littlecarlotta

Heart

2012-02-15T14:00:00.001-08:00

Blue

2012-02-14T08:44:00.001-08:00

Self Portrait

2012-02-12T16:38:00.001-08:00

Makes Me Happy

2012-02-11T18:43:00.001-08:00

Friday Project

2012-02-10T18:54:00.001-08:00

Prompted by a sermon a few years ago, Jeff and I have been talking about having a "wall of remembrance". Just a place that reminds us of God's faithfulness, a place that encourages the retelling of our family stories and how we have seen Him at work.

The subway art was part of that wall but this week the pictures went up along side of it.

So there's a picture of our wedding and the house we would have bought had not the Lord clearly stopped us. There's Ginetta's ultrasound picture as well as one of the hospital where I was when I had appendicitis and was pregnant with her. Also, our marriage certificate reminding us of God's faithful hand through every season of marriage. I'm sure we'll be adding more as the years go by!

Cost- $8.50 for spray paint from the restore, dollar store frames and photo developing. Oh, Jeff's reading over my shoulder and says I have to admit there was an extra can of spray paint. He used it to um...well fix all the frames that I didn't do a very good job of painting (those are my words not his ;)

Button

2012-02-08T06:46:00.001-08:00

The photo topic today is button. We happen to think this little button is as cute as can be. Does that count as a button? You'd think we never had a baby before ;)

Hands

2012-02-03T18:39:00.001-08:00

Friday Project

2012-02-03T09:33:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to try my hand at subway art and the foyer was a good place to experiment since it can handle a large piece.

The best tutorial I found was at the blog I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. It was definitely the easiest and most practical. She said she made hers for under $7.00. Maybe it was written awhile ago and prices have gone up because mine was $12.00

With this project I got to go into stores and throw around words like "engineer blueprint" and "MDF" like I knew what I was talking about ;)

Words

2012-02-03T01:45:00.001-08:00

Oral surgery. Ugh.

February

2012-02-01T17:16:00.001-08:00

I saw a fun challenge on a blog. It's to take one picture each day in the month of February, each day has a different subject. I'll be very surprised if I actually get a picture in each day but it is a good way to get out the camera.

What I Saw Today...

Princess Tea Party

2012-01-30T14:07:00.001-08:00

Traditionally, in my family we didn't have big, kid birthday parties. We would usually do something with just family. But then randomly sometime in the year my mom would host a really fun party for us. I like that model because it doesn't set any expectations for birthdays, there's no pressure to bring a gift, etc.

The girls have been asking me if they could have a tea party and I thought January was a good month to have it. So we've been planning for about a month and having a lot of fun, girly time in the process. We made a trip to the fabric store and took a long time picking out fabric for the favor bags we made. We checked out Pinterest for crown directions. The food was fun too, pink sprinkled cupcakes and heart shaped sandwiches. It was such a delight just to watch their anticipation!

Friday Project

2012-01-27T03:16:00.001-08:00

The project this week was a bit of a splurge because I couldn't find any of the things I needed used.

I don't usually do tutorials because I'm just copying what someone else did a lot better anyway. But I had seen these faux (sounds better than fake) cupcakes and thought they would be cute on one of the shelves I'm decorating. All the directions seemed kind of complicated and expensive. So here is the cheater version.

What you need:

cupcake papers

2 1/2" Styrofoam balls

brown paint

berries from a Christmas garland

glitter

light-weight joint compound (if you look helpless in Lowe's they'll help you)

some old playdough or plaster of paris

Cut balls in half.

Paint the edges a chocolaty brown.

Fill the bottom of the cupcake papers with a wad of playdough. Let it dry for a couple of hours. All the directions I read said to use plaster of paris to fill the bottom but I didn't feel like buying it and we had some old playdough which worked just fine.

Hot glue the half balls to the top of the playdough.

Mix just a bit of brown paint with some joint compound until it's the color you want for the icing. Pipe it on to the cupcakes using an icing bag or a baggie with the tip cut off.

Sprinkle with glitter and top with berry from garland.

So, there's my very technical tutorial ;)

Total cost for cupcakes $6.50

Queen for a Day

2012-01-26T16:54:00.001-08:00

(Tired little shopper)

Two recent shopping disasters have kind of put a damper on outings with all the girls involved. Jeff took them all to Lowe's and after a series of events (I have to go potty!) Celene ended up with blood all over herself. It seems she collided with Shelby and cut her lip open. So Jeff was trying to hurry to the bathroom to clean her up but Shelby has no concept of the word hurry. Poor guy.

I had them at the craft store a week or two later and Ginetta came away with a squashed hand after the cart she was in tipped over.

Yesterday my mom had the big girls on an all day adventure so I loaded up just one little person and went to cross errands off the list. It seemed like such a breeze! In spite of the fact that she did empty a whole container of glitter all over herself and the cart while I was having a mental debate about cupcake papers.

It is so funny to have Ginetta one on one. She really does think she is queen of the world. She cracks herself up, makes up little games for herself and hollers at anyone who will (or won't) look at her. When I say holler I mean holler. She spent the whole time in Home Depot yelling at people that her raisins were "all done, all done". Funny Girl.

Friday Project

2012-01-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

Time for some curtains this week! I had a leftover white panel from IKEA. So I cut it in half and added the black using a set of curtains that I had found at a garage sale a few years ago.

We also tried our hand at making the cornice. I say we because Jeff came to my rescue on this project ;) We made them out of cardboard and duct tape. Then covered them in fabric from the Creative Reuse store. I'm not sure how well they'll hold up, I have this vision of them falling on a guest's head or something. The curtains rods, which you can't see, were courtesy of my dad (he found them in one of his houses).

Total for the window treatments: $.75 per window.

Painting was also in progress this past week, thanks to Evan. Note to self, don't try to paint something light gray. After 4 trips to Lowes I just decided it was close enough. It's growing on me but it does look a little on the lavender side.

Evan was very kind and let the girls each have a turn up on the scaffolding.

Well at least he let the two big girls up there, the little one sure thought she was supposed to have a turn.

Cooking!

2012-01-19T13:20:00.001-08:00

Our cooking Saturday was a success! It took longer than I had calculated, surprise, surprise. But we sure did come away with a lot of meals!

Natalie said we spent the whole day muttering to ourselves things like "OK so it calls for 1 1/2 tsp. now multiply that by 12". That part did get a little confusing since none of us are used to cooking in that kind of volume but I think it all came turned out well.

The only mishap of the day came just as we were finishing up. I guess maybe my brain was a little tired or something. Anyway, I started up the blender with the lid off and the plunger in it. The plunger and the contents of the blender when shooting off into space somewhere. Fortunately mom was home from work by then and tackled the clean up. Ooops!

My cousin brought along one of her little guys and from 9:30-4:30 we never heard much more than a peep out of him. He was quite a little trooper.

Not pictured are the guys who all pitched in to help. Evan and Jeff ran grocery errands and Dad did a mountain of dishes. Also not pictured are my cousin Katie and her husband Chris who bravely took all three girls on an outing for most of the time we were cooking.

All photos courtesy of Barry J. Photography.

Friday Project

2012-01-13T09:43:00.001-08:00

We have tall, thin windows on either side of the foyer and I wanted to make some kind of wreath for the middle of each.

My first attempt was definitely not a success. I figure when even your mom can't say that it looks like anything but wadded up paper, it must be bad.

So I tried coffee filters next which worked out a lot better.

I got the wreath forms and the ribbon from the creative reuse store and the coffee filters I had on hand (not sure why we had so many coffee filters anyway).

Cost for each wreath - $0.87

2012-01-11T16:13:00.001-08:00

A portion of my counters are being overrun with food supplies. Natalie and one of my cousins are joining me on Saturday morning to make freezer meals. If all my calculations are correct we'll end up with a total of 115 meals. It sure will be nice to have them tucked away in the freezer.

On the agenda:
chicken pie stromboli

meatballs                             chicken enchiladas

BBQ chicken                         turkey a la king

sloppy joe                            lasagna

I've never done anything quite on this scale (i,e. 266 oz of mozzarella cheese) so we'll see how it goes.

Friday Project

2012-01-07T05:37:00.001-08:00

This week I worked on pillows for the little aqua bench. It was great, I had all the pillow forms and fabric I needed leftover from other various projects. I used some scraps, a piece I had gotten at a thrift store sale, an old clip-on earring for embellishment, etc.

Total for project #2 - $0 Of course it does help to have plenty of scrap fabric :) If anyone needs a small piece of fabric and you're willing to dig, my stash is available!

Bread Baking & Back to Routine

2012-01-06T04:16:00.001-08:00

After a Christmas break we're back to baking this month. This Sunday I'll have either regular or cinnamon raisin bread available. Just let me know if you want any.

Life is back to normal this week and once again I wonder why I let us get off track for so long! I had been working on Christmas projects since the end of September in an effort to keep the Christmas season relaxed. For the most part it was laid back and so we had lots of pj days and pancakes for breakfast and limited school. It was great for the first few days but I definitely let it go on to the point of frustration. Last week Celene told me she didn't really like being off school which echoed my feelings on the topic. Next year I think I'll limit our break so that it's actually special instead of ending in mass chaos.

This week has been a breath of fresh air! And speaking of fresh air..dad, Jeff and I have started jogging so maybe this year I'll make it a little farther from the couch and closer to a 5K.

Foyer Re-Do

2011-12-30T16:12:00.001-08:00

My project for this winter is to give our foyer a makeover. Actually, I guess makeover isn't really the right word because it's never been made in the first place. I decorate very slowly, as in years slowly. We've lived here 2 1/2 years and I've just now accumulated enough ideas to start this project. Jeff is super busy with the basement remodel right now so I'm having to learn how to do things on my own which I'm finding quite fun. My new best friend is spray paint (yes, I seriously have never used it before!) My goal is to buy as few new items as I possibly can. I plan to dig through the re-uzit shops around and remake things I already have.

Each Friday I plan to post a picture of my project of the week. I figure it will give me good motivation to get at least one part of the foyer done per week. I won't be doing any wall painting because it involves scaffolding but I can get everything else ready so that when the walls do eventually get done we can move everything right in.

I thought about a catchy name like Foyer Fridays or something, but I think I'll spare you. Just stop by on Fridays if you care to see an update.

Here is what it looks like right now...a random group of furniture that I really like but needs some organization.

Last year I found a Pottery Barn light fixture at a garage sale so we replaced this..

with this one..

My aunt had given me a bench that I liked and thought would fit really well inside the front door. But it was sage green with scallops and hearts which made it a little country for my taste. So my dad whacked the scallops off for me.

This past week a gave it a new paint job, spray painted the garage sale baskets, and made number tags out of scrap paper.

I added handles that I made from thrift store vinyl that I had on hand and thumb tacks.

Grand total for project number one: $2.94 (for a sample size paint from Home Depot).

Picture Post

2011-12-28T04:51:00.001-08:00

We started our Christmas weekend with dinner on Friday night at Jeff's parent's house. It was fun to visit but we missed his sister and her family who have been here for the past two years at Christmas. The kids were thrilled with their costumes from Grandma and Grandpa. Shelby told me it worked out well. She was a waitress pretending to carry a pizza on her tray. She asked the pirate to cut the pizza with his sword. Who knew a waitress and a pirate could compliment one another so well?

Saturday night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church. I enjoyed only about half of the service as Ginetta's new favorite thing is to yell constantly at the top of her lungs (OK, maybe it isn't quite constantly).

All decked out in their Christmas dresses...

Last year we attempted to sleep by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve but this year we actually made it all night.

We had a very relaxed Christmas day, it was so nice to have a whole day just to be with everyone.

We're trying to build memories with the girls that aren't all gift centered, we're definitely learning as we go. In the morning while we waited for Natalie and Chad to get here the girls decorated gingerbread houses. I think they were looking forward to that almost as much as the presents. They had so much fun loading up their little houses with all the candy they could pile on!

Once N & C got here we read the Christmas story and then had gift opening. Shelby fell in love with a book we had gotten at the library about a year ago and so for a gift my mom got her a copy. I wish I would have known the response it was going to get because I would have had my camera ready. The look on her face was priceless, she was so excited. You can tell in the picture that she's excited but it's nothing like that first look.

After the girlies went for a nap all the big kids made gingerbread houses.

Dad's house with a vegetable garden on one side and a pool on the other, please note the dude in the inner tube on the pool side...

Mom's house which featured a luminary border and a melting snowman in the back...

Jeff's house had a swing set in the front with a little person head first in the snow and a dog in it's pen.

Mine was supposed to be a pale yellow cottage but turned out more like a cheese whiz house...

Natalie and Chad collaborated to make a little log cabin with a fire pit and ice fishing.

Evan opted for a barn instead of a house. In his words it's a hick barn because it has piles of tires all around..

While I'm doing pictures I thought I would put up a few of my favorites from the calendar I did this year. Yes, it was Elvis song titles again. And my disclaimer remains the same, I don't know what the lyrics say!

2011-12-22T04:33:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had an unspoken, even unprayed (not a word) about desire fulfilled? It happened to me the other day and it just struck me as reminder from the Lord that He knows ME!

A few months ago I had seen an idea on a blog that I really liked. The mom had written a little book about her daughter and then illustrated it. I pondered it for a few days because I thought it was such a fun idea. I mean really, how neat would it be to have book about yourself?! But I couldn't get past the fact that I can't write or draw which were two rather key elements of the equation. Maybe I could have done the writing but I think it would have come out a lot like Celene's readers. See Celene. Shelby has a bag. Shelby has a big bag. The end. And on the drawing front, well, let's just say that Celene can seriously draw better than me. So I gave the idea up since the only person I knew who was talented enough to both draw and write was my cousin Katie. She was settling into life as a newly-wed with a new house and job and I didn't think she had oodles of time to write books. I didn't think much about it since then, it certainly wasn't something I prayed about. It was just a "that would be fun but, oh well" kind of thing.

Imagine my delight when Chris and Katie stopped by the other night and brought along a thank you gift that Katie had been working on for the girls since her wedding. Yes, a book about the girls!!!

The drawings are absolutely darling. Katie even took pictures of our house so that the details would be right. I took these pictures at night so the lighting really doesn't do the illustrations justice but here are a few of my favorites...

I love how this one captures the girl's personalities so perfectly. Celene looks like a girl with a plan, Ginetta her happy little self and Shelby the girl who can't make a serious face to save her life.

You can't see it very well but Ginetta's little head is peeking out of a basket on the left.

I know that this gift must have taken countless hours! I was so blessed that Katie shared her talents with our family so generously.

Thanks Katie and Chris too since I know that a project rarely happens without some degree of involvement from the spouse!

White Christmas 2011 Debut

2011-12-14T18:28:00.001-08:00

Well, we thought that Aunt Alice & Co. outdid themselves in the past. But the scenery for the party this year was even more spectacular. I'm not sure what the word is for a step above outdoing yourself, but that's what it was for sure.

We entered their house and the scene was set for a night at the Carousel Club...

The dining room was so amazing that my mom forgot where she was for awhile...

We were all fascinated by their creativity, the horses were kids plastic riding horses that they painted to look like carousel horses...

The little sign on the stand informs us that the musicians are on break. And yes, they really did line their entire living and dining room walls with pink wrapping paper of just the right shade.

I should have gotten a closer shot of the table decor. My mom said it was an exact replica of the tables in the movie.

The costumes, while fun, seemed to pale in comparison to the Carousel Club theme.

Mom as the tearful Betty the night her sister gets engaged.

Continuing with the Carousel Club theme..

"We just happen to have a slam-bang finish for you" We don't tell each other what we're planning to come as if possible. So I didn't realize until too late that the girls and Evan were the same people. Oh, well.

Bing and Danny bring some entertainment to the troops.

Because as you know, in New York you would "have to pay $6.60 or even $8.80" to see someone like Bob Wallace.

Jeff as the nameless ski carrying dude at the train station in Vermont. I think he looks very Vermonty.

"What a wonderful party. I wish it would happen to me"

Bob and Betty on the train...

Another fun party with many good memories.

2011-12-07T17:48:00.001-08:00

Thank you to my sweet husband. Thank you for noticing when my radio doesn't really work, I'm sewing with a broken sewing machine, I'm wearing clothes that should have been thrown away five years ago, that I really should have dental work done etc. Yes, he notices and takes of care of replacing or fixing the things that I don't want to spend the time or money to alter.

I had a CD player that only played one or two songs before it would quit working. I was just dealing with it, not even really considering that there could be another option. But Jeff researched an MP3 player, got it for me, set it up with all my music and mounted it discreetly in the cabinet. Now not only do I have continuous Christmas music, I also have no more piles of CD's on the kitchen counter. Anyway it just made me realize all the ways he takes care of me.

Christmas Decorating and Blogging

2011-11-30T17:23:00.001-08:00

By the time I got my fall decorations up this year it was almost Thanksgiving so I didn't have a whole lot of time to enjoy them. I determined to do better with Christmas decorations. I don't do a lot (the thought of taking a ton of stuff down in a few weeks makes me tired ;) but I did try something new this year. I had seen a variation of these stocking hangars and thought they would look nice on our mantel.

As I took these pictures I had to smile remembering a conversation I had last year with my friend Gretchen about blogs and our conclusion that they are not always an accurate portrayal of real life. I have had several recent projects that didn't go well, including my Christmas cards. Sigh. But you may notice that I didn't post any pictures of them. Blogs allow the reader to take a peek into the writer's life, well at least the edited version. I can conveniently crop out any pictures that show messes in the background, skip the photos where someone is pulling a sisters hair, not mention that one of my little "angels" was recently telling me that I was a disgusting mom all because she had to clean up her room, etc.

Last month Jeff's parent's were out of town and I was at the shop for 10 days which meant a lot more computer time than I'm used to having. I looked at all my favorite blogs, the ones where people actually pay them to advertise on their blog. I started thinking about how much fun that would be to get paid to do projects and take pictures. Well, problem number one would be that at present I don't have throngs of people knocking at my door wanting to pay me ;) Number two I realized that I would hate the pressure of turning out perfect projects and perfect pictures. Although I REALLY enjoy those blogs, I don't want that for myself.

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I don't always waltz around the house smiling serenely at my little cherubs who always obey with great joy. Projects don't always flow smoothly from my fingertips. I'm not always a helpful wife.

The goal of my blog is not to air all my sins. But I have been thinking that maybe it's best not to edit all the messes out of the background either. Sometimes it's in the messes that the grace of a glorious Redeemer shines most brightly.

Fun in the Fall

2011-11-21T16:22:00.001-08:00

Orphan Care

2011-11-15T15:49:00.001-08:00

For about a year Jeff and I have been praying and talking about how to involve our kids in ministry. We want them to grow up with an understanding that there is a big world out there full of people who are hurting and need the hope of the gospel. We talked about a variety of things. One Sunday we joined a group from our church that does ministry at a local nursing home. Although we support the work they are doing wholeheartedly, three small children without naps on a Sunday afternoon just wasn't a good fit.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at Focus on the Family's web site about orphan care and adoption. It had a link to Steven Curtis Chapman's ministry called Show Hope. One of the things they do is provide grants for Christian families wanting to adopt. I felt a prompt from the Holy Spirit that this was something to pursue.

So this month the girls and I are beginning a new venture. Each month we'll have a baking day (I promise I'll make them wash their hands first ;) to raise money for an adoption grant through Show Hope. Each grant is $5000.00 which I would like to see us raise by this time next year. It seems like a big goal but we'll see how the Lord works! 100% of the proceeds from the baked goods will go toward our goal.

The baked good for November is wheat bread which I'll be making this week. It is yummy fresh but also frozen and then reheated, just in time for the Thanksgiving table :) If anyone from our church is interested just let me know, I'll have the bread with me this Sunday. If anyone from my parent's church is interested I can send it with my mom this Sunday. I'm suggesting a donation of $5.00 for each loaf.

Thanks for reading my spiel. I feel a little weird like I'm trying to sell something. But I'm just not sure how to make this work without telling anyone :)

5!

2011-11-08T03:38:00.001-08:00

Not long ago I was having one of those times where I couldn't see past the areas in which we would like to see growth in Celene. But the Lord has been taking me on a mental journey since then, reminding me of how far we've come! Yes, there is a huge difference between a 3 year old and a five year old.

I'm getting glimpses of the fun we're going to have together now that Celene is getting older. For instance:

* She has a great eye for arranging photos and is my right hand helper when I'm taking pictures of the other girls. She also is very cooperative when it comes to getting her picture taken. So we had a lot of fun on this afternoon photo shoot for her birthday.

* She likes to re-fashion anything she can get her hands on and if it's not that she usually has some other little crafty project in progress. She's very independent when it comes to projects. A few days ago she brought me a piece of fabric with a button sewn on it and told me she had found the needle and thread and decided to try hand sewing.

* She's starting to enjoy having chapter books read to her. I have a whole library of books that I loved as a little girl and I can't wait to share them with her.

Fun times!

Family Update

2011-11-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

With two birthdays in October and one in November we kind of just go from birthday celebrations to Thanksgiving to Christmas without much of a break. I feel like the holiday season has already started around here. I love all the surprises and traditions that come with this time of year. Here are a few things we've been doing lately ~

Enjoying the first snow of the winter! It was the perfect snow. It happened on a Saturday when we didn't have any pressing plans and came down in big beautiful flakes. Since it really isn't winter yet it melted the next day so Jeff didn't have much clean up at the car lot.

Lots and lots of projects are going on right now! I'm much more of a work at it furiously and cross it off the list kind of person. But I have about 20 half finished projects in the works which kind of makes me feel panicky. Then I take a deep breath and remember that it really is okay to work in things a little bit at at time.

I finally got around to some fall decorating which seems almost silly now that we've had 6 inches of snow. I had seen this simple (ahem) mantel display online and wanted to try it in our living room. Well of course it does look simple but I never factor in things like getting spray paint and burlap, finding wire for the wreath, etc. The other problem with this lovely display was that I started smelling this weird smell about a day after I put the pumpkins up. I found out one of them was rotten and had kind of exploded all over the mantel. I'll definitely be looking for artificial pumpkins at garage sales next summer.

Jeff and I had a teachable moment with the girls last week. For some reason we received in the mail one of those doll catalogues that make a little girl wish for things she didn't even know existed. Why I thought it was a good idea for us all to sit down and look through it I don't know. The girls immediately started wanting everything in the catalogue in a rather demanding way. I looked frantically at Jeff for some help because my brain seemed to be slow in processing the moment. It was one of those times where it seemed easiest to just get rid of the catalogue but then that wouldn't really deal with the root of the problem. Thankfully Jeff thinks quicker than me and explained to the girls that it is fun to look at catalogues and get ideas. But then we wait and think how we could either make the items or buy them cheaper at a garage sale so that we make sure we're being good stewards of the money God has given us. Celene is ever resourceful, just like her dad, and so she went downstairs and started building herself a changing table. She got a little stuck when it came to the screws because she couldn't get them to go in to the wood. But she sure gave it a good try.

Ah, yes. The basement is currently a construction zone.

When we were younger and lived north of Chicago we were, on more than one occasion, asked if we were Amish. We wore long skirts, made bread and were home schooled so I guess we were the weirdest things most people had seen. Amish people also came from some distant planet so we had to be Amish.

Well, we're currently making a "Dawdy House" for my parent's. That's what Amish people call the little house that the older parents live in. After my folks moved in for what we thought was a temporary stay we started thinking about asking them to live here permanently. It just seemed to working out very well. We got some extra hands (!) and it was beneficial for them financially (some times I think we got the better end of the bargain!) We're fixing up the basement for additional living space. Hopefully they'll be settled into their little apartment by spring.

So maybe we didn't fall too far from the Amish tree after all. Yah, sure, you betcha.

Fun Project

2011-10-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I made these little slippers/shoes for Ginetta. I don't remember the exact site where I found the pattern but if you google mary jane shoe pattern a few come up. I know you can find one variation at the site ucreate and then under search look for baby shoes. I think tutorials are very impressive. When I have a few minutes to do a project there is no way I have the patience to stop and take a picture of each step. But there are tutorials for these shoes out there, but I would suggest making a mock pair first. I made these from a little shirt I got at a yard sale and I barely had enough fabric to make a second pair after the first failed. Oh, I just remembered I did see a similar pattern in the McCalls pattern book recently.

For some serious shoe inspiration check out Joyfolie. She has a blog and a store with some of the most adorable shoes I've ever seen. The price tag on them guarantees that I will only ever admire them from afar ;)

2011-10-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post but for some reason just couldn't seem to find the time. The reason hit me yesterday. Ginetta has gone from a 6 month old who took three naps and was content to sit and watch me to a 9 month old who curiously poked her nose into things to a one year old who is in full fledged search and destroy mode. Last night the girls and I were going through the house putting things away and Ginetta was systematically following us room to room and making as many messes as her little hands could get into.

Another factor is school starting for the big girls. I use Ginetta's morning nap for school time which only leaves the afternoon for trying to get a lot done.

Soo...I'm adjusting to this new season, knowing that someday I will get projects done again ;) For now I'll enjoy all the sweet things that go along with a just turned one year old!

My Baby, My Baby

2011-10-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

I'm still trying to accept the fact that she really is one (sniff, sniff). Although I did find out the other day that I need to watch what I say. Shelby was talking to her baby doll and I heard her say "you are almost one and mommy is so sad". I had to clarify that I'm not sorry they have birthdays, it really is the way God planned it to be :)

Ginetta has been such a sweet baby! There were several months where she would go days without ever crying. She was smiley and happy to be a part of whatever we were doing. Even now that she's been teething she has been sweet, although I do miss some of the smiles. It's been a good first year!

She doesn't seem too close to walking yet. At this point she can get into plenty of trouble just by crawling.

I wanted to take a few "unofficial" one year pictures yesterday but it was really cold so I bundled her. She wanted nothing to do with the hat.

20 Prayers

2011-09-30T19:35:00.001-07:00

Celene has told me repeatedly that she is praying 20 times every night for God to send her a brother. Shelby chimes in that she is praying for a sister. Celene is not daunted. She assures Shelby that God can answer both prayers at once in the form of twins. Mommy thinks it would be very kind if only one prayer were answered at a time :)

Before either prayer is answered however, I'm planning to spend the next 6 months becoming healthier. I've had health problems related to yeast overgrowth ever since I was little. The general conclusion is that it stems from antibiotic overuse as an infant. It's just one of those things where my mom thought she was doing the best thing for me and so it is what it is. As soon as I got one area of my health under control the yeast problem would show up in another. When I was a teenager I got infections in my mouth which made braces especially painful. Most recently it has made nursing an extremely unpleasant experience. It was so bad that I decided before we have any more babies I have to try harder to get it under control.

I saw a natural doctor last week who gave me some strict dietary guidelines to follow as well as some supplements for immune support. She had a lot of information and I'm glad I decided to stop self diagnosing (it wasn't working!).

So for the next 6 months there will be no dairy, no sweeteners of any kind, no wheat and no pork products in my diet. Fortunately, I've done a fair amount of cooking with coconut milk, oat flour, etc. But it still will mean quite a few changes. Any meal suggestions would be appreciated!

The doctor I saw told me that if I have a cheating day every now and then it wasn't the end of the world. You know, like if the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving is just irresistible. Pumpkin pie??? Who cares about that, I'm all about the macaroni and cheese. I really don't foresee "cheating" more than once or twice because I know that it's hard to go back to being good if you stray too far.

My siblings used to tease me because I had a prune and squash pie for my first birthday. Along comes Ginetta and she'll be feasting on an unsweetened bean flour cake for her first birthday. Evan will have fun with that one;)

So it's off to Red Lobster tonight for my fill of cheesy biscuits and shrimp Alfredo before it's all taboo.

2011-09-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

I made a discovery this week. A $6.99 haircut leaves you feeling very Biblical. I think I know what it feels like to be a sheep before it's shearers.
For about 3 months I haven't been able to wear my hair down because it need cut and it just seemed to be growing horizontally with all the humidity. I had a coupon for a $6.99 haircut and figured I didn't have anything to lose. If they messed it up I wouldn't be able to wear it down, which is the point I was at anyway. Besides, I had a horrible haircut one time and spent plenty of money on it, so I figured it couldn't be worse.
Instead of washing my hair, carefully dividing it into sections and then cutting it, the girl literally barely combed it and then proceeded to hack, yes hack, huge sections off. I am prone to exaggeration, but in this instance I am not exaggerating. I couldn't even watch her do it in the mirror, it was too terrifying.
Oh well, it will grow again. If there was such a thing as a porcupine bush I think that would be an accurate description of my hair.

Funny Girl

2011-09-15T19:13:00.001-07:00

Ginetta is at that funny baby stage where they start to do tricks if they deem their audience worthy of a performance.

Here is her response to the question "where are your teeth"? We had to stop asking her because we were afraid she would dislocate her jaw :)

End of Vacation

2011-09-13T19:01:00.001-07:00

So...the last day of vacation rolled around and with a little sigh we started packing. I was busy getting our suitcases packed when my dad came in and said their van wouldn't start. It barely registered on my radar because Jeff can fix anything, especially if it's car related. I just figured he would go out and tinker a little and all would be well. But he couldn't get it to start so they went out looking for a few basic tools and couldn't even find so much as a screwdriver on the whole island (note to self: pack tools next time).

In the end they had to take it to a dealer in Atlantic City for what we hoped would be a quick fix. So we all decided to stay one more night at the beach.

Meanwhile, Jeff talked to his parent's and found out that we couldn't get home! All the surrounding area was so flooded that it wasn't possible to get to our road.

There is something really weird about sitting in a motel room several hours away and seeing the area where you live discussed on national news.

We were able to get home the next day and thankfully our basement was dry! We know this is a real blessing, especially considering how many homes have piles of carpet at the curb.

This is what our beautiful stone bridge looked like when we got home. We saw a youtube video of this bridge and at one point on Wednesday it was totally covered and the water was up to the speed limit sign you see in the foreground.

Unfortunately for my parent's the vehicle repar was very long and costly.

New Project

2011-09-10T18:10:00.001-07:00

I was going to write next about our end of vacation drama but I just tried a new project so I'll postpone the beach saga for now.

I had wanted some scripture verses posted in the girl's room. So last year I made life size pictures of them and wrote verses that pertained to eyes, hands, heart etc on it. Since my talent for drawing is second only to my musical abilities it's little wonder that they turned out seriously scary looking. My husband told me they were cute which is sure proof that love is blind. Cute? I was just hoping the girls wouldn't have nightmares if they looked above their bed.

After choosing a theme verse for each of them for the next year I decided a different display was in order. I collected a few different ideas and combined them to make what I wanted. So far I only have Shelby's done...

I made the silhouette in my photoshop elements program. There was an excellent tutorial on this site http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2010/03/creating-digital-silhouettes-with.html

2011-09-06T18:17:00.001-07:00

Another family trip to Ocean City and more happy memories. We had our annual picture night and here are some of the better ones~

We thought it would be fun for the girls of the family to do a Sound of Music style pose. After singing the song while posing our husbands were beginning to think we were the ones that were "coo-coo"

And of course out of all those pictures we had more than our fair share of bloopers.

Aliza: Could we please establish once and for all the direction of the camera is this way. It's not in the sand, behind our heads or up in the sky. Please look THIS way!

Jeff: Huh? Where did you say it is?

Natalie:Oh my word! I can't believe I forgot my Shout pen.

Chad: Natalie, let's just stay calm and not mention the Shout pen again.

Mom: Relax?? This is relaxed.

Shelby:Is it just my imagination or is someone holding my neck so that I can't look down at the sand anymore?

Celene: Mom, after 250 pictures I can't get my mouth to turn up anymore. It keeps falling down.

Ginetta:Shelby, would you kindly keep your head over on your side?

Dad: I think my mouth may be permanently stuck in this position.

Perspective

2011-08-30T03:47:00.001-07:00

I've been thoroughly enjoying my new photography book and found some new blogs that introduced me to photography terms I've never heard of. It's reminded me that I only know a fraction of all there is to know, it's definitely gotten the creative juices flowing :)

But, I think Providentially, at the same time I've been reading a book about Gospel for Asia's work with destitute children. What a stark contrast to all the beautiful photos I've been seeing on blogs. How wonderful if life was full of smiling children with clean clothes and bright eyes. The terrible reality of our world is that girls little older than Celene are forced to be sex slaves, that children like Shelby learn to survive on the streets and that babies like Ginetta eat garbage and crawl through sewage. Although I have no problem with pursuing a hobby, I do have a problem with temporal things becoming more important to me than eternal things. It was a good reminder from the Lord to keep my focus on the right things. I know I tend to be consumed with whatever creative project is currently capturing my interest. Lord, help me to remember to invest in things that have eternal value!

2011-08-25T18:22:00.001-07:00

Tuesday rolled around and no one was sick, teething, etc. so off the girlies went to play with Auntie. I really was able to do a little bit of everything on the list which was so fun.

I definitely learned some things during my camera "play time" and couldn't wait to try some of them once my subjects came home. I feel a lot more comfortable with some of the manual settings on my camera and I can't believe what a difference it makes in the shadows and lighting of the picture. I have a 50mm lens which I love for taking pictures of newborns or other still subjects. I have to manually focus with that lens and I found out that I'm absolutely terrible at it when I'm trying to focus on a perpetually moving target. Hopefully, I'll get better with practice.

So here are some of my experiments, unfortunately all the good shots were blurry. I had fun anyway :)

Jeff let me practice on him when he came for lunch, he was so refreshingly cooperative.

This is in our closet where Ginetta sleeps. I love her big smile peeking up over the top of the pac-n-play when I go in to get her up.

Dilemma

2011-08-18T17:33:00.001-07:00

Natalie has invited the girls, even Ginetta, over for a play day next week. I plan to spend some of the uninterrupted time seeking the Lord's wisdom for each of the girls as I start to plan the fall schedule. I want to know how HE desires them to change, learn and grow over the next year.

But I'm also turning over in my mind how to use the rest of the time while they're away. Hmmm...

They Make Us Laugh!

2011-08-16T18:01:00.001-07:00

Shelby: "Mom I can't eat this meatloaf it has slobs in it." She never could come up with the definition of a slob.

Celene: "I'm pretending that this drink of water is multi-grain water." Mmmm...just what I've always wanted to try

Celene: "Mom, when Shelby puts her thumb in her mouth at night she sounds like a pig. It's hard to sleep with a pig."

Ginetta's only response to a question is to shake her head no. Jeff takes advantage of this by asking things like ~ Is there any baby cuter than Ginetta? Have you ever seen a mom more beautiful than yours?

The other night I was busy making supper when I looked out into the dining room and saw that the girls had tied a rope to Ginetta's belt loop and were dragging her around the room. If she would cry at such behavior I might notice sooner, but instead she can't stop laughing.

New Books!!

2011-08-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

I've been finding two new books very helpful, although they are on totally different topics.

Jeff's mom let me borrow the first one and I quickly decided that it's a book a mother shouldn't be without so I bought my own copy. I mean no offense to anyone in the medical field but the title is "Be Your Own Doctor" by Rachel Weaver. It's full of very practical help for common childhood ailments. I appreciate her style because she doesn't come across as arrogant but rather as someone who has found things that worked for her and her family and friends and she's passing it along. I wasn't anxious to actually put any of her salves, tinctures or teas to the test but I have been curious to know if they work. Ginetta started having a runny nose last week but I was still in my "you'll be over it in a few days" mode and I kind of forgot about my handy new book. But after two days she had a cough that was getting worse. I know from past experience that she is prone to a cough that lasts for a long time and keeps her up in the night. So I decided it was time for the garlic salve! I was amazed at how well it worked. Her cough cleared up overnight, not only was she not up at all in the night but she slept better than usual. I figure if it can keep her from getting a bad cough it was well worth the cost of the book. Of course she does smell like one gigantic garlic clove....

The second book is one I'm just savoring (can you do that with a book?) It's called Your Baby in Pictures by Me Ra Koh. It's a step by step guide for taking pictures. It's laid out in 40 "recipes" where she gives you directions on what settings to put your camera on, how to set up the photo,etc. Just what this novice needs! I can't wait to get started.

9 Month Picture and Decluttering

2011-08-03T16:35:00.001-07:00

Since Ginetta is now 10 months old I thought it was about time to get around to her 9 month picture :) I'm hoping to get another round of pictures when it's not raining but this may have to do for this month.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been going through our rooms and decluttering (spell check says that isn't a word). I've come to the conclusion that my fabric and refashioning stash is one area that I'm content to not declutter.

You just never know when you might need a tiny piece of pink fabric for the top of a cupcake...

Or you have a whim to turn a greasy, old shirt into a dress for the 9 month picture.

So, I allow myself to keep all the little scraps. I do however, admit that my organization of said scraps is non existent.

Maybe that had better be on top of the to-do list next week...

2011-07-25T18:40:00.001-07:00

I looked outside the other day and this is how Celene was dressed to play in the sprinkler. I'm cautious about kids and water but I didn't think I was that paranoid :)

2011-07-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

Friday, 5:15p.m.

2011-07-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

Thursday, 6:45 p.m.

2011-07-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, 6:58 p.m.

No one's home from work yet.....

2011-07-20T17:06:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.

2011-07-19T16:58:00.001-07:00

Monday, 3:58 p.m.

A Week With Grammy and Poppa

2011-07-18T14:08:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 7:05 p.m.

Picture Post

2011-07-13T14:18:00.001-07:00

It's high time to get some of these pictures off the camera and into files. Here are the highlights of the past few weeks~

The big cousins (and their parents :) were in town recently and we went with them to a museum that's just opened recently.

You just have to have a sample at an ice cream museum!

Grandpa lends a hand with the milking.

While everyone was all assembled we took a family photo with Jeff's family. I think it was the easiest picture we've done since kids have been around. All the older kids were very cooperative and the babies were kind enough to look at the camera at the same time.

We also thought it was a good time to do Ginetta's baby dedication.

The girls had stared learning Ps. 139 back in September when we started school and they shared it at the dedication. It was fun for my mom to be there because my siblings and I had memorized that same Psalm about 15 years ago!

Fourth of July was spent with Jeff's extended family at his brother's house. Rod has lots of fun things for the big and little kids. Celene liked crawling around with the rabbits but Ginetta preferred the mini bike :)

We went to the shore with Jeff's sister and family and I really wanted to get a group shot. But Ginetta was fussy that day so my hands were occupied most of the time. Celene wanted her picture with the candy man but I think Shelby inherited her auntie's "love" of costumed figures.

We've had several opportunities to do water related activities this summer and the girls have really enjoyed swimming. Shelby's quite fascinated with her new goggles.

Sewing Projects and Budding Photographers

2011-07-01T19:23:00.001-07:00

I decided to put my sewing projects in one post so that those of you who really don't care about what I've been working on can just skip this one :)

Another variation of a T-shirt hat. I can still get away with putting some hats and hair things on her. But I know my window of opportunity is getting smaller. She is just starting to realize she can yank them off!

It's already getting hard to find skirts long enough for Celene. A few months ago I realized I could get short adult skirts and just take them in on one side.

One of the best deals of the garage sale season for me was several yards of swimsuit fabric in a variety of colors. I like rash guard shirts for the girls and me and used the fabric I had found to make a few. Then I found regular swimsuits at garage sales and used the fabric to make the bottom half of the swimsuits. It's been kind of fun.

I found at that it's really easy to make curly ribbon hair clips. Wind your ribbon (any kind except wire edged) around a 1/8 or 1/4" dowel rod. Bake it for 15 minutes at 275*. Take it off and attach to clip, pony tail holder, etc.

The girls are trying their hand at photography and I think we'll look back on this year as the one where I started to appear in pictures :)

Off center is considered artistic, right?

I guess Celene has this whole picture thing down. One day I came in and she had Ginetta all ready for a photo shoot complete with a prop and hair ....thing.

I don't think it's her best look. It seems to me she should have some name like Henrietta Rosamund Augustine (at least our cabbage patch dolls always had unusual names)

They're Here!

2011-06-22T18:26:00.001-07:00

My parents arrived on Sunday to stay with us until they find a house. They have wanted to move closer for awhile but after trying a few times to sell the house they had given up on the idea. But a persuasive realtor called and they decided to give it one last try :) I guess it was just a matter of God's timing because the house quickly sold. We are quite happy to host them until they find the right new house. I have a feeling I'm going to be a bit SPOILED by the time they leave. I've felt like I was on vacation this week! Today when two of my children needed extra attention I didn't have to choose between focusing on them or cleaning the floors. My mom just took care of the floors. It's also been fun to have one on one time with the girls when I run errands and such. I just hope my folks leave feeling like they've been treated like my parents and not my household help :)

Little Miss is Three!

2011-06-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Shelby had been very much looking forward to her birthday and I don't think she was disappointed. The celebration was spread out over a few days and she loved every minute of it.

Talking is still definitely her strong point. She never really went through the stage where we couldn't understand what she was saying. Although as my mom said if ever we couldn't understand her she had plenty of other things that she was happy to talk about instead :)

Shelby is often willing to join the adventures that Celene plans for them but she is unwilling to be bossed too much. As she begins this year I'm glad to see them having a more harmonious relationship (whew!). We still have a ways to go but they certainly have grand times together. Presently the favorite game is to pretend that Shelby is her baby cousin Clay. She comes to me throughout the day in all manner of dress up clothes and announces that "baby Clay is going to the beach, on a picnic, for a nap, etc."

Something about Shelby that I'm just beginning to see is her love for beauty. She really has an eye for enjoying pretty things. This past spring we walked by a beautiful dogwood tree in full bloom and she stopped and stared at it for a long time. She told me she was just stopping to look at the pretty tree. I'm interested to see how God will use this side of her as she grows.

We snapped a few pictures in between rain showers the other day. She is at a very difficult age for taking pictures. I either end up with a goofy face or a very somber one.

Home Again, Home Again

2011-06-09T17:40:00.001-07:00

We headed out last week for a trip to Illinois. Here's an overview...

Mom and Dad went with us which meant 7 people, all our luggage, a pac-n-play, stroller and all the car seats stuffed into a mini van. They guys were amazing, I don't know how they got everything in there!

We left at night so that the girls could sleep most of the way. It was absolutely fascinating to watch my mom travel. She put a blanket over her head about half an hour into the drive and when we were almost to IL she woke up. On the other hand every time I started to doze off I would jerk awake afraid that Jeff was falling asleep or I would end up in a position that made my neck feel like it was going to break off. But that was of little consequence because the girls slept well and it was a very smooth drive out there.

The first part of the trip we were attending the homeschool convention. Everyone had very long naps the morning we arrived and then mom and dad kept the girls at the hotel for the afternoon so Jeff and I could go to the convention. We each went to a different workshop and each came away feeling like we had gotten our moneys worth after just the first session! The whole convention was full of encouragement for us plus it's so fun to catch up with people that we only see once a year! For me the theme that the Lord was definitely bringing in each workshop was to be intentional in my mothering. It's made me think about everyday aspects of life, meal times, grocery shopping, etc. and just evaluate the ways that I can use them to interact with the girls and teach them the things they need to know in a joyful, rather than nagging, way. I also got a Charlotte Mason book for teaching preschoolers which I'm eager to read.

From the convention we headed up to northern IL to stay with friends. There is just something so relaxing about being with friends who have known you 20+ years! It was so fun to watch the little girls together and so fun to be with someone who is in the exact same season of life. I'm amazed at how God works. Even though we haven't lived near each other for 10 years and 13 hours of driving separate us God still uses Gretchen to challenge and encourage me. We stayed with her folks and they were so welcoming that it wasn't hard to relax even though we had three small children in someone else's home. Haley quietly and cheerfully took care of dishes and meals which left plenty of time for the mommas to visit.

Ginetta and Stephen are almost exactly two months apart.

Of course you always hear that children reflect their parents but I'm not sure I've ever seen it so clearly with a child as young as Alaina. She has very gracious parents and you can definitely see in her the fruit of their training. Multiple times throughout our visit she would come running up and say in her two year old way "we're so glad you're here" or "we're so excited to see you!". So sweet.

Miss Haley let them play in the hair accessories box and they definitely came up with some unique creations.

We thought we should do a before and after picture...

2010

2011

The ride home was also uneventful (an answer to prayer!) and I definitely think we'll stick to night time driving in the future.

Now I'll go work on that mountain of laundry....

2011-05-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

Celene was a serious baby, I remember people commenting on the fact. She would just stare at you with her big blue eyes as though she could not understand why you were talking to her in a high pitched, bubbly voice.

On the other hand Shelby and Ginetta have been very smiley.

Now I think I finally understand why this is so. I did very sedate things with Celene like looking at board books, showing her a rattle, taking her for little walks in the stroller.

I never piled things on and around her and pretended that she was my pet worm in a cage.

I never even had the urge to hang my cooking utensils off her ears.

So now I know it was just because she didn't have sisters to do crazy things with :)

What I'm Learning About Mothering

2011-05-19T13:37:00.001-07:00

You know how sometimes it's clear that the Lord is trying to get your attention about something because all of a sudden the same topic will pop up repeatedly? It's been one of those times for me! I am seeing in a new way my own selfishness in regards to mothering.

It started with a verse I read during my devotions one morning - Romans 8:6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

I knew at the time that the Lord wanted to speak to me through that verse but I wasn't quite sure in what way. Until last week when I had a long list of projects. One of them was working on the landscaping which you may remember is not one of my most favorite jobs. So I must admit I went out to work on it one evening with something that was perhaps (just perhaps) a little bit less than a cheerful attitude. To top it off my children were full of, not naughtiness, but definitely childish behavior.

Mom is it time to plant the flower seeds yet?

No I have to weed first.

Shelby comes around the house wailing because she's locked out of the garage. Stop weeding and go help her.

Is it time to plant the seeds?

The girls find plastic cups and proceed to dig in the dirt with them which begins innocently enough but ends with them giving each other dirt showers. I don't notice this until Celene is standing with a full cup of dirt over Ginetta's head and asks me if I mind if Ginetta gets dirt in her hair.

YES! I mind.

By the way, is it time to plant the seeds yet?

I look over and Ginetta is doing a face plant onto the tray of her walker so she can lick off the chunks of dirt that have somehow appeared there.

Is it time to plant the seeds? Yes, finally.

Ginetta has reached a small tree with her walker and is now eating the leaves.

When I return with a watering can so I can water the newly planted flower seeds I see that that Shelby is digging up the ground where we just planted them.

At the end of that day I felt worn out and frustrated and that's when Romans 8:6 came flooding back to my mind. All day I had chosen selfishness. The girls were not on board with MY program, why couldn't I have things MY way for just a few minutes. I found the fruit of my attitude to be unpleasant in the end. I forgot that it's only in choosing the fruit of the Spirit that I find peace and life.

Then in the devotional Whiter than Snow the writer had just a short sentence about how he gets mad at his children not because they've broken God's laws but because they've broken his own personal laws (things like comfort, convenience, etc). Yes, I'm guilty on that count as well!

I had a conversation with a few ladies from church where we were talking about how we know that God continually forgives us even when we commit the same sin repeatedly. Yet we won't extend that same grace to our children. Not that we should allow them to continue in disobedience but we don't view them with compassion, desiring to help them learn and grow. I've been thinking about that this past week and realizing that all too often my response really is "haven't we gone over this same thing a HUNDRED times and you still don't get it".

No other experience in life has shown my selfishness quite so shockingly. When I'm relating to my husband, family or friends I'm working with people who care about me and have my best interest in mind. As a mother I interact all day with little people who care nothing about my agenda or my feelings. These same little people would actually like to be the dictators of the house if I would let them. My, my, what I see in my response is not always pretty. Once again I find that parenting brings a humbling that I could not have foreseen, revealing my own great need for a Savior.

2011-05-12T04:36:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago Jeff and I were talking about what we wanted to do for our moms for mother's day. I suggested that I cook lunch and have them over. Jeff told me that I wasn't allowed to cook on mother's day. Celene piped up from the back seat of the car "I'll make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on mother's day so you don't have to cook". She was quite excited about her contribution and asked me a couple of times if I went to bed at night and thought about how much I was looking forward to the sandwiches she was going to make. I'm sure I will have more mother's day gifts in the future but a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with so much love will always rank high on the list of very special presents.

With a little help from Grammy...

The Week in Review

2011-05-04T15:31:00.001-07:00

It hasn't really been busy around here, just one of those times where there are so many little things that need done and I just don't have time to blog.

I've been thankful anew for God's kindness. He has gently reminding me lately in seemingly small areas of life that He is the God who hears. It's something my mind knows without a doubt but somehow I tend towards unbelief when it comes to my heart.

Jeff found a robin's nest that unfortunately had to be moved because of its location. The girls thoroughly enjoyed looking at the nest and admiring the eggs. What a beautiful color they were! It makes me want to paint something robin's egg blue.

Little squirt, squirt is growing so fast. She is at that age where they change so quickly, I feel like everyday she does something new. She's starting to give little hugs every now and then. I'll put her up to my shoulder and she'll lay her head down and put her pudgy little arms around my neck.

Ginetta has a full time entertainment committee all to herself. The game of this particular day was to build "houses" around her.

Jeff's birthday was earlier this month and I kept asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday. Finally he told me he wanted to take me shopping for some new clothes and go to Gettysburg. Both those things sounded like what we should do for my birthday, but he insisted.

This past Saturday we spent 12 hours in Gettysburg and still feel like there is so much more to see. A couple from church were our tour guides and it was super helpful to tag along with them. They had given us a book to read before we went and had also given us the nutshell version of the three day battle. It also helped that they knew all the stories, how to get around Gettysburg, etc.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and I enjoyed the chance to dress up and to dress Ginetta up too. Thanks to Natalie and Chad for keeping the big girls for the weekend!

In front of Devil's Den. It was really a fascinating part of the landscape.

On a sadder note...Evan left on Sunday to work with a harvesting crew out west for 7 months. While I'm happy for the experience this will give him, 7 months seems like a really long time! Just who is supposed to perform the bachelor uncle duties like piggy back rides on the boardwalk, wrestling on Sunday afternoons when everyone else is too tired, etc.?

Accessories

2011-04-25T20:18:00.001-07:00

I think I found my sewing niche! A few months ago I had visions of making all of Celene's summer clothes out of fabric that I have and an assortment of refashioned clothes. But lo, summer is fast approaching and if she is going to have more than one outfit I had better move on to plan "B". Since I can get clothes for the girls for a dollar at garage sales it just doesn't pay for me to make them an entire outfit. So, my new favorite sewing projects are accessories for the clothes I find on clearance or a garage sale. It's just enough creativity to satisfy my crafty side (sounds sinister) but it only takes a short amount of time. My only guideline is that the project has to cost .25 cents or less :)

As you can see these are all accessories for winter clothes...so far no success with summer clothes at garage sales.

Scarf-made from a garage sale sweater

Headband- made from scraps of fabric and a .20 cent headband

Hat- refashioned from an old T-shirt

Little birdie embroidered just for fun

If you have any interest in making a T-shirt hat there's a good tutorial at i am momma hear me roar

Although I'll stick to short projects for the most part, I'll still pull out the patterns every now and then because some fabric is just too cute to pass up. I found three yards of this at a garage sale and couldn't leave it there (especially for the price ;) Now I just have to figure out exactly what I want to make with it.

2011-04-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

To celebrate Evan's 21st birthday we went to a bull riding competition last Saturday night. In this family, a girl's got to have the right attire for the occasion.

One of my favorite new tricks is to cut off the bottom half of a stained onesie and attach it to a blouse. It keeps the blouse tucked in so nicely.

We tried multiple times to get a few decent pictures of the rest of us that night. This was the best we could come up with. Such a photogenic family. I have hope that the next generation can break the cycle. You can only imagine what the pictures I deleted looked like ;)

2011-04-08T08:37:00.001-07:00

Martha Stewart's website has some really fun ideas for decorating Easter eggs. I had seen a few of them in a magazine and then went online and saw that she had a lot more ideas on the website. Our results weren't exactly the same (perhaps because instead of professionals I have a 2 and 4 year old for assistants ;) but we sure had a lot of fun.

To make an Easter tree~

1. Bring in branches from your yard and then hot glue flowers you have snitched from your cousin's wedding, or otherwise acquired, onto them.

2. Blow the yolks out of 20 eggs, this creates disturbing photos that are not blog worthy. A picture of your 4 year old blowing the warm water out is not nearly so disturbing and is deemed acceptable.

3. Dye the eggs with multiple dips into the dye just because the process of getting your hands dirty and watching the eggs turn colors is so delightful.

If you are under 1 year old you must resign yourself to watching longingly.

4. Next apply the darling animal cutouts that looked so easy in the magazine but which your mother had great difficulty cutting out.

5. Thread ribbon through eggs and hang from branches.

6. Now you have an Easter tree!

Sometimes it's fun to listen in on the girl's conversations, other times,..well that's another story ;)

Yesterday Shelby asked Celene why Jesus rose from the dead. Celene told her "He couldn't stay dead or else we would be stuck in our sin!". Ah yes, the hope of the gospel. We aren't stuck in our sin anymore!

6 Months

2011-04-06T15:13:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe half a year has flown by since Ginetta was born! What fun to get to know her. She's an energetic, chipper little person.

She's quite thrilled with her new mobility that enables her to chase her sisters around.

Random 6 month pictures~

Wedding

2011-03-31T17:55:00.001-07:00

We've been anticipating my cousin Katie's wedding for so long, it's hard to believe it's over!

As far as I know everything went off very well. No one tripped down the aisle, the minister didn't ask Chris to take Katie as his "waffly" wedded wife (sorry, it's from a youtube video Evan showed me :), etc.

Some highlights for me ~

*Katie was a relaxed and non-demanding bride so it was fun to be in her wedding!

*The wedding was held in the same old church where Katie's parents were married. Hmmm, same old church doesn't quite sound right. Maybe I should say historic (but I'm not sure it really is). Anyway, it's old and her parent's were married in it.

*The flowers were exceptionally pretty. You looked at them and felt springish.

*Although I haven't seen any of the pictures I think they're going to be really good. The photographer had some fun poses. Hopefully the outdoor pictures will just look like we're enjoying a balmy spring day and the chattering teeth and goose bumps will be invisible. It was only 38, rather breezy, degrees and we were in sleeveless dresses. But indoor pictures just wouldn't have been the same, I think the outdoor photos will end up being the best. Katie you are free from all guilt. As your loyal bridesmaid I was quite willing to shiver for the sake of getting good pictures :)

* Celene and Shelby actually danced down the aisle like we had practiced. I was a bit apprehensive (OK more than a bit) after Celene didn't go to sleep until midnight the night before the wedding. I was afraid that melt down might occur before she got down the aisle.

Some photos snapped before the photographer arrived~

Some kind bridesmaids.

Jeff was away for the weekend at the church men's retreat and just came back for the ceremony. I had a moment of panic earlier in the week thinking of the rehearsal, getting ready for the wedding and such with the three girls and no husband. But I didn't give much more than a passing thought. However, just for the record, I really need you Luv! A big thanks to my family for pitching in as much as they could in the midst of other obligations.

Little Bit of Scotland

2011-03-25T04:18:00.001-07:00

Eleven years ago I had gotten my mom a sweater when I was in Scotland. She's been wearing it all this time, to the point that the sleeves had holes in them. But she couldn't bear to part with it so she gave it to me to refashion into something.

Please ignore the red shirt, I didn't end up using it.

I had some fun making this little dress and hat for Ginetta. Especially, since it gave me a reason to use the nifty ruffle foot Jeff had given me.

After I put it on Ginetta I expected her to start yodeling or something. She looks like my idea of an infant Heidi.

The fun thing about having a four year old is that I have company when I'm working on a project. Celene is really getting into her own version of projects.

2011-03-17T18:02:00.001-07:00

A few of my favorite things from this week~

I've been reading another of Eric Metaxas biographies and now I really wish he would write more! This one was about William Wilberforce and it was very informative as well as an interesting read. I knew of Wilberforce in regards to the abolition of slavery but I didn't realize how much he influenced his era in a whole host of other areas.

A few years ago I would never have guessed that I would enjoy a scrapbooking magazine so much. But Creating Keepsakes is definitely a new favorite. I've never been much of a scrapbook person, mostly because I never liked the pages I made. Now the process is fun with the combination of photoshop and the inspiration of other people's pages. Here are a few pages from the book I'm working on for Ginetta.

Aunt Deborah gave me a subscription to Cook's a number of years ago and it has been one of my all time favorite gifts. It opened up a whole new world of cooking for me. I just got the latest magazine last week and tried one of the side dishes which was really tasty and easy.

Buttered Carrots~

3 T. unsalted butter

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices

salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook, covered, until steam escapes from under lid, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook covered, stirring occasionally until carrots are just tender, 15-20 minutes.

2. Remove lid, add 1/4 tsp pepper and cook stirring occasionally until liquid is evaporated and butter begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Whiter Than Snow Meditations on Sin and Mercy~ I was looking for a devotional book and Natalie lent me this one that she has found helpful. It's perfect for moms (although it's definitely not written for mothers specifically) because it's short but very thought provoking.

Here's a quote that the Lord has been using as He reveals some sin that I had been happily ignoring for a while "Now, total depravity doesn't mean that as sinners we are as bad as we could possibly be. No, what it actually means is that sin reaches to every aspect of our personhood"

Exercise~ I was inspired by a fellow blogger to try the couch to 5K program. I'm only at week two but so far I like it a lot! Getting up early to jog has been much nicer than trying to force myself to walk on the tread mill while staring at a cement wall. This way I get some fresh air and get to jog by our rippling creek. I think I like this program because there is an end goal, which is motivating. There is a 5K run near here at the beginning of May and I would really like to be ready by then. That's seems hardly likely since at this point I can barely make the 90 seconds of running that is included in this weeks workout. But you never know, I might make it.

Lastly, my favorite picture of the week ~

2011-03-08T19:07:00.001-08:00

Sometimes parenting brings delight that I couldn't have even begun to understand before the girls were born. One thing that I've really been enjoying is watching them play the things that we are reading or learning about. A few weeks ago they were pulling up the bridge to their castle so they could protect Ginetta from the advancing enemy.

A favorite story recently has been Blueberries for Sal This morning they got out their buckets and hats to go on a blueberry picking adventure with Celene being the mother and Shelby being little Sal. I heard Shelby say to Celene "don't forget to say, please don't eat all the blueberries Sal. Mother wants to can them for winter"

Speaking of blueberries, we were eating blueberry crepes the other day and I wanted to take a picture of Shelby's face at the end. But she comes by her title as ham of the family quite honestly and she wasn't content with a normal picture.

Suggestions?

2011-03-02T17:40:00.001-08:00

The last time I was at the discount grocery store I noticed that their prices had gone up. But I figured that was inevitable. I hadn't been to the market for two weeks so was I in for a surprise when we went yesterday. I couldn't believe how prices had jumped in just two weeks. I guess this is a trend since I've now seen it in both the places I shop. So I've been trying to figure out ways to keep grocery costs down. For one, I think cereal for breakfast is a thing of the past since we get eggs for free. Does anyone have any tips for economical grocery shopping? Any websites with frugal meal plans?

2011-02-25T15:56:00.001-08:00

This week, thoughts on sick kiddos, making crepes, reading Bonhoeffer and taking pictures on a warm day.

It seems hard to believe that these pictures were taken in 72 degree weather just one week ago. Especially hard to believe because just a few days later we woke up to a thermometer that read 5 degrees. And now everyone we know is sick, although I don't know for sure that drastic temperature changes can be blamed for that.

Here's a trio of somber looking sisters.

Celene has been sick this week which means that not only does she need more from me but Shelby is quite at a loss without a playmate. I like to think that I'm not a complaining person. But boy, does illness in the family ever reveal that I'm a whiner. I guess what it boils down to is that the sin of selfishness makes it's presence known when things don't go like I planned. Arrgh. So, yes I guess it's a time to learn to be cheerful even in the face of no sleep and more demands of my time.

I make the most awful pancakes. A friend/cousin suggested I make crepes instead since they are supposed to be thin and flat. Plus they sound so much more gourmet :) I tried them this week and found that I can make them with 100% whole wheat flour and they turn out well. We all liked them very much so I think my pancake days may be over. I put a little bit of jelly and butter down the center and rolled them up. I also made a blueberry filling one day. Yum!

One of the advantages of having three children is that the older two play together while I'm feeding Ginetta which gives me some reading time. I'm reading Eric Metaxas new Bonhoeffer biography and I'm really enjoying it. I've always been intrigued by his life but perhaps more so now that I'm reading about it through the eyes of a parent. How much I want to raise children who will take a bold stand for truth even when everyone else finds it more convenient to believe a lie (of course I want the same thing for myself). As I read it's easy to think that much of Bonhoeffer's ability to think and do hard things was because he was brilliant or because of his prestigious lineage, advantages that our kids don't have. But then I think of the ten Boom family living in the same era and taking equally bold stands. They were not a genius family but their kids were taught to think. So really it comes back to a genuine relationship with Christ and the boldness to do as He asks that motivates people to risk their lives to defend truth.

So..that's what we've been up to this week.

2011-02-18T08:39:00.001-08:00

The past two weekends were very full, we hosted 3 parties in 8 days. It really was a lot of fun! It's been awhile since we had people over and I think we had kind of forgotten how much we enjoy it. One of the parties was a bridal shower for a dear cousin. It gave me an opportunity to make some projects that I had seen on various blogs over the past few months. More than that it was an opportunity to serve someone who has been very generous to our family.

I'm looking forward to Katie's wedding. Foremost because Chris is a great guy who also happens to be a very good sport which is a requirement for any in-law coming into this family :) Secondly, the decidedly vain part of me is looking forward to it because it will be the first wedding I'm in (besides my own of course) where I'm not enormously pregnant.

As always there was wonderful help for this party. We even imported some from Florida for the event.

One of Katie's friends and also a bridesmaids. She reminds me so much of Katie, it's not hard to see why they're friends.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the photographer made their way onto the camera. Thanks to Danielle, fellow cousin and bridesmaid, for taking the photos.

A few pictures of the decor, I think using wrapping paper as table runners, placemats, napkin rings, etc. is one of my all time favorite decorating tips. It's especially nice that Target carries coordinating wrapping papers.

This is one of those pictures where I'd like to know the story behind it. Everyone looks so concerned about something.

A classic Katie pose.

One of the bridesmaids lives in Japan and wasn't able to make it for the shower but she contributed by coming up with the games. The first game was an icebreaker and the second was a mad-libs of Chris and Katie's relationship. Katie was the best person to read them and we learned a great deal about the couple. Mostly that Chris takes just about anything Katie says as an affirmative answer. Perhaps that should be address in their pre-marital counseling ;)

Party baby.

Downtime ~ After such a full two weeks I told the girls we would have a little vacation day on Monday.

It was a day for a special breakfast

and making Valentines by the coal stove in our PJ's

and tea parties.

It's been one of those really good weeks. Days where I wish for a way to just freeze images and save them for the times when all of my little people are big. Pictures of a round faced baby laughing at her sisters. A little girl with tousled red hair walking around the house in winter boots, a dress up dress and her backpack as she goes about whatever adventure she has dreamed up. A conversation with a 4 year old about how she is looking forward to reading the Bible to herself in the evenings "as soon as she learns more words". I'm so thankful for the chance to mother these little girls (yes, even on the days when things are not so rosy :) and just pray that I am passing on the things that they will need to know and for grace to cover my mistakes.

2011-02-10T08:25:00.001-08:00

We've started a new Tuesday morning tradition at our house. It even has a catchy little name "market mornings with mom" :) I buy the bulk of my groceries once a month at the discount grocery store and then fill in each week with things from the farmer's market. Going to a crowded market with three kids, a stroller and all my bags of produce isn't one of my most favorite tasks. But the prices are so good I just can't stand to go the regular grocery store. So I had one of those ideas that I think was really Holy Spirit inspired because it just kind of came out of nowhere. Each week the girls will take a turn going with me before Jeff leaves for work. The exciting part for them is that they get to take their little cart with them and fill it with produce. Another added benefit is getting to pick a bagel for breakfast. This arrangement is much easier for me plus it gives me some one on one time with each girl. Shelby was first and we headed out bright and early Tuesday morning (sorry about the dark picture)

Speaking of tradition...we initiated Ginetta into the world of little girls. Jeff pierced her ears last night and I think it does look pretty cute.

2011-02-02T13:20:00.001-08:00

It's time for one of those rambling, random posts that I do from time to time :)

Ginetta is coming up on 4 months old! Jeff laughingly reminded me that we have known her longer than we knew each other before we were engaged. No wonder people thought it was quick :) Anyway, back to Ginetta, she is such a sweetie pie! We are loving her baby days. She has a big smile and the cutest dimples. We would pause her for a few extra months of this if we could. She's a wild little thing and really likes the Johnny jump.

The girls were thrilled last week when Jeff came home on his lunch break to build a snow man. He has since "crashed" as Shelby says but it was fun while it lasted.

The girls made me laugh on our way to church last week. For some reason they started planning Celene's wedding and they spent the whole drive covering all the details. They picked the color scheme, how the flowers would look, what color candy they would serve, who would walk with who, etc. During church Shelby leaned over and said "Mom, how much longer until Celene's wedding?" I'm hoping a good 20 years!

I think I've been seriously bitten by the refashioning bug. I had a gift certificate to Old Navy so I stopped in the other day and found out that all the winter stuff was hugely on sale. I saw these long sleeved knit tops and leggings and my brain started spinning. I bought tops in a girl's size 12 and decided to try making them into dresses for Celene to go with the leggings. This is the end result of top number 1.

My husband is so very amazing. He not only allows me to take time to be creative but really encourages it as well. Somehow he understands that 1/2 an hour of creativity here and there is very refreshing, especially in this season. I came home the other night from an evening away and found that he had surprised me with a new sewing machine (a little birdie had told him that mine wasn't working well :) One night last week he came home and told me he would keep an eye on the girls so I could sew for awhile. He makes sure I have what I need to "play" and he makes sure that there is time to do it too. I know I'm a very blessed!

2011-01-18T13:58:00.001-08:00

I borrowed Natalie's wedding photo disc so I could use some of the pictures in Celene's photo book for this past year. While I had the disc I though I would post a few more pictures for those of you who weren't able to be here.

Just keep smiling and try not to think about what this wind is doing to your hair. The disheveled, wind blown look is very fashionable, right?

I really should have included a jumping pose of the guys. Natalie requested it just for Evan because she knew how much he loves jumping shots.

Making sure all hairs are in place.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding! I couldn't see Chad's face very well when Natalie came down the aisle but I think this picture captures his expression so well.

The cousins.

Katie was a huge help to me the weekend of the wedding!

I know Natalie will definitely be thanking me for including this picture:) Jeff and Evan couldn't resist the opportunity to get a little teasing in at the reception. Natalie has always had a phobia about costumed characters and the guys just thought it was too good and opportunity to pass up.

Here they are acting out a part of the story we wrote called "Clifford Goes to a Wedding"

The girls thought it was pretty special that daddy dressed up like Clifford for the wedding.

White Christmas

2011-01-14T07:17:00.001-08:00

Well, it looks like I had better go ahead and post the pictures from the White Christmas party. In years past we put up pictures from the movie along with the our costumes so people would know what the original looked like. However, Natalie was the one who did that for me and since she is in the middle of a move and I don't have Internet at home I just don't think it's going to happen this year. So here are the wonderful costumes and set design, you can be assured that they are all very close to the costumes in the movie.

Once again Aunt Alice and Co. did an excellent job with the decor. This year it was a replica of the stage during rehearsal.

They even made a "piano" out of cardboard and PVC pipe!

And now for the costumes...

The duet from the Abraham number-

Some stage hands and extras, please note that they do come with their own ladder -

The General can't help but think that Betty is making a serious tactical error (yes, that is a real steering wheal)-

A glass of buttermilk and a sandwich. Just ask Bing what you're going to dream about.

Ticket man-

It's difficult to find children's characters so we had to go as song lyrics.

You'll notice "Snow, snow, snow" little old snowflake "Eskimo pie". Ginetta is the chick who does kicks.

2011-01-05T13:53:00.001-08:00

This week I did Celene's 4 year photos (finally!) and Ginetta's 3 month. These were some of my favorites.

Celene is really a lot of fun to do pictures with right now because she enjoys it and is so cooperative. We took a quick trip into our little town to get these pictures.

2011

2011-01-05T13:50:00.001-08:00

It seemed clear as I prayed and Jeff and I talked about the new year that the focus of 2011 should be cherishing and teaching our girls. Not that it hasn't been a priority before, but since Ginetta has been added to the family I have just realized that if I'm going to make those things happen I have to really limit the time I spend away from home. As Jeff reminded me these little years will go so fast and we won't be able to get them back. I want to make sure that I'm taking time to make memories with the girls, enjoy them and train them. These aren't things I can do if I have too many projects or outside commitments.

But I don't plan on being a hermit for the next season and I don't want the girls growing up isolated from the outside world! So as we talked it seems that simplified hospitality will also be a theme for the year. I really enjoy getting out the recipe books and making a big company meal. However, I know we won't have people over nearly as often if I go about cooking in that way. I'm planning to have some basic meals and ingredients on hand so that we can have company over more often, even if it isn't as elaborate as I would like. The goal for now is enjoying the people God has placed in our lives and teaching our girls how to be hospitable.

December Projects

2010-12-28T13:57:00.001-08:00

Blogs are so much fun! Many of the projects I did this year were inspired by one blog or another. Now that all the gifts are opened I can share some of the pictures.

In the gifts given department-

One of the things I had the most fun with was a calendar for my mom. A few years ago as kind of a joke Evan started giving my mom an Elvis calendar for Christmas. I asked him if I could do the calendar this year ad he was kind enough to say yes. So I set out to find song titles and take pictures to go along with them.

Here are a few of my favorites-

We also had fun making Critter Mittens for the boy cousins-

This was a purse for the big girl cousin. It was such a treat to pick out the fabric. I did it on Black Friday when I was by myself and had time to enjoy looking at all the fabric choices.

My dad's gift was a flag for him to put on the campsite when they all go camping at Assateague (sp?). I wanted to make it a little more personalized so I was going to try to embroider a horse behind the tent. I was drawing some horses and Celene came up and said "nice pig mom" Scratch that plan. So I tried making cube which is one of their favorite beach games, but it ended up looking like a cemetery beside the tent. With Celene's help I came up with swimsuits on a clothesline.

I had been wanting to try my hand at making something for a shelf above our bed. It had been on the back burner for quite awhile, but then last week I decided to try to get it done for Jeff before Christmas. It wasn't one of my brightest ideas but, with some painting help from my dad it did get done in time.

In the food department-

We ended up with a gigantic chocolate mess with this project, much to the girls delight. We put frozen hot chocolate squares in these boxes and then decorated them. The squares consisted of cream and chocolate melted together and then cut into squares. You put one of the squares in a mug with a cup of milk and microwave it for a variation of instant hot chocolate.

Thanks to two of my aunts for the inspiration for this oreo cookie cake. Aunt Deborah had given me the cake pans which are fluted along the edge and have the imprint of "cookie" on the top. Aunt Diane had given me the recipe which turned out to be easy and yummy ( according to my sources).

I decided to spice up our candy boxes this year. I designed a decoration in my photoshop program and the girls were more than happy to do the gluing for me.

We also received some really creative gifts-

A snowman kit complete with button eyes, a smile, a carrot (the craft store kind) etc. The girls keep asking when the big snow is coming so they can put it to good use.

The girls have already spent a lot of time using their craft station. It's a spice rack with the jars filled with all sorts of craft items.

And now I'm off to tackle a project that didn't get done while I was busy with other things - laundry. 25 loads down only, 30 more to go....

2010-12-17T08:36:00.001-08:00

The joys of having older sisters-

1. There is almost always someone available to dote on you and tell you you're the most wonderful baby in the world...

2. "Read" to you...

3. And bring you toys!

Of course I don't know personally about these benefits, but Natalie could expound on them (ha, ha ;)

Re-fashion

2010-12-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

I was introduced to the world of re-fashioning by my dear friend over at Nitchfiel News. Sewing for myself is too time consuming and expensive. But looking in my closet and seeing what I can remake is just up my ally. It doesn't take nearly as long as sewing something from scratch and it's cheap!

Here is my first attempt as inspired by the blog Tea Rose Home-

I used a knit shirt that my mom had given me as the base and a maternity top I had picked up at a garage sale for the embellishments.

It definitely gave some new life to a boring gray sweater. I'm itching to see what else is in my closet that I can re-do!

Pictures

2010-12-04T09:35:00.001-08:00

How did she get so big so fast?

My unsuccessful attempts at getting a 2 month photo...

Falling over in the bumbo seat

Mom, I just want to be done with this whole thing.

The female football player

Staring off into the middle distance

I caught one of her many smiles. Unfortunately, I almost cut off her nose in the process.

A nice view of the double chin.

Maybe we'll try again another day.

2010-11-30T15:52:00.001-08:00

It's been busy around here! The problem is that I can't blog about or take pictures of most of the things that have been keeping me busy. On December 26th I'll have a big picture post with all my projects :)

But there are a few things that aren't top secret....

We had a fun Thanksgiving with both sides of the family. Lunch was with Jeff's family and then we headed down to my parent's for a mid afternoon meal. We missed you Katie!! It was great to have my cousin and his wife and four boys come up for the afternoon. It really made it easy on Jeff and me because the boys were kind enough to keep the girls busy. On the way home that night Celene told me "I really liked those boys, they did whatever I told them to do". Oh, dear.

Friday, I was one of those crazy people that actually goes out Christmas shopping. Jeff had the day off and was able to watch the girls which doesn't happen often. I looked at the December calendar and made a list of everything that I could foresee us needing with the hopes that I could get it all in one day. I started out at 6:45 a.m. and I really was surprised at how short the lines were. Around noon I met up with Aunt Deb, Mom and Natalie and we headed to the mall. That gave me some company plus extra hands for Ginetta. Happily, I crossed almost everything off my list and had fun in the process. And I just have to brag a little about my husband. I came home at 9:30 that night to a clean house with all the dishes washed and put away, the floors vacuumed, etc. Plus he had made cookies with the girls, painted their fingernails and played memory with them.

Our little pilgrims

November 2006 November 2010

Jeff and I both love traditions, especially Christmas traditions. One of ours is putting the Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then eating cinnamon rolls for supper. I found a little book when I was at a book sale with my sister in law that has some really fun ideas for advent traditions. It's called 101 Advent Activities for Kids. Two of my favorite ideas were to have a fondue night where you spend the evening talking about God's blessings and eating fondue. Another is to eat a simple soup for supper for a whole week and then donate the money you saved to a ministry. I think that some of the activities will definitely become traditions in our family.

Shelby is at such a quotable stage right now-

As we were putting the ornaments on the tree she kept handing the breakable ones to Jeff and saying "Daddy you had better put these on the tree, they're really glassable"

I heard the girls the other day as they were playing and asked them what they were doing "Not showing the fruits of the Spirit" Shelby called back.

Projects

2010-11-12T12:58:00.001-08:00

I have some Christmas projects that I'm really having fun with this year. One unexpected benefit of having small children is that it has forced me to be more organized with my Christmas projects. This in turn has made for a much more peaceful holiday season. I used to wait until about December 1st to start in on my projects and for the most part everything would get done (although my mom is still waiting for a tissue box I was making her the Christmas I was 10). But I know that there is no way it would all get done if I waited. So glittery Christmas paper now adorns our counters and various pieces of our White Christmas costumes are piling up on the sewing table. Speaking of White Christmas...it's rumored that our hosts have cooked up a theme for the party again this year. Natalie said that Chad is making their costumes (which does sound mysterious) and we're eager to see which part of the scenery Uncle Chip comes as this year.

In family news this week...

Ginetta started grinning at us when we talk to her. That has to be one of my very favorite parts of the baby stage. I love how their eyes light up and they get that little lopsided baby smile.

Celene is making progress with her reading. She could sound out words but couldn't hear that they were anything but sounds. This week she was able to hear that e-a-t is a word not just a group of sounds. I have new respect for my mom and the patience she demonstrated in teaching us to read :)

The other day I overheard Shelby bossing Celene and I said "Shelby"...she responded "I am not the mom". I guess she's heard that more than I realized. Perhaps the concept will sink in one of these days.

Just for fun -

2010-11-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

I had to snap this picture of Jeff the other night as he ran the vacuum and rocked the baby. He has put in early morning and late night hours to keep the house running smoothly as we make our way through new baby adjustment and illnesses.

Poor guy. The other night he was up several times with sick girls and I guess he was a little tired when morning rolled around. He got up and got himself and the girls ready for church only to find out it was Saturday morning, not Sunday.

The Story

2010-10-22T12:59:00.001-07:00

I've been wanting to write a bit about Ginetta's birth (for those of you who are interested) but half the family has been sick for the past week. It's thrown us into more of a survival type mode, blogging has definitely been out of the picture. Before Ginetta was born I semi-jokingly told Jeff that as long as all the children were loved, trained and fed for the first six weeks I would count my days successful. This past week that's been very literally all that I have gotten done in a day, I guess it wasn't a joke after all :) Jeff and our moms have been kind enough to take on some things like groceries, cooking and housekeeping for me. One of the biggest adjustments is that Ginetta takes much, much longer to eat than the other girls did. That means that for now, about 4 1/2 - 5 daytime hours are spent feeding her. I'm newly thankful for things like playdough that keep the bigger girls busy while my hands are full.

As for the story....

Ginetta was due October 12th and I figured, given past history, I probably had until the 16th or so until the baby would actually arrive. My parent's had just gotten a new tent and they wanted to try it out for a night. So they invited the girls to come up on the night of the 2nd and have a camp out with them. I looked forward to a leisurely Sunday morning and the rare chance to sit with Jeff in church by ourselves.

At 5:00 Sunday morning my water broke so I knew the leisurely morning was now out of the question. I wanted to let Jeff sleep as long as possible so I showed great restraint and didn't wake him up until 6:00. We spent the next few hours racing around the house trying to tie up loose ends before labor started. We were glad that the girls were at my parent's since we didn't have to worry about waking them up in our frenzy, um..I mean calm cleaning of the house.

I called the midwife around 7:00 just to let her know what was happening and she reminded me that I had to deliver within 18 hours or else transfer to the hospital. At that point 18 hours seemed like a long time away so I didn't really think that much about it. But the hour hand kept going around and still no labor. My mom came and we decided to try walking and walking and walking. We were still watching the clock and I was praying frequently.."Lord you know that I would really like to have this baby at home, but please let me release that desire if it wouldn't be best"...

Mild contractions would start while we walked and then stop or slow down as soon as I rested. I knew it wasn't the kind of labor that was going to bring a baby anytime soon. More walking, we were glad for a beautiful day (I just hope all the neighbors were busy and didn't see us pacing up and down the road for hours ;)

At 1:30 there was a shift and real labor began. I'll spare you the rest of the details. Except to say that I am very grateful, even though it was difficult I think Ginetta's was the "easiest" labor. She was born on the dot of 5:30 and we finally found out if it was a Ginetta or , well, best save that in case the next one is a boy. A big thank you goes to Jeff and my mom for their roles as coach and encourager during labor.

Everyone sees to it that I am quite pampered. Whatever meal my mom makes for me just after the baby is born always tastes like the best thing I've ever eaten. She even added fresh flowers to the tray this time.

We were quite happy to have another little girl, I think that it would be such fun to grow up with two sisters so close to your own age. We are however open to boys in the future should the Lord so bless us. But we have said that if we never have anything but girls we are fine with that as well.

I guess I could say here that yes, we do know that it's a little strange to name your little girls after super cars ;) Other people have noble themes like Bible names or even starting with the same letter of the alphabet. But no, we name them after cars. We didn't start out with that in mind, we just happened to like Celene and Shelby ( I of course didn't even know they were cars). Once we had a theme going we decided to keep it up. I've come to the conclusion that we like to only have a few hundred choices instead of pulling out the books that have titles like "5,000 baby names" How can I pick the perfect name out of 5,000 choices? So a theme was born. Jeff thought maybe we could go with gun names for the boys - Weston, Remington etc. But I vetoed that idea. Cars I can handle but guns, I think not.

So that's the story in a nutshell...

Return of the Sisters

2010-10-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

The girls came back home at the end of last week and so far the adjustment has gone very well (of course, it is only Wednesday :) They are quite delighted with Ginetta, it really warms a mommy's heart to watch them together. They are quite anxious to introduce her to all the important things in their lives. Things like how to ride Daddy when he's being a bucking bronco, the verses they're learning during Bible time and such.

I'm thankful for God's hand of grace which has been so evident in these first days as our family finds out what the new "normal" looks like.

2010-10-07T12:10:00.001-07:00

I love these first few days, I have with each of the girls. But this time they seem especially dear. Perhaps it's because I know how quickly the baby days go by. In the blink of an eye Ginetta will be toddling after her sisters. Again, I'm grateful for all the help which allows my daily agenda to consist of cuddling Ginetta, chatting with Jeff and catching up on sleep.

Playing

2010-10-04T11:03:00.001-07:00

Since the grandmas have taken care of the girls and meals for us today it left Mommy and Daddy some time to play with Ginetta....

We're so grateful to family and church for the help these first few days. It gives us the opportunity to rest and get to know this new little dolly. Jeff is pampering me and making sure I obey the midwife's orders to take it easy :)

Gingrich Baby Number Three

2010-10-03T17:38:00.001-07:00

On November 6 2006 Aliza and I were thrilled to have our first child, a beautiful blonde girl Celene Rochelle.

Oh wait that is a Saleen S7 here is a picture of Celene

Then on June 12 2008 we were blessed with another gorgeous girl, our little red head Shelby Rose.

Oops I did it again, that is the Shelby Ultimate Aero. Here is Our Shelby

Then on October 3 2010 we were thrilled to welcome Ginetta Kate

There I go again naming another child after a car,

Well here she is, the latest member of our family Ginetta Kate Gingrich

Born at 5;30 pm at home, Mom and baby are both doing well.

Length: 18.5 inches

Weight: 6 lbs 8 oz

Thanks to everyone for there prayers.

Jeff

More pictures and details to follow in coming days

Schedules, Cooking and Five in a Row

2010-10-01T11:04:00.001-07:00

Cooking - All spare minutes this past week have been spent cooking! I looked at the list of meals that I would like to still put in the freezer and thought "I would really like to be done". But then I remembered what that hour before supper is like with a new baby. Hectic seems to be what I remember! So I reminded myself that having so many meals in the freezer will serve my husband since it will (hopefully) reduce the chances that he comes home to a frazzled wife, fussing baby and wild girls.

Schedules- I know that there are certainly people that run their home smoothly without a schedule, but I'm not one of them. After a summer of wedding world I knew that I wanted to bring some order and routine into our lives before the baby came. I'm amazed at how much more peaceful our days are since establishing a consistent routine. I try not to be legalistic about it and I allow time for unexpected things. But I do try to stick to it as much as possible. One thing I've discovered through the schedule is that the girls do best with a max of 45 minutes of play at a time. Of course I want them to have time to play, the whole day does not need to be spent on chores and school. But too much play at a time just turns into fussing with each other.

Five in a Row- We have a full week of school behind us and are finishing up week two now. I'm really enjoying this season because "school" can be so simple. There's no testing or evaluations looming, it's kind of just a bonus year where I can relax and get a feel for what this is like. So far Five in a Row seems to be a great fit for us. My sister-in-law recommended Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. That too seems to be working out well.

We spent last week reading the story of Ping, the duck from China-

We read books about China,

took a trip to the pond to watch the ducks,

did an experiment with oil and water to show how ducks are waterproof and...

finished up the week by sharing a meal of Chinese food with my family.

Times Change

2010-09-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

Just before Celene was born we spent the evenings watching the hands of the clock go around, wondering when the baby would arrive. The nursery had been prepared for weeks, the homemade lavender shampoo was ready, the cloth diapers made.

While we waited for Shelby we watched the three Anne of Green Gables movies, hoping that perhaps this little one would make an appearance just a bit early. The matching dresses hung in the closet, just in case it was another girl.

As we near the end of the wait with baby number three we find ourselves trying to tackle a to-do list that seems to grow ever longer instead of shorter. No matching outfits, I'm just trying to remember where in the world I packed away the baby socks.

Yes, times change but somehow it seems that God increases our ability to manage an increasingly busy schedule. At least these last weeks aren't dragging by, flying is more like it.

The Beach

2010-09-14T07:53:00.001-07:00

I highly recommend a short trip after a family wedding. It was great to get away with my family for a few days and totally relax after the busy summer.

We've been to the beach together enough now that some things are becoming traditions. Low key meal planning, long walks and pizza on the boardwalk are all part of the plan. This year I think we may have started a new tradition - watching a BBC production. We watched Dickens' Little Dorrit this year in three parts (what a lot of sinister characters!)

Snippets from the boardwalk-

Grammy was teaching the girls how to dance on the boardwalk. Shelby went up to my dad and showed him her dance moves and told him "like this Poppa". I assured her that Grammy had been trying unsuccessfully to get him to dance in public for about 28 years.

Who wants to ride in the stroller when slave labor is available?

Now that's my kind of dog.

The best pizza spot on the boardwalk.

I guess another tradition would be posed family pictures.

2008

2009

Unfortunately, Natalie and Chad weren't able to join us. Employers seems to frown on taking too many weeks off from work at a time ;)

As we walked along the beach Celene warned us to keep our eye out for "jelly beans" so we didn't get stung.

36 weeks! In less than a week my midwife will deliver at home if I were to have the baby early. That hasn't been an issue in the past but I always like getting to that 37 week mark.

Someone (who remains anonymous) had the great idea to take a picture of Evan holding the girls up on the bar we found.

This pictures was taken just a split second before the girls dropped to the ground and the pipe flew up and hit Evan in the teeth. That really wasn't a good sound.

Everyone was sympathetic to him and his injured lip.

2009

Natalie is just glad that Chad came into her life so we can stop making her have her picture taken with the Mr. Taffy when we come to the beach. So long Mr. Taffy, she has a real man now.

Official Photos

2010-09-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shannon-Odell-Photography/144983315512650

For those of you interested in more pictures here is a link to the pictures taken by the photographer. Enjoy!

Wedding Pictures

2010-09-08T11:33:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe the big day is over! We are happy to welcome Chad into our family and look forward to watching the work that God will do through their family.

It's amazing to see all that goes in to wedding planning, preparation, setting up and tearing down. I wish I had a picture of everyone who helped. But I don't even think that's possible. There were so many hands that worked to pull off the wedding. Friends and family came from far and near and joyfully served our family.

These are just a few of the many people who contributed-

The wedding day dawned sunny and cool which was a relief after the intense heat of this summer. As Jeff said our prayers were definitely answered. We just forgot to pray about the wind ;) The wind caused some panic in the morning as table cloths blew away and the tent started to collapse. But by the time the wedding started it had died down a bit and the tent was well secured.

Pictures were taken with Natalie and all the bridesmaids before the wedding and the photographer was kind enough to snap a few with my camera. These of course aren't the official pictures and I don't have any of Chad and Natalie together. But here's a preview of things to come -

The wedding was held at the property of Jeff's brother and it really made a pretty back drop for the pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing more soon.

The Girlies

2010-08-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

It's kind of hard to believe that they're about to be the "big kids". Yet in another way they really seem to have grown up a lot recently, especially Shelby. Now that she is potty trained and talks all the time she definitely has left babyhood behind. It has really been fun to watch them interact on a new level now that they can have conversations together. They're always having some kind of new "plan" that they have to discuss. The current idea is that when the faraway cousins come for a visit Grandma is going to take all the cousins (except the babies) out for lunch. They even have decided what they're going to eat.

Shelby told me the other day she thinks they're twins. Well, one thing is for sure they don't think they can do anything without the other one coming along too.

Yesterday, Celene had what she called "her big race". A local park was hosting a 1/4 mile kids run. Jeff and I have been having ongoing conversations about the role of athletics and sports in our family. One thing we have concluded is that running is something a variety of ages can do together. I don't see myself as a runner but if the girls and Jeff are into it I guess maybe I'll become one.

Celene didn't come in anywhere near first but she sure did take this running business seriously!

That's her in the white just to the right of center.

Daddy gives some encouragement at the end.

Everyone got a blue ribbon just for finishing.

2010-08-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

For the past few years my family has gone camping on Assateage Island with some friends from church. This year it worked out for the girls and me to spend a night there as well. The girls were really looking forward to the "horse beach" as they called it. All of the horse drama happened the night before we arrived. My dad looked out of the tent to see that a horse had opened up the coolers, taken out some cheese and proceeded to help himself. Two horses also got into a fight near their tent that same night.

I was a bit apprehensive going into the trip as there were elements that seemed to be a recipe for:

Disaster

Mix together the following ingredients:

1 2 year old

1 3 year old

1 mom who's 7 months pregnant

a long car ride

no naps

sleeping in a tent

Heat outside temperature to 98 degrees. Bake.

Remove Daddy from the mix. Leave him at work.

Add large quantities of sand into food, hair, special blankets etc.

Sprinkle with an unexpected 3 hour thunderstorm. Remain in tent.

Enjoy!

Seriously though, my family really worked hard to make it as easy on me as possible. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with them and the girls always like the beach. That being said I think beach camping may be something we attempt again in about ten years ;)

What is it about camping that makes you so hungry?

On Sunday mornings when I was little my dad would patiently comb out my long hair. Here the girls get to experience his expert hair combing technique.

Another flashback from my childhood - the morning exercise routine.

This picture taken moments before Shelby dropped all her noodles in the sand.

The horses sure aren't afraid to come right up to the camp site! I preferred to view them from a little more of a distance.

Mom really outdid herself as the chief entertainer during the thunderstorm. She kept everyone quite busy with her paper towel art. Celene had a Revolutionary war era look by the time she was done.

Clean and ready for the drive home.

Experiments

2010-08-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

I've really been trying to be good this pregnancy and actually eat things that will help my blood sugar stay stabilized. With Shelby I spent most of the time being mad that I couldn't eat whatever I wanted. But this time I have resigned myself to my fate. I haven't eaten any sweets unless it's stevia sweetened. I told Jeff that it's no wonder stevia is supposed to help control blood sugar. So far everything I've made has been enough to make me think going without sweets is a better option ;) Anyway, my diligence has paid off and for the first time I passed the glucose test.

In a magazine the other day I saw this recipe for a fruit sweetened cake. I figured it would probably taste good to me since I'm not eating anything sweet and I sure could use some chocolate. But even Jeff gave it a thumbs up so I guess it's a keeper.

Rich Chocolate Cake

1 can frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

3/4 cup pitted prunes

1 stick butter

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 325* Coat a 9-inch springform pan with a non stick coating spray.

In pan heat apple juice, prunes and butter over medium heat. Cook until butter is melted and mixture begins to simmer, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Whisk together flour, 3/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Carefully, transfer apple juice mixture to a blender and mix until prunes are pureed.

Beat eggs in a large bowl until blended. With mixer on medium speed, slowly add apple juice mixture. Beat until evenly blended. On low, beat in half flour mixture, then milk, then remaining flour. Stir in vanilla, spread into pan. Bake 325* for 35 minutes.

On a different front I've been experimenting with a fun new craft idea. Occasionally I go on Etsy to drool over the adorable baby head bands. I got to thinking that the ones I like look handmade so maybe I could make one too. So I tried my hand at making singed edged flowers for headbands etc. I'm really having a lot of fun with them.

I cut five circles, out of organza in this case. But I've also done taffeta and silky fabric. Then I hold the edge over a candle flame (so far no burnt fingers) just until the edge starts to curl a bit. Then stack the circles and make a few little gathering stitches in the center through all the layers. I glued a big sequin thingy in the center.

Lastly, I glued a felt circle and clip onto the back so I can remove it from the headband. Fun, fun!

Celene asked that I put this picture on my blog-

Lazy Summer Day

2010-07-26T14:00:00.001-07:00

Last week I decided that today would be set aside to relax and spend some quality time with the girls. The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind so we needed to pause for a day to catch our breath. Fortunately, the scorching heat has also let up and we are enjoying a beautiful, lazy summer day. We spent a long time at the library and the park and finished it all up with some chocolate pudding.

What an honor to be a part of Natalie's life, especially in this season. I'm very impressed with the decisions that she and Chad have made in their relationship to make sure that they are pursuing God's best. It still seems a little bit hard to believe that it's my sister that will be married in 41 days (I think that's the count??)

I had such a lot of fun planning the shower. I've been saving pictures and ideas from magazines for years plus I found a really neat website called "hostess with the mostess" that has some amazing party decorating ideas. Even though I've been working on shower projects for two months I still needed a lot of help. And I had some incredible help, that's for sure. Jeff patiently put up with lots of extra things on his "to-do" list plus a distracted wife. My mom and Natalie pitched in with cleaning and girl watching so that the house could be ready.

Aunt Deborah, Mom-Mom (sorry I realized I didn't get any pictures of you) and one of my cousins came early on Saturday to help with last minute projects. It was a treat to have my cousin here for this special day. She is temporarily living a few hours away with her family before heading overseas.

My fellow bridesmaids were so amazing to work with! When Saturday afternoon rolled around I still had a lot of things left on the list to be done. But they got it all done with 30 minutes to spare! I'm sure they took care of details during the shower that I'm not even aware of. It was pretty sweet of Natalie to pick such wonderful, hard working ladies to be her bridesmaids.

Thanks to each of you!!

Chad came early and dropped off a bouquet for Natalie (aww, isn't that sweet?)

I was starting to sweat just a little as Saturday came closer, wondering if everyone was going to fit in our house. But the guys arranged everything just so and we were able to fit 50 people in the living room/dining room area. I didn't have a back up plan if we had more than 55 and it was too hot to send people outside. It all worked out just fine.

We did save some scraps of food for the kitchen help ;)

The bride and bridesmaids, minus one who wasn't able to make it from Florida.

Here are some of the fun ideas that I borrowed from pictures and other blogs. I have no original ideas but I can adapt an idea once I see it done.

Favor boxes - Jeff's mom showed me how to make boxes out of cardstock. Unfortunately, they don't show up well in this picture. The bottom of the box was made from plain white and then I got some fun paper from A.C. Moore for the tops.

I think I'm going to adapt the "love birds" tree a bit and use it in the girls room now that the shower is over.

Wrapping paper as a table runner has really revolutionized my table decorating. I can choose any color theme and know that it won't be hard to add a runner. Now I keep my eye out for inexpensive wrapping paper rolls.

I absolutely loved these little dresses for a girly touch to the party. I also had a lot of fun making them and found some embellishments at a garage sale earlier in the summer.

I found the idea for the tiered serving dish on a blog and couldn't believe I had never thought of it! It's just an assortment of dishes that I had on hand stacked to make a tiered dish with the initial of the person of honor added to make it more personal.

A company called Bake it Pretty has some darling cupcake papers for special occasions.

So shower planning comes to a close for now. But I did wake up on Sunday morning with an idea for my cousin Katie's shower. Considering that her shower won't be until the new year I think I had better just put that thought on hold :)

This and That

2010-07-23T13:35:00.001-07:00

Natalie's shower is this Saturday so cooking, cleaning and projects are in full swing. But here's what we've been up to other than wedding and shower busy ness~

*Staying cool in this hot, hot weather. We found these goggles for Celene at a garage sale and she was sure she should wear them when she played in the sprinkler.

*July 12th marked six years since Jeff asked me to marry him and we thought it was a great reason for a date night. My folks ended up keeping the girls for two nights which gave us a little mini vacation. We went out to dinner on Sunday to the Outback which is where we became "unofficially" engaged (we both agreed that a wedding was in the future but I didn't have a ring). We have a few occasions this summer that require something a little dressier than a jean skirt so we also included a bit of shopping. It was so sweet of Jeff and my mom to have pity on me. I had tried to arrange it so that I could get over to the local consignment store while Jeff watched the girls but it kept not working out for one reason or another. Finally I decided I was perfectly capable of going with the girls to find a dress. I did try on a few things but I'm not sure I was ever able to stop talking long enough to decide if they looked alright or not.

Me:Shelby, I'm sorry you finished all your raisins but that does not mean that you can scream at your sister and try to take her raisins

Me:SHELBY NO!! You may not open the curtain.

Me: Celene it's not kind or good manners to tell mommy that she looks yucky in this outfit. You may say that it's not your favorite or that maybe we should look for one that is a little prettier.

So, my mom took the girls and Jeff said that part of our date night included a trip to a real store. We had great success and my dress shopping is over for the year, I think.

*The B&B is going much more smoothly this summer. Not that we had many problems last year but I'm just much more comfortable with running it now that I've had a bit more experience. We have really enjoyed the people who have come this year. One family was staying a week and they requested a cooked breakfast for two days of their stay. Having someone pay me to cook for them was new, I decided it wasn't the time to try out new recipes ;)

We have a table and chair set on the back patio and it has come in handy for early morning breakfast time for the girls. We just don't think the guests always want to wake up at 7:00 on their vacation. So we head outside until a more reasonable hour.

*Jeff told Shelby he would take her out for an ice cream celebration if she had a successful first week of potty training. I hesitate to celebrate yet, it's been too easy. I'm still waiting for her to lose interest or something. It sure would be nice to only have one baby in diapers!

*Last week marked the beginning of the third trimester for me. I can't wait to meet this new little person! Although I have looked forward to each of the babies I think I'm especially looking forward to the arrival of this one. With Celene we were of course excited but motherhood was also a huge unknown as well. There were lots of questions and a great deal of wondering what in the world it would be like to have a child. When I was expecting Shelby I still had a baby so there was no time to miss having a baby in the house. But this time my "baby" is two so I've had time to miss the baby stage and look forward to entering it again. Mothering is also not quite such an unknown, although there still is an element of wondering what it will be like with three and such. I go into it knowing what it's like to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night. I know that a baby crying when I'm trying to get supper on the table can be a test in patience and keeping calm. I know that taking a preschooler, toddler and infant grocery shopping will require courage ;) But I also know that the middle of the night is such a sweet, quiet time to enjoy a baby. And that a big toothless grin when you walk into the room is enough to melt the heart of a mommy. Yes, going out in public may require a lot more energy but there are many quieter moments at home when a little hand is laid on my shoulder and someone says "you're such a nice mommy".

Spontaneous Summer Fun

2010-07-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, when Friday rolled around we were finishing up a long hot week. It seemed like the perfect time to spend a day at the beach.

By 5:30 a.m. on Saturday we were headed to New Jersey. Of course we had this vain hope that maybe the girls would just go back to sleep. But that didn't end up happening. Although by the time we listened to "Winnie the Pooh" on tape, talked about the beach and had breakfast in the car we were almost there.

I never really want to take my nice camera to the beach because the likelyhood of it getting sandy and/or wet seems pretty high. I decided to try a disposal camera this time. It's so strange, the pictures came out looking like the ones I remember from when I was little. It's amazing to think how much the quality of photos has improved in 20 years.

It was perfect beach weather - hot enough to want to be in the very cold water, yet not too stifling to enjoy the boardwalk.

The girls LOVED the water and didn't seem to mind that it was freezing cold.

Who can resist the wonderful combination of sand and water?

We had so much fun just watching the girls enjoy themselves. It was like taking a parenting vacation, except we were with the girls. I don't mean that we left them on the beach by themselves ;) But they were so fascinated by everything that was new that there were no sibling squabbles, no disobedience to deal with. We just got to enjoy them at their best.

By about 3:30 they were totally worn out and ended up falling asleep for awhile.

We roused them about an hour later for a walk on the boardwalk. Of course it wouldn't be a trip to the beach without Mac and Manco's pizza and ice cream (at least for those not watching their blood sugar ;)

Baby and me at 25 weeks!

The drive home was very quiet. Fortunately, Jeff stayed awake the whole time, I'm not sure about the rest of us.