would actually give me some external motivation for doing what I should be doing. Give myself my own props for getting something done around here. I know, "Do as unto the Lord", and I am starting to really grasp the meaning of that now, given that I am understanding more of the wife and mother roles as given from God and the true importance of both pieces. It has just been hard for me to do - mainly getting myself put aside and truly putting others first and what that truly means.

And you get that little taste of time after your child gets to a certain age where you realize you do have more "free" time and then...oops, another child comes. And now I am back where I was before feeling like there is so much to do and so little time, and using that time so unwisely.

Ah, discipline, discipline, discipline. I have got to get further in the current book I am reading: The Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman. Maybe that will help me! I'll let you know! :-)



Oh, and someday, I hope to post again about "Fabrics" and "Gardens".
....someday.

Hmmm... what to do?

Well, I have two kiddos outside with Daddy, one napping and one playing very happily by himself. What am I to do with myself? (Oh! Certainly not a chore!)

I do have a fun list:
sewing doll clothes,
reading new book study (Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman- Anne Ortlund),
do some goal planning for this year,
finally make the chore chart for the kids,
check on my roast chicken... oh, I better do that now... hang on.

OK, it looks good. Where was I?

plan the herb garden,
etc.,

However then there are the other to do items that are on the list:
laundry,
cleaning (everything),
organizing (everything),
help children learn to read (H is doing very well on her own however...),
plan nap schedule for Mighty,
meal plan for the week,
ready the grocery list,
clip coupons,
etc., etc., on and on...

So, here I sit on the computer waiting for my dough to be done in the bread machine so I can make some dinner rolls (Honey Curry Wheat rolls, should be tasty with our roast chicken!) I hope you have a nice week, I'll get my lists together and let you know some more of the fun stuff. Bye!

Mighty's 2 Month Appt.

So, at Mighty's 2 month appt (at 2 months + 1.5 wks) here are his stats:

16 lb 3 oz

24 3/8" long

...yep, a big guy! I think this is usually at least 4 months old, more like 6 months. I guess he'll be tall like his daddy! He is still off the seizure meds - no "episodes" for quite some time now. He is on the reflux med still, but we are going to try and eliminate the middle of the day dose and see what happens. If he does well w/o much spitting up or gagging, we will take off the first dose of the day in about two weeks. It doesn't seem to be a bad med for him to be on, but I would like to get rid of it if he doesn't need it.

He is such a good and happy/normal baby so far! He loves "talking" to his brothers and sister. He likes to kick around on his back on the floor and in his bouncy seat. He is trying to move his hands to get at the toys hanging in front of him and tries to hold his hand in front of his face just to look at sometimes. He does well with tummy time, but gets bored with it. I have started putting him in the exersaucer for something different during the day, but he is a little uncoordinated for it still.

Mmmm... Dinner

Mmmmm... Chicken pot pie

The easy way with canned soups and veggies.

(I know, it could easily be done healthier, but this got done and tasted great.)
I used these nifty tiny cutters to add "flair" to the top of the pie. Really, really quick and easy to do, just use the excess crust, roll it out again a little thinner, cut your shapes and lay them on top. You can seal them down a little by first dabbing a bit of water on the back of the shapes if necessary. I also did a light egg white wash on top of the pie to help with browning.

Especially yummy when served with an excellent dark green salad on the side.

OH, and yummy Oatmeal chocolate chips for dessert! ;-)

I guess yummy was the word of the day! I did get a little healthier in that I made the pie crust partially with whole wheat flour and some wheat germ. I also substituted some wheat flour and wheat germ to the cookies as well. Yum!

This is also the perfect meal to bless someone else with, which is exactly what I did. It is so easy to make two pies at once. I brought one (and a salad, and cookies) to a family that just had their fourth baby (a sweet little girl after three boys!) I also have had good experiences freezing these pies as well, so always good to make two pies and either give one away or freeze to use later.

Thank you again, to those who blessed us with meals while we were having problems with Michael! It was sure a blessing to us, and I am glad I am able to help others again in this way now that we are back on our feet.