Tuesday, July 27, 2010

T-Ball

Entirely too many t-ball pics
I have no idea why they are not turned the right way...this bugs me!

With their coach who was so cute with them.

J with her trophy!

Getting her trophy. The coach said cute little things about each one of them.

Cort excited about that trophy!

Madd man.
Cute Cort.








I LOVE these two photos. She would start her throw like the photo above and end it with the photo below. How stinkin' adorable is that?!?
This little guy kept up with the rest of him and for being so little he sure had some power behind his hits!
Little P diddy had to be in on the action!
Maddox being stylish on the field.
J preparing to bat!
Keeping up with his brothers and sister!






We made up like 87% of the team. Good thing we made it to all of the games!

These three played t-ball this year. Luckily the parks and rec department allowed my three year old to be on the four year olds team. They had so much fun. I just love these little guys playing. It is so adorable!






















Problems in blogsphere

How come anytime I make some time to sit down and blog something goes wrong! My pictures are uploading sideways and my header is giving me a headache. Normally it says, fit to size, but it won't do that now. Oh gosh, I had like five posts in the works, but I think now I will take a nap!

Best Brothers

I just love these three
and I LOVE that they LOVE eachother.

A late night

The Great Peach Extravaganza Yesterday around 8:00 pm my father in law brought us 3 bushels of peaches, or maybe even more! He picked them at someones farm that he knows, the only downfall was that they were riiiiiiiiiiipe. So ripe they needed to be tended to right away. SOooo, that leads us to a really late night and a very sticky floor!

I started peeling right away and it took us till about midnight to get them all peeled. The nice things was since they were so ripe, the peelings just came right off. I ended up making a late night run to Walmart because I didn't have any new seals.
I started the peaches and had them canned and then decided while I was waiting for it all to process I might as well make a cobbler, Paula Dean's cobbler no less, and three of my favorite peach pies. I also did some jam and some juice and had some to freeze for later use. It all turned out great. I am planning making some more pies and freezing them because I plan on sharing these pies with some friends.

At 2:30 I forced my sweet supportive hubby to bed. His hands were so very wrinkled from peeling all of the peaches all night. We finally finished up around 3. Yes you read that right. A long night for sure, but how great is my food storage looking?

Thanks Don for a special treat...
I think I may owe you a pie, or a cobbler, or some jam
a jar perhaps???
Peach Pie Recipe
Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
5 cups sliced peeled peaches
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I use 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts. Brush with some of the beaten egg to keep the dough from becoming soggy later.
Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over the peaches, and mix gently. Pour into the pie crust, and dot with butter. Cover with the other pie crust, and fold the edges under. Flute the edges to seal or press the edges with the tines of a fork dipped in egg. Brush the remaining egg over the top crust. Cut several slits in the top crust to vent steam.
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is brown and the juice begins to bubble through the vents. If the edges brown to fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking.
Peach Cobbler Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups Milk
Ground cinnamon, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.
Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
{A little tip! If you do not have slef rising flour which is a must for a lot of these baked goods, you can add 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to 1 1/2 cups flour and it will work just as well!}

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Unconditional Love


I am so so very grateful for my mom. She is always willing to help. She is always loving on my children. She is always there to help even when not asked. Just yesterday when she was here she asked for Andy's shirts to iron them for him. AND she honestly wants to do it.
I know that I have mentioned before that pretty much the only reason why we live here is because of our families. It is important to us to have our children grow up with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and so on. It is a blessing that is indescribable. I have to admit though that is sure comes in handy to have a helping hand when we are in need. And who better to place our children's care in than grandma.
Maddox broke out again in hives and it is really bothering me, because I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is causing this, so the Allergy specialist is seeing him today and of course I had to call on my mom. She offered to take off a couple hours early without hesitation. I am so lucky.
Thanks mom for loving us so much, we know how much you care, by your service and unwavering love.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

On the Menu

A picture of my double chocolate zucchini cake!

Ever since we have gotten back from Florida I have been on a serious cooking/baking spree. Partly because I want to and partly because our garden has gone crazy and I want to use everything and not waste it.





This year our garden has been great. We have lots and lots of herbs and a zucchini plant that is the zucchini plant of all zucchini plants. A brings in about 10 LARGE zucchinis every single night. I have made more breads and cakes that should even be discussed! I have made soup, a casserole, relish, muffins and I am trying a mock apple pie with zucchini next. Sounds great to me!





This week on the menu we have had;


Monday was a bbq when we got home from out of town. We grilled dogs for the kids and these amazing spinach chicken links from Sam's that are Divine!


Tuesday we had a really tasty shrimp meal. Basically just shrimp, evoo, lemon zest, lemon juice and dill from the garden. So delish!


Wednesday we had chicken parm.


Tonight we had veggie loaf, which is really meat loaf but the kids call it veggie loaf. So here's why...





First of all, all of you out there that loves meatloaf I have a recipe for you that is so so good and a great secret. I use two pounds of 90% lean beef, 1.5 cups of bread crumbs, 1.5 cups milk, 2 eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Then I chop up with my trusty ole chopper, celery, onion, red pepper, green pepper, carrots and of course, zucchini. I mix it all in. Here is the secret, you make them into muffins. You put them into a muffin tin and it makes a perfect serving size and I hate when the loaf pans get greasy or have a hard time baking and release from the sides and it works flawlessly in the muffin tins. The kids think it is so so fun too. Then after about 35 minutes baking on 350 I add a ketchup, brown sugar and mustard mix on top and bake for about another 10 minutes. SO good! You have to try it. And if you are not a huge beef eater, try it with ground turkey. That is my fave!





I will post my recipes for my great cake and bread another time. They are just so great too!





So here's to eating!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Happy Fourth!


Our family July 2010
This is sad that this was the best shot we got out of four. Cort just woke up, Pax isn't looking, Jadie is striking a pose and Bennett looks different. At least Andy's eyes are open?
My sweet little cute baby. I want to squeeze this little boy right now, he is so adorable!
After he woke up a bit he was as happy as could be!

Three cuties! Andy's eyes are closed. BIG surprise:)!

This is what J did all weekend. Help baby Q.

I like him.

Cute baby again. Look at those lips! Don't you want to kiss them?!?!

What a great holiday the fourth of July is! So much fun! I think it is one of my favorite holidays if not my favorite! I love that is it all about family and pretty much costs up nothing! Gotta love that! It seems like all other holidays has so much prep going on and so much expense that we lose the meaning of it all. For the fourth we BBQ and maybe go out of our way to make a festive red white and blue dessert, but other than that it is all about being together.
This year we went to Branson again. We had such a great great time. Adam and Gloria were so much fun. We really had such a fun time with them. Gloria is super woman at getting us discount tickets to things and sometimes free and such a great hostess and chef. I will blog more about our trip another time, but we had such a great time!
I am so so far behind on this blog. I am still doing February. I have however done December and January, but they are back in the archives. I have not blogged because I felt I needed to do things in order, but I am going to forget that. I have a lot to do, but at least this way I just have the past to get caught up on, not the present and future! I do make these into books for a family history so I have to keep some what caught up!
So here are a few shots from Glo's camera since I still do not have mine. I am still sad about that! They turned out pretty cute, although once all the outfits are clean again I am going to retake pics of all the cute outfits that didn't really show up in the photos!

Hope every one had a great fourth of July!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Do you hear that???

It is quiet in my house right now. I hear the air conditioner running. That is it. It is after midnight and I find myself having an occasional late night like this once in a while. It really is the only quiet time I get! Sometimes I just have to do it.

  • Oh gosh did we have a great vacation. Can I just live on the beach please? It all went so well. I loved that we went from the beach to the pool to the beach to the pool and repeat a dozen times. It was heaven. I was hoping that the kids would like that "low key" type of thing and they did great. It was amazing. Having Andy with us all 10 days straight was amazing. Too bad there is that pesky making a living thing we get to do! I will for sure blog a whole post just on our vacation. Amazing.

  • When standing in line to see the princesses for the seventh time, I turned on my camera and it read no images. I instantly felt tears. Luckily thanks to some great people I was able to recover all my 761 photos when I got home. I am so so thankful to them and being able to find them. It was just such an amazing time I really wanted the photos to look back on.

  • This week since we pretty much ate out the last two weeks, I have really been into cooking. I mean I cook everyday, but I was so excited to get back in my kitchen and cook for my kids. I like knowing what they are eating. I have tried a new recipe every day this week and they have been wonderful. I got them all out of the real simple magazine. It was a good issue I tell ya. Plus I have been able to freeze an extra meal every night too which has been great. I am so grateful I like to cook, since it is a big part of my career if you know what I mean!

  • Our garden is absolutely amazing! My herbs make the whole back yard smell wonderfully. We got tons of strawberries this year and our veggies are really doing great. I can't wait to be having our veggie filled meals again. I also got a juicer for Christmas and I am excited to use that with all our veggies and fruits.

  • Two days ago we had three accidents. I was upstairs getting ready for church and Bennett came running up crying saying that Maddox's head was bleeding really bad. I ran downstairs and could not believe my eyes. I have never EVER in my whole life have seen more blood. He stood there and saw my expression and said, "it's ok, mom, I all better, I'm just bleeding". I think he was in shock, because he was acting like nothing was going on. I started to cry because I felt like I was going to faint and I hate hate hate that I can't do blood. I couldn't comfort him. I knew if I walked closer I would pass out and then what would the kids do? I called Andy in his meeting and crying said come home come home! Poor guy, I am sure I scared him. He got here in 3 minutes and took over. He loves that type of thing. Not our kids being hurt, but taking charge and getting the job done. Turns out he had a cut in his head, but it wasn't that big at all. The head really bleeds. Let me just tell ya, it really gushes fast! Then at my grandparents house Cortland dropped a brick on his toe and broke it and got a nice cut out of it as well, then on the way into our house poor little Paxie fell and scraped up his whole right side of his face and he doesn't look so great. I wanted to wrap Bennett and Jadeyn, the only two who didn't get hurt, in bubble wrap to cover my bases for the day! We all survived and went to bed very grateful it wasn't anything more serious.

  • Paxton is really getting old. I just realized he is a few months older now than Maddox was when Paxton was born! I cannot believe that. It seems impossible. Paxton is so cute with babies. He loves his cousin Qyle and you can tell Paxton thinks he's such a big guy when he is holding him.

  • We have a busy weekend coming up and I am already tired just thinking about it.

  • My house is a mess because I have been devoting way too much time on my cookbook. Typing it all out, is just plain crazy. Seriously.

  • I am having a Scentsy catalog party for my sister in law Gloria. Let me know if you want something or are interested in knowing what it is.

  • I am going to be really tired tomorrow!

  • This post is really turning into a random entry.

  • This is the longest I have ever gone not being pregnant. My baby is 21 months and luckily for me he still seems like a baby. I like that about him.

  • I did not work out nearly as much as I should have on vacation and it feels so good getting back on my routine. I just love it. Really. I do.

  • Sometimes I wish I didn't have to be so detail orientated even though it is mostly my best trait I think.

  • My kids are so lucky to have my mom around. She just loves them so much! We are going to her work picnic tomorrow. It is always a good time.

  • I was thinking about getting the "bob" but I guess I will wait. I always wear my long hair up. Partly because I like it off my neck, partly because I work out every day and it gets hot and partly because I am a mom. To FIVE kids. Who had time to use the flat iron everyday? Not me. You probably guessed that answer, right? Andy say's it is a no go because my face is too round. Thanks hun.

  • I think once a month I am going to post all my facebook entries on my blog so I can look back and see what I was up to. I think FB has kind of taken over the blog revolution. It is kind of sad.

  • We are thinking about taking a little trip to vegas/cali this summer just Andy and I to visit some of the greatest people on earth. Still not sure, they don't even know yet.

  • At night I dream about getting Andy's whole family together and what it would take to make it happen. Can I win the lottery and get everyone home and rent a huge house for every one to stay in? I guess I can't win, if I don't play, right?

  • I really miss Chicago. Still. We want to go back for a visit, {it has been three years!}, but I am afraid I will miss it too much when I get back there.

  • Maddox's eyes have a sparkle in them. He is still so teeny tiny with dark chocolate eyes and 100% delicious.

  • Have I mentioned my house is a mess. Any want to clean some bathrooms? Am I the only one that ALWAYS HAS SEVERAL THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST! My head spins thinking about all I have to do.

  • My sister in law Cami has become of the age of babysitting! It is awesome. She is awesome. She always comes with special treats and things planned. It is awesome. She is awesome!

  • I love spending time with my husband. I love that night when we are going to bed we talk for ever as if we didn't just spend the whole evening together and on the phone over his lunch. I just love him. I just love our relationship!

  • Jadeyn actually performed in her recital. I thought there was about a 15% chance she would and she did it. I was so happy for her because she loved it. She looked so beautiful. She knows every single word to Don't stop believing by Journey, thanks to the Glee CD.

  • The three middles are playing TBall. It is Oh. So. Cute.

  • Sometimes I wish we lived in the south. Or the west. But right now the South. Georgia? North Carolina? It would be fun. On our way home form FL Andy and I both agreed we would live somewhere new and fun if it weren't for our families and more in particular he said, my mom. Not to mention my whole entire family lives here. We would be silly to get up and move.

  • I dream about custom building a home someday.

  • I can't believe I have a fourth grader. He is so old. Maybe about 2 inches shorter than me and his foot is 2 sizes bigger than mine. It is weird hearing about every one dealing with the summer and their kids not being in school. I LOVE having him home and the summers make me wish I home schooled, but the summer is really not that much different for me. 4/5 of my kids are always home. I am thinking about doing a little summer camp for the four oldest this summer. We will have to see. Since I was bad bad I didn't get Bennett signed up for baseball in time and I am thinking martial arts for the summer. I hear it does great things for responsibility and character building.

  • I saw the new Kate plus eight preview and her life makes mine look like a walk in the park, without four children four and under.

  • I wish I had Mrs. Duggars' patience and calm tone. What a sweetie she is. {I think it is weird her daughter in law calls her Mrs. Duggar. Weird}

  • Now that it is REALLY late I guess I should sign off.

  • I really hate all the medical bills we have. People are always talking about how having children is so expensive. More food can get pricey I suppose, but there are so many ways to save. Medical bills are crazy though. I have medical bills every month from whatever reason. Not to mention our 1000 deductible and the 600-900 we pay EVERY SINGLE MONTH. It is insane.

  • Cortland's tenderness is so tender. I love that boy. He is adorable. I wish I was hugging him right now.

  • Ok, now it really is too late. What a crazy post. I will probably look at this tomorrow and make a mental note to not blog so late. I may wish I hadn't.

  • Can I go back on vacation with my 6 great people??? Please?
  • Pretty please?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I will sleep well tonight

What a day I have had. I have to say though even this day had it's moments of sunshine, on a very rainy day, but there were moments that I thought were gonna be tough.

It started after going to bed last night at 2:30 am. Yes, you read that right. My kids got to bed early at midnight. It is the bad with the good of family visits. So we woke up very tired. All of us needed more sleep. I walked into Paxton's room who was covered in Poop. Yes you read it right. Fun right? So I rushed him downstairs and started a bath for him. Then we all got ready to head to the gym, but we need to take a little detour to pick up my mother's day gift. I was so excited. I get there and hate it. I wanted to cry. I didn't take it with me and am hoping for some sort of resolution. My wonderful husband spent way too much money on something I don't LOVE LOVE LOVE. So I leave there and had two strikes against me for the day, but still in a happy mood. As I was driving to the gym I can't help but notice some red marks on Maddox that I am hoping are still the markings of his war with the red marker from the other day. When we get to the gym and I investigate more, no such luck. Major rash. MAJOR. In my nine years of being a mom I have never had to deal with rashes. I get every one back in the car because I can't very well take a crazed looking child into the gym and head to Andy's office. We finally get to Andy's office and he agrees, he has no idea what it is. He suggests going to the Walgreen's a mile away to their take care clinic. I fear taking all four little ones with me and my great husband of mine convinces me that the sweet ladies in his office would be happy to keep the twins. I hug him and head to Walgreen's. This is where I get to the part where I impressed myself with how calm I remained. I am pretty calm in most situations. When it comes to my children and their safety I can become a whole other animal.

I walk back to the take care clinic and after waiting for a few minutes and putting my name on the list which says number one the lady which I am assuming was a PA comes out and says can I help you. I say please. She says are you in a hurry because I am in a training right now and then I have to take my lunch in 15 minutes and there is four people ahead of you and I am sure three of them will show up and blah blah blah blah blah. She went on for at least 15 minutes I kid you not. Then I say, well can you just tell me if he has a rash you probably can only take benedryl for it and call it good right? She says no, there are other things and with some things you don't want to take Benedryl. She says you can come back at 3 or 8. Then I say goodness I wish in the time you have taken to tell me you cannot see my child, you just would have seen my child and I could be on my way. She says to me, and I quote again, "No it has been 15 minutes we need 20 minutes per check up." I tell her that I dropped off my two four year olds at their dads office inconvenience them so I would not have to inconvenience you and I will not be able to stay till three or come back at eight. She then says, well I can't help you. I was so so mad. Still holding on to my cool though.

So as I am walking out I bump into the store manager and I ask her if I had a little problem with the take care clinic lady would I talk to you about that or them directly. She sad I could talk to them, but she was interested in knowing what happened. I told her the whole thing and she said she knew personally no one was waiting so that was why we went from number one to number 5 she put in fake names and she was not in training. She told me that she would make sure that her boss knew and that the PA would not be happy with what the manager had heard. I did feel kind of bad for "telling", but I did call Walgreen's and tell them how very happy I was that their manager validated my concerns and was so understanding.

So I try to call my pediatrician and somehow my phone was messed up and I could not hear the people on the other end. So I call Andy's cell phone and yell into my phone not knowing if he can hear me since I can't hear them and ask him to call the peds office and make an appointment. He calls back and says he made one for three. I had about an hour to kill. I took the kids to McDonald's {yuck} and decided to run by Verizon to figure out my phone. He gave me a crash course on my blackberry and guess what folks? I now know how to text!!!!! I am moving up to the 21st century! So I figured that all out and went straight to the doctor.

I got to the doctor and the NA said, man I am at a loss. So my Pediatrician came in and said, "Oh it's hives and just give him some benedryl." I was happy with that diagnosis. I just didn't want to hear something bigger was going on and this was just a symptom. While I was in there my SIL was waiting at our house to hang out. I wanted to get home to her, but realized I had to get Bennett and then realized that he had already gotten on the bus so I asked my mom to come wait for him. Oh boy. What a day. Then I got home and luckily the graduation party that was supposed to be at our house was moved to the church because of the rain.

On the way home I am telling Andy that what was going on and after the conversation Bennett asked me if I thought he said did you get mad at Walgreen's, but he said did she get mad at Walgreen's. I said no I didn't get mad, and Bennett said, "no mom I know you didn't get mad, you never get mad." I am so happy that the boy that has seen me in most moods thinks I never get mad. That made the end of this crazy day SO much better. I love that boy, I love my boy that has a rash, I love my other boys, I love my girl, my mom, my husband, my sister in law. All those people were in my mind and that was how I got through this crazy day. Life is not all that bad and I can't tell you how many times I said, it could be a lot worse.

I do have to mention the most ironic part of this day. When I was getting our food, if you can call it that, at McDonald's, the guy said to me, "Wow it is great to see a smile on your face, it is nice to know someone is having a great day. I can tell you no one in here is having a good day and no one that has come through this line has had a good day." Wow.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

A mental picture

This morning as we were walking into church I reminded the little ones that they were singing in church today. Last time they did this, they did not want to go up. So I was wondering how they would do this time.

When the time came they all ran up and even little Maddox who is not yet in primary {he missed the cut off date by 6 days} ran right up. I didn't stop him. He thinks there is not age difference between him and J and C, so why not?

Seeing all four of my little ones up there singing Mother I love you, I could not tell you how very happy my heart felt. I just was so full of Joy. The tears were flowing before a note was sung. The three little ones were on the steps and Bennett was right next to them. They were all together standing with such satisfaction. Jadeyn had her hand over her heart the whole time. I guess she thought the pledge of allegiance was next. Maddox stood there with his hands in his linen khaki pant pockets with a huge beaming smile across his face as to say, I am doing it and loving it! Cortland who was watching me mouth, "sing sing sing" , because for some reason they were so pleased with themselves being up there that they forget they were there to sing!, was mouthing back to me with his eyes squinting, "I don't know this one!". Then we have sweet Bennett who would never consider not doing what he was supposed to be doing, was singing away looking almost too tall to be in primary. It was a sight. A picture in my mind that I hope to never ever ever forget. A picture worth a thousand words. A picture that will be essential to my memories of being the mom to these wee ones. A happy happy mothers day to me!!!

Motherhood

Motherhood is the thing I am most grateful for in my life. It is a word that I have dreamed of, a word that I have adored and hoped for for most of my life. I remember being in the fourth grade and sitting at my desk waiting for others to finish their weekly spelling test, while doing so I would jot down the names of my future children. I would write their first and middle names and probably the last name of the boy I had a crush on that week, but I just could not wait to meet those little ones. I specifically remember thinking, my life can move fast up until I become a mom. Now every night at the end of the day I am pleading for more time. More time to cuddle my babies, more time to read stories, more time to play catch or help Jadeyn "potty train" her dolly, more time to teach new things, more time to bathe little bodies, more time to caress a tear filled cheek, more time to cheer up, encourage, comfort. Just MORE TIME!! I just love what I do. I just love motherhood. I love that I always knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. I love that even though it isn't necessarily "in style" or revered as success, I love staying home with my little ones. I love being at the crossroads in their lives and them being able to know I am here. Period. I am thankful that this doesn't feel like a sacrifice to me most of all. I know it is a blessing. It is a blessing that I could not be more thankful for. Five beautiful healthy children and a loving supportive husband that loves me for wanting to be a good mom and loves me still when I feel I fall short. If I could go back to that fourth grade version of me with a horrible gone wrong perm, I would say, you think it will be great, but you just have no idea. Motherhood is everything you want it to be and then a lot lot more.

****One day while helping Andy do the yard work, I was cutting the lawn in the back. Paxton just wanted to be by me and hold my hand. We cut the whole back yard almost, hand in hand. It was so adorable. I had to get a picture. He as looking up at me in this photo. I love this picture.****

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Changing the World


It is two am right now and obviously I am not tired. Well I think I am tired, but cannot fall asleep.


Tomorrow the Easter Bunny is coming to our home. It should be fun and the kids are pretty excited except poor little Maddox could not fall asleep and all he kept saying was, "I don't want the big bunny to come to my house to bring me eggs. I do not want candy. I do not want eggs." I guess the thought of a big bunny trespassing on his territory does not sound like a good time to him. Anyway, my mom came up this evening to help us get things ready and we have both been really wanting to see the film The Blind Side. We finally got around to watching it, but by the time we got every thing ready, eggs died, kids in bed, we did not get the movie started till almost midnight. This is why I am still up. With a movie like that, I can't just go to bed. My little brain will think about it for hours and then I will blog. Boy how I wish we would have started this around, oh say, 7?


This movie to me was just awe inspiring. Like the kind of inspiring that just makes you want to do good. I can't help but think about "mama's" selfless personality traits, but not only that, her ability to not only want to do good, be good, but actually doing good.


There are so many little one liners in this movie that I just love. I will have to watch it again and jot them all down, they were so good and so funny. Although, Sandra B.'s accent didn't quite do it for me, I felt her. I could get a glimpse of the real lady who recognised a boy in need. Wow how I wish I could be more like her.


As I was trying to fall asleep I was thinking about how I most likely will not invite a boy from the hood to live with us, there is a chance I suppose, but probably not, but that does not mean I cannot give or reach out a helping hand. I was thinking about all the things I could do to make a difference in someones life. At that moment I realized, I am making a difference in five lives right now pretty profoundly if you ask me. Yes these five deserve better than me there is no question about that, but I brought them into this world, I nurture them, care for them, love them with out exceptions, dodt on their every word, and try really hard to raise them into being upstanding citizens, that will work hard, care for others and perhaps change someone else's life. How great is that, that I get to have that kind of influence on five little ones at the moment, but someday they will be capable of doing great things.


Andy did not watch the movie with us because he fell asleep with Maddox trying to keep him content while thinking of a huge rabbit knocking at our door, but when I came to bed he asked how it was, and all I could say was it was amazing how she changed the world. By one simple act of kindness. Yes it turned into a pretty big deed, but originally she was just lending out a helping hand with a kind word and a gesture. He said she is changing the world? I thought about it a minute and realized, she may not have changed THE world, but she sure did change his world.

I think that maybe as I become better at serving those around me I will be more aware of looking for my "blind side" moment. I may not think of it being a big thing, but it sure could be pretty big to someone else.
PS how do you spell dodt?:)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

10%

So last year I did this weight loss contest per say. I was really trying to get in shape and was well on my way when my friend started this contest and I thought I might as well do it while I am already trying I could make some money while doing it. I did lose the 10 % I needed to and was very happy about it. Then at the beginning of this year she decided to do it again. Unfortunately I still needed to lose a lot more after the 10% so I jumped on board again. With only .6 more to go, I am fairly confident I will do well this time too and plan on using my "earnings" to buy some new not baggy clothes. Which is always nice. Even my workout clothes are messy looking on me.

This time around I kicked it in gear. I have made it to the gym at least 5 days a week. My weight loss workout of choice is the treadmill. If I do it right I can really drop the lbs by doing cardio. I usually do about 3.5 miles everyday altering back and forth from 1 percent incline, for my break, but at a fast speed for every half mile then I go to a 10% incline for half a mile. I like to change it up to keep it fun. I really actually like being on the treadmill. It is relaxing to me. Then besides that I have a series of arm weight workouts I do every other day and then Zumba which has become my personal favorite. I usually get that in about 3 times a week on the evenings. This along with eating right and not eating after 7 and lots and lots of water has really done the trick. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but I can see progress and that is always nice.

The one thing that has been really frustrating is my stomach. I was doing crunches along with Andy everyday. I felt like the stronger my stomach was getting the more and more pregnant I looked. I had more people asking me if I was pregnant after losing weight than they did before. That was weird. After some researching about a rectus diastasis and a good friend who I refer to as a "recti guru" I have realized sit ups are my worst enemy. I was actually told bythis guru and a surgeon that doing sit ups are the worst possible things I could be doing for myself. That is a relief. I saw a surgeon last week and she confirmed my diastasis and warned me about several hernias she found in my abdomen. This is actually good news for me. I could not understand for the life of me what was going on. I cannot get anything done surgically until I am done having children, but in the meantime my guru feels that she can help me and I am really excited about that. BTW her name is Bonnie, not really guru and she has a really cool blog about belly's after babies. Click on her name to check it out.

I am really excited about this weight loss adventure, although I adore my children the 10 extra pounds I have put on with each one of them I do not adore. I hope to stay strong on this journey and the next pregnancy have more energy and not put on an extra 10! That would be ideal.

Together

I love Cortland in this one, like I am ready to go people, let's get this over with!


I am pretty sure Bennett was the best one in this shot. Like seriously I cannot hold this smile anymore!

When we were getting the kids birthday pictures taken I wanted to get a couple of group shots especially since I did not get their Christmas photos taken, which still makes me sad, but anyway, they all turned out pretty well. They sat well and most of the pics were pretty good. I have to say though my favorite shots were the last ones. They are so candid and so funny what all the kids are doing. The photographer was looking at all the shots to make sure she got a good one and told the kids to hold on a minute and she got some shots of what they were doing while waiting. It was so cute. I love it. They all have such great personalities. These five have just all stolen my heart. I am addicted to my kids. Really. I am.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

My {little} baby Paxton


Paxton's 18 Months Pictures
Paxton was a little ham taking these pictures. Since he is 18 months I was wondering if we would be able to keep him still, but he did a great job.
Anyone who is afraid to have kids should take this baby for the day. I have been pretty lucky with easy babies, but this baby takes the cake. He is so easy it is insane. He eats when we eat, he sleeps when I put him down, he never cries he goes with the flow, he loves the adoration he receives from his older siblings. He is just hands down super easy.
I love when I get him up in the morning and put him down to sleep. When I get him up he points at everything in his room and oohs and ahhs like he has never seen it before. When I put him down I give him his little clutchie and he lays down and snuggles with it then I put the covers over him and he says nite nite. It is seriously like my favorite times of day. Just so sweet.
He is into running now. It is so cute to see him run. I love watching it too. He is also easy to get to laugh. He loves giving high fives and if i laugh after he does it he belly laughs as if it was the funniest thing he has ever heard. I love it. He can feed himself and does really well with a spoon. He is getting So big, it is kind of sad. I just love this stage of life.
This poor boy I think has had an ear infection every day of his life it seems. I have an appointment next month finally to see about getting tubes. Hopefully that will mean no more ear infections. Even with constant ear infections he never complains.
I have to say I am a big fan of 19 kids and counting. I watch that show and amazed by how calm the mother is. She makes me want to be better. Right now they have their 19th child in the NICU and every time I watch and episode I cry and cry. It in some ways feels like yesterday we were there with Paxton and those days in there were the hardest of my life. The emotions you experience in a situation like that are unbelievable. I am so happy my little guy is healthy and so vibrant and full of life. I feel blessed beyond belief.
Thank you Paxie for being you. I love it!








My man, Cortland

Cortland's Four Year Pictures



Oh my little Cortland. I have to say that all my kiddos have their own little "specialness" to them, yet they are also so much alike. They are all sweet. Cortland is sweet and so tender and kind. He is just a little ball of gentleness. He can get boyish at times as far as being loud and running around, but it is not often. He is super laid back and just goes with the flow. He would honestly sit on the couch all day long and watch Lazy town or read books. He is in no way hyper by any means. Just a tender little boy. When he gets tired even around nap time, he heads up stairs and tells me he is getting his blankies. He brings them down and wipes them on his cheeks. He has three that he loves. He is my only child that is or was ever in love with blankets. I adore this trait. He is just so fun.

His cheeks are extra squishy which makes him the one that gets kisses all the time. I can't keep my lips off of him. When I call him a little ducky because when he kisses his lips remind me of a ducks bill, he says, "No, Moo Cow." I guess he feels more like a cow than a duck? Who knows, but it is cute. He is really into exercising and sports. He is always talking about playing soccer and baseball again. He is our athlete in the family for sure.

Cortland is also the most obedient one of the group. If anyone is doing something that he knows is not ok, he will kindly tell them mom does not like that, and then and comes to tell me. He almost always listens. He will stay in the time out step all day if I forget to let him off. He hates to disappointus and days later he will say something like, mom I am so sorry I spilt my drink. He is still thinking about and still feels bad about it. He literally takes himself to bed for naps and bedtime. I SO wish the others were like this.

He is such a sweet little boy. I can't even tell you how lucky I feel to have little Cortland with me everyday. It is such a treat!











They are just so cute. They really do have a special bond I think. Lately I have seen how much older they are and sound. It is weird. They finally get the whole twins thing too. The other night when I was reading them a story they were telling me, as if I wasn't aware, that Bennett came by himself, Maddox came by himself and Paxton came by himself, but they wanted to come together. Jadeyn said that and then she said, "you remember that Cortland?" To which he replied, "I do Jadeyn, I wouldn't let you here without me!" So adorable just like them!
One more thing on the whole twins thing. I have mentioned before how I always wanted twins since I can remember. I had no idea how amazing it would really be. It is far better than I thought. I feel so blessed to be their mom and be on this twin journey with them!




Miss Jadeyn

Jadeyn's Four Year Picture


Oh my little Jadeyn girl. I just love this girl so much. I am completely confident that she could run our house pretty well on her own. She is constantly taking care of things. Putting dishes in the sink, consoling Maddox when he is sad, holding Paxton when he needs love, sorting laundry, cleaning up toys, setting the table, helping me in the kitchen which is her favorite thing to do. She is just the little mama. It is truly so adorable.
This little girl requires a lot of sleep. If she does not get it, it is not good. She also does not do well if she knows she is disappointed in her. She has some serious determination. You don't want to mess with her, but I realize that this will be and is one of her most valuable traits in life, it makes it a little easier to understand and deal with.
She is just so sweet with her brothers. She is always so helpful to them as if she is 19 while the others are still small. She is always the first one dressed and ready to go. She is always the first one out the door and is always the one who knows what it going on. Her memory is a little frightening at times. Two weeks ago they started learning their tap song and she came home that night singing a song by Mr Blue Eyes himself. She knew practically every single word. She sang it all week. When we went to dance the next week she told her teacher she loved that song and the teacher told me that was the first night they learned it. How she knows most of the words is beyond me. It's talent.
I just love having her as my daughter. My partner in crime living in the boy dominated home!


The lady doing the pictures was obsessed taking the twins pictures together. That is why there are so many!

Mr. Maddox

Maddox's Three Year Pictures
I still am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Maddox is three. Since he came so quickly after the twins, his life has been cherished, don't get me wrong, it just seems as if it has gone extra fast.

Maddox is still the sweetest thing around. He is the most huggie child I know. I am getting hugs and kisses randomly all day long. I love it. He is also still soo tiny. We call him teenie tiny still too. Last week at the doctor's office he weighed 3 ounces more than Paxton. We can never find pants that stay up on that child. I have put on Paxton's 18 month pants to see if those would stay up and they don't! He is just a petite little thing.

I love that Maddox fully believes he and the twins are the same exact age. To him there is no difference. His little personality is quite the jokester too. He likes to say things in a funny way to be funny. He is starting to say such big words too. My baby is not quite a baby anymore.

Maddox is such a fun little addition to our family. There is no doubt in my mind that the child I was so nervous about having is totally meant to be in our family. He is an essential key to our home!