Let it Snow!

Olivia liked the idea of snow much more than the actual stuff!

We could not find Eli's coat, and he had no boots, so he borrowed Anna Grace's.

I am sure that he will love looking back and seeing pictures of himself in pink boots!

"Snow is cold Mommy!"

Bailey loved making snow angels with her Daddy!

Mamaw (Mark's mom) was thoughtful enough to schedule over six inches of snow to cover her area just in time for our visit to her house! The children headed out to play as soon as we arrived at her place on December 20. Isaac and Bailey were the biggest snow enthusiasts, spending hours playing in it over the next three days. They especially loved the times that their Daddy joined them! Olivia enjoyed it initially, and then spent most of her time inside. Anna Grace ventured out once, and then decided it was "too freezing", and that was enough for her. Eli liked it in short spurts, and then toddled for the door. I think that I spent more time getting the younger three ready to go out in the snow than they spent actually playing in it. Despite the mixed reviews from our children, I am really thankful for the snow. It was beautiful, and snow right before Christmas really helps add to the excitement!

Congratulations Bo and Lindley!

One of the most exciting moments of our Christmas season, was when my brother Bo (Bob to most of the world) asked his precious girlfriend Lindley to marry him! He asked her in front of all of us on Christmas Eve while we were finishing up opening presents. He was a bit sneaky -- he hid the ring in an empty gun case. She was very surprised and very happy! We look forward to officially welcoming her to the family sometime soon! Congratulations Bo and Lindley!

Home Again!

Five VERY tired children (and way too much stuff) on our way home!

We travelled home from East Tennessee yesterday, following a visit with our family. We spent lots of time visiting, eating, taking pictures, chasing Eli, and just spending time with people we love. It was truly a blessing! I am going to write about some of the highlights of the last month or so over the next few days, but for now I am enjoying the prospect of getting back to "normal". The time from Thanksgiving to Christmas was filled with special family traditions, parties with friends, yummy holiday eating, lots of presents and good times with family and friends. I cherish that time, but by the end of December, I crave normalcy. I am ready to get back to our routine. I am ready to take down the decorations, and put away the presents. I am even ready to eat healthy for a while! I love the Christmas season, but I love starting a new year too!

Meal Plan Monday (a little late!!)

I am trying to get back to better meal planning, so here goes....

Monday: Shrimp Alfredo
Tuesday: Refried Beans without the Refry, tortillas, Mexican rice
Wednesday: white bean soup (made with a ham bone) over rice & corn bread
Thursday: pork chops & cream of mushroom soup in the crock pot
Friday: Crock-pot Spaghetti & home-made bread (We have book club in the afternoon, and company for supper, so I need a crock pot meal!)
Saturday: barbecue chicken & baked potatoes (company)

Refried Beans without the Refry (from http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/)
1 onion, chopped
3 c. dried pinto beans
2 T. minced garlic (I use more and I do not mince them, they get blended at the end)
5 t. salt (I use a lot less)
1 3/4 t. pepper
1/8 t. cumin (I use a lot more)
9 c. water (I use half chicken broth)
Combine all ingredients in crockpot; stir. Cook on high for 8 hours. Strain, reserving liquid. Mash beans, adding reserved liquid to desired consistency. I use my food processer, and the garlic and onion gets mashed in with everything else.

Crock Pot Spaghetti (from my sweet friend Allison)
2 Lbs. hamburger meat, browned and drained
1 cup chopped onion (I use minced onion. I have an onion detector in our house!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans tomato sauce
6 cups tomato juice
1 package (16 oz) dry spaghetti
1 package Italian dressing, dry

Combine all ingredients except spaghetti in crock pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours (high 3-5 hours) Turn on high during the last hour and stir in dry spaghetti. Stir a couple of times to "unclump" noodles, especially just after you put them in.)

A Day in the Life of Eli (or why I am always tired!)

Our little caboose!

Pea gravel is so much fun!


Eli enjoys laundry much more than his mom!

Eli loves mealtime!

Eli is growing and changing everyday. He is such a cutie pie, and I wanted to write a little bit about the person he is today. As impossible as it seems today, I know that someday I will have a hard time remembering the details of this phase of our life. So, here is a day in the life of Eli...

I usually hear a little voice calling out to me around 6:00 in the morning. I am not sure what the words are that he is saying, but I totally understand the message -- "Come get me!" Either Mark or I usually goes and gets him and brings him back to our room for a little pre-breakfast bonding. I think this is one of his favorite times of the day. He gets both Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention, and he eats it up!

We then head to the kitchen for breakfast. He usually eats scrambled eggs, banana and either toast or cheerios. He eats with great gusto, and when he is finished, he lets me know! Extra food goes on the ground and the yelling begins.

Then he begins his day of getting into everything possible. He is really at a cute, but draining age. He recently learned to climb onto the couch, but he has not learned how not to fall off. He also loves climbing up the stairs, which keeps us on our toes. We just bought a six foot gate to try to keep him safely on the first floor! Some of his other favorite activities include: eating crayons and other treasures left on the floor, turning off the computer when Mommy is using it, sneaking into the bathroom or his sisters' room, throwing folded laundry out of the basket, and many other adventurous activities.

The other children are great with their little brother. They help me keep an eye on him, and yell if he is in trouble. He loves to follow them around, and it grieves him to no end if they leave without him. I think he has no choice but to be a people person!

Eli usually starts to fuss a couple of hours after he wakes up. I put him in his bed with toys for a few minutes. Sometimes he goes to sleep, but more often he just plays and talks. This little break lets me get school started off on the right foot, and Eli usually comes out of his bed in a better mood than when he went in! He takes a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and that gives me some cherished quiet time. The other children play in their rooms, and I relax.

Eli loves his daddy! He often throws quite a fit when Mark leaves for work in the morning and puts on a great big smile when he comes home. "Da" was the first word that he said consistently. He loves to spend time with Daddy in the evening.

Eli heads to bed around 7:00. He is a great sleeper. We rarely have to get up with him at night. The house is much quieter and calmer after he goes to bed!

Eli is a lot of work, but I could not imagine life without our little man!

Favorite Foods:

Eli loves scrambled eggs, cheese, green beans, bananas, spaghetti, anything sweet, apple juice, and anything that somebody else is eating!

Favorite Activities:

Getting into everything, riding in the car, taking off his pants, unloading cabinets and drawers, splashing in the tub, playing in the grass, dancing to music, chasing the neighbor's dogs (thankfully, they are smart enough to never let him catch them)

Eli Is 1!

Eli was amazed when I handed him the cake. He kept looking at me like, "Are you sure about this?" (My cake decorating skills could use some help!)
Yummy!

Eli turned one last month (I'm a little behind!). I know that it is a cliche, but they really do grow up so fast! We celebrated his birthday a few days late so that Nana and Grand-Bob could be there with us. He enjoyed eating his little cake all by himself. What a big boy!

Grandparents Are Wonderful!

We love Mamaw!

What a Grandpa! He even has two extra "babies" in his lap!

We love Nana!

We were thrilled to have my parents (Grand-Bob and Nana) and Mark's mom (Mamaw) this fall. Mamaw was traveling through with Mark's cousin Lisa, and they stopped by for the weekend. It was so nice to have them! My parents came a couple weeks later. We are looking forward to all of them visiting again in November. I am so thrilled that my children have such a great relationship with their grandparents despite the mileage between us. Grandparents are a blessing from the Lord!

Pumpkin Patch

We have gone to a pumpkin patch almost every year since Isaac was born (we may have missed one year). We have now gone to pumpkin patches in three different states! This year we went with several other homeschooling families and travelled to a farm about an hour away. I was quite impressed with this patch. The farmers had made an elaborate corn maze. It was almost too elaborate -- a couple of the mamas had to be rescued! They also had a playground and an area with various animals for the children to look at. The owners had picked pumpkins and laid them in a grassy area. They usually allow the children to go into the patch to pick them, but they had seen several snakes in the area. They decided not to risk one of the children getting bitten, a decision I appreciated! Our trips to the pumpkin patch are always fun for the children, but it is also a great photo opportunity for the mothers. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that we came for fun and not for the pictures! Happy Fall!

You Know You Live in the Country When...

You know you live in the country when you find two deer legs in the front yard! Lovely!

An Action Packed Three Weeks (Part 2)

After Eli's seizure, we were all worn out! We had a fall festival on Saturday and then church on Sunday. Mark kept Eli home for the weekend to give him time to recover. Mark moved the wrong way on Sunday, and his back went out. I took him to the doctor on Monday to get it checked out. The doctor diagnosed it as muscle spasms and prescribed some medication to help him function. Thankfully, he was feeling much better by Tuesday. He was able to put away his cane and head back to work.

He had a short business trip on Wednesday and Thursday (insert some grumbling and complaining on my part). We were able to get back to a "normal" routine for the weekend. On Sunday, we traveled to Jonesboro (AKA "The Big City") to take Mark out to eat for his birthday, which was the next day. Monday morning, Mark woke up early with chest pains. I woke up the children and drove Mark to the ER (I know we probably should have called an ambulance...). They ended up keeping him overnight for observation. Thankfully, all of the tests came back normal. I am so thankful that he is OK. What a way to spend his 40th birthday!


I am hoping and praying that we have patronized the local medical community enough for a while! I am thankful that everyone is doing well, and that none of our issues ended up being serious.

An Action Packed Three Weeks

We have had an "action packed" three weeks. It started a little over three weeks ago when Mark headed to Texas for some training for work. He left on Sunday, and was due to return on Friday afternoon. I have to admit that I hate it when Mark has to travel! We all miss him! It always gives me a renewed respect for single moms, because it is hard to parent alone! We had a pretty good week, and had made it to Thursday night. I put the children to bed, rejoiced that it was my last night of solo bedtime routine, and headed to bed early.

Around 11:00, I heard a blood curdling scream and was across the house before I was even awake. I realized it was Eli and grabbed him out of his bed. I thought that he was having a nightmare, so I tried to wake him up. He stopped screaming, and I realized that he had slipped into a seizure. I was terrified! Olivia had a febrile seizure several years ago, so I cognitively knew what was probably happening, but emotionally, I was a wreck. He had been congested for a few days, but he did not feel like he had a fever. I called Mark (who was nine hours away), and he calmed me down a bit. He called our neighbor, and then got in the car and started the long trip back in the middle of the night with no sleep! I called 911 and my friend Stacy. The first responders were there within about five minutes, and I gave Eli to them and got dressed. His seizure lasted almost fifteen minutes. He was starting to come out of it when the ambulance got there. Our neighbor arrived, and I got into the ambulance. As we were pulling out, I saw Stacy running barefoot across my muddy yard (It is a precious memory of a faithful friend). She had gotten to my house in record time.

We arrived at the emergency room and they put me in the waiting room. Another precious friend, Melissa, came to sit with me. I was so thankful that she was there! They came to get me to try to calm Eli down. He was exhausted and very upset. He had a 102 degree fever, and so they began looking for the source of the infection. They did blood work and a chest x-ray. It ended up that he had an ear infection. The doctor decided to keep Eli over night for observation, and we finally got into a room around 3:00. It took about four attempts to finally get an IV in, and then they started an IV antibiotic. We finally got to rest around 4:00.

Stacy stayed with my children through the night. They had no idea anything had happened until they woke up the next morning. Mark arrived around 9:00. I was so thankful that he made it home safely. He was exhausted! Eli and I were able to come home around 4:00. I put him down for a nap around 5:00 and he slept all night until 6:30 the next morning.

After the terror and exhaustion of the night faded away, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I was so thankful that our little man was ok. I was also incredibly thankful that we have only lived here seven months, and God has already given us people that we can call on when we need them. Over the next few days, we had several more people tell us to call them when we need help. I often wish that we could be close to our family, but that does not seem like a possibility right now. God has blessed us so richly with Christian brothers and sisters while we are away from our family. I am so thankful!

Our Little Fish

Eli loves to take a bath! We got a new bathseat for him, and it has been a great product! He is a cute little fish!

Three Princesses and a Prince

The girls were invited to a princess birthday party last month. They wore the flower girl dresses from my brother's wedding. I was able to slow them down for a few moments to snap a few pictures. Isaac tagged along to play outside with some other boys (they wanted nothing to do with the princess festivities!). I snapped a few shots of him getting some energy out on the "jumpoline" (as Anna Grace calls it). Eli stayed home with Daddy, which was a very nice break for Mommy!

It has been far too long since I last posted! We have finished six weeks of school, and my multi-tasking abilities have been stretched to the limit! This has been my most challenging school kick off so far (Warning, small whine ahead!). Between schooling the three older ones, keeping Eli out of trouble, giving Anna Grace attention, and keeping up with my household duties, I am wiped out by bedtime! Mark has been tackling our backyard drainage issues much of the past six weeks, so he has not been able to help as much as usual in the evenings. On top of that, I had a bad case of mastitis this month, which had me down for several days. As a result of all of that, there have been times when my joy has threatened to run away! In spite of the challenges, I am still so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool the children. They are truly a blessing! Now that we are settling into our school year, I hope to be more regular at documenting our day to day life!

Unplanned Science Lessons

We have had a few science activities the past week or two that I can not take credit for! Olivia got her little hands on a packet of sunflower seeds a month or two ago, and our house is looking quite sunny! The children decided to search for the seeds inside the flower, and had a great time harvesting the little black treasures!

Our Sunny Girl--

Treasure Hunting--

My dad gave me a Salvia plant when we moved into our house. I planted it by the front steps, and we have had a great time watching that plant! It attracts lots of butterflies, moths and bees. Anna Grace has especially been a moth catcher.

The Salvia plant has also attracted a beautiful spider (I never thought I would call a spider beautiful!).

Mark and Isaac were outside, and Isaac heard some chirps coming from one of the trees. Mark lifted him up, and they discovered some newborn baby birds. Mark became the elevator to help each of our children see the babies. It was quite exciting! I decided to call the little one with his mouth wide open Eli. I think he resembles our little Eli! I sympathize with that Mama Bird -- she has some meal planning to do!


I need to get busy and provide them with some resources to learn out more about the science adventures they have had!

Class Portraits

Not Pictured-- Eli, who was fast asleep!

Our First Week of School

We finished our first week of school this week. Olivia is in Kindergarten this year, so I am "officially" teaching three students this year. Anna Grace joins in when she is interested, and Eli is into everything! I read a book about "Workboxes" over the summer, and I am trying out a few of the ideas this year. I adapted the system to fit our family. Each of the children (besides Eli) has a tower of drawers. I separate their work for the day into the boxes, and they work start at the top and work their way down. Some boxes are tagged "work with Mom", and they work on those boxes with me. If I am busy with someone else, they skip that box until I am ready to work with them. Some of the boxes have games or other fun activities. Anna Grace has preschool activities that she works on when she is interested. I am very pleased with how it is working. It helps to solved the problem of everyone wanting my attention at once, because they know what to do next if I am busy. It also helps me to be more prepared for the day, because everything is laid out the night before. We are off to a great start!

Our Workboxes

Here they are hard at work on their journals--
Here is Eli doing his "work"!

Our Class Portrait--

Bailey's New Friend

Bailey & Kirsten

Bailey celebrated her seventh birthday while we were in Tennessee. She had two parties, one at each grandparent's house. It was great to be able to celebrate this special occasion with our family! She loved all of her presents, but she was especially excited about her new friend Kirsten!

Down by the River

Eli loved his first time in the river!

Anna Grace and her amphibian friend

The girls had a great time playing mermaid!

Mamaw and Eli enjoying the view

Uncle Jim and Isaac wading across the river.

Mark's mom was raised on a river in a beautiful area of southwest Virginia, and her brother Jim still lives there. Going to visit him is one of the highlights of our summer trips. I have learned to pack extra clothes, because the children love the river! Uncle Jim always buys the children special treats (this time it was M & M's, cookies, chocolate milk and Mountain Dew), and he is quick to pass out dollars whenever children are in sight! We had a great day at the river!

Catching Up

Eli's first time in the grass. He obviously loved it!
Quack!

"The Gang"

AAAAHHHH! It seems like I blink and a month has gone by with no blogging. I keep thinking that I will post when I have a big block of time, and it never seems to happen! So, here is a quick post to get me back in the habit!

We had an "action packed" trip to visit our family in Tennessee. Mark and I (and Eli too!) went away for a night to celebrate our tenth anniversary. It was very refreshing! I really appreciate my parents' willingness to watch our children! The next day we headed to Dollywood for some fun in the Smokies. Mamaw and Nanna came too, so we were not quite so outnumbered by our children! Mark and Bailey tried out most of the fast rides, and Isaac branched out and tried a few as well. Olivia and Anna Grace rode quite a few of the "kiddie rides", which were more my speed! It was lots of fun, but we were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Our three oldest children rode back with Mamaw and spent the night at her house without us. They always enjoy getting a little extra attention without us around. The rest of us headed her way the next morning and spent a few days visiting Mark's family. We made our annual visit to Mamaw's "home place" and the children waded in the river, splashing and skipping stones.

Mark drove back to Arkansas, and the kids and I stayed five extra days with my parents. We have several places that we always visit when we are visiting -- The Fresh Market (for jellybeans of course!), Dollar Tree, The Cove (park at the lake) and Chick Fil A (which is especially important now that we live in a town where there is not one!). My brother Bo and his girlfriend Lindley came over several times, and the children loved spending time with them. The time went quickly, as always. My sweet mom made the drive back with me, and stayed for a few days before flying back home (I got lost and she missed her flight, but we won't talk about that!).

I love the time time that we are able to spend with our family. I am thankful that our children have such a great relationship with their extended family. It is especially precious since we are not able to live close to them. Praise God for family!