27/365

Wednesday morning the kids woke up to a light covering of "white" on the grass. They were so excited they wanted to go play in the "white stuff" :) They had no idea that more "white stuff" was on the way later that day.... So after breakfast I had no problem asking the boys twice to take the garbage out. In fact Madison even "volunteered" to do the boys chore that morning(wish it was like that EVERY morning :) ) Andrew had just received a new, well new to him, raincoat from our good friend Cindy. He hadn't worn it yet so I told him he could wear it to take out the trash since it had just started rain/snowing again. As you can see he was excited...he was going out in the "white stuff" AND wearing his new coat! :) I love it when my kids get excited about small things (though big things in their eyes)!

25/365

This picture was not taken today but thought I would post it since I hadn't posted it to my blog yet. This is Madison and she is definitely my "girlie girl" ! She HAS to have her nails painted ALL the time,loves pink for EVERYTHING, her hair brushed and put up even if we are only staying home, always has to have lip gloss in her purse, she is usually the first to get dressed for the day(she wouldn't be the one to stay in pajamas all day), loves to go shopping with mommy(especially if we are shopping for her :)), already begging me to get her ears pieced(she has to get daddy's approval first) , and everything else, including the Attitude, that goes along with being a "girlie." Even though her mommy is totally different, she is learning to just enjoy those precious moments of painting her nails, taking her shopping and doing "girlie" stuff with her just because her mommy knows her little girl enjoys it and her mommy really enjoys spending time with daughter! I love you Madison Lea! you will always be Daddy's and Mommy's "little girl".

23/365

Ohh goodness... little Thaddaeus, I'll let you get by with it now since I highly doubt you know what you are doing but give a few years you better not try to hold any girl's hands :)

Yesterday, Brett and I had a taste of what it would be like if we had 7 children... but don't worry, grammy...like I said....IF we had 7 children :) But thankfully if the Lord did give us 2 more, we wouldn't have 7 of them 7 and under :)....they would be older but anyway, like I was saying....IF.....now back to what I was saying...we babysat 2 little children yesterday so the parent's, our friends, could have a day out by themselves. Their little boy is 2 and their newest addition is 2 months younger then Thaddaeus. You can tell by the pictures that Thaddaeus likes having a playmate.

22/365

I love my baby's feet! He is going to have great toes for "pinchers"....mommy is going to make sure of that :)

On Friday the kids and I went down to DC to the Museum of Natural History. We took a friend of ours, Theresa Ward with us and it was the first time for all of us. The kids love animals so they really enjoyed this museum. There was a lot of good information about the different animals but then there was a lot of junk about how the animals were "evolved." When Nathanael would read about "millions of years ago" or "evolved" about the animals, he would say very bluntly " no mom, God made us" or "it didn't happen millions of years ago". I was so proud of him that he didn't mind saying out loud that he disagreed about what had been written. So even though this museum has some cons, it was good to see how my son could pick out the information that was false and I could also impart to the other children that God made us and we just didn't "evolve".

15/365

My son Nathanael loves to draw. Where he gets that I have no idea since neither his daddy nor I can draw much. But I am so glad he enjoys it. and I may be biased but I think he does pretty wel,l seeing he is only 7 and has had no one to teach him...most of what he draws is things he has seen and he can just go draw it...pretty amazing kid! I have had to buy a couple folders to keep all his pictures in. I try to date them so one day he can look back and see how he has progressed over the years. He drew this one for daddy the other day since his daddy used to fly in planes....but I think he forgot daddy was in the Air Force not the Army :)

14/365

Just a picture of our lunch on Tuesday...salad and pizza...one of my favorites recently. Eating pizza always leaves me feeling blah but eating salad with it, well I feel better knowing I ate something healthy with the greasy stuff :) And lately the kids, especially the boys, are even ASKING for a salad! Can you believe that! Its hard trying to get veggies down them but salads they love; so mommy has been buying lots of lettuce lately. At least I found one healthy food they all like to eat :) My mommy would be proud of her grandchildren because she loved her salads too!

13/365

Thaddaeus is such a happy little fellow. He is now almost 6 month old and he loves to smile!Even when he has kept mommy up ALL night, he can still put a smile on mommy's face by just giving her a grin like he is doing in this picture.....then mommy forgets how tired she is and she has to love on him :) He just learned how to sit up on his own and enjoys being able to sit and play with his other siblings....I think he thinks he is a "big guy" now that he can sit up :) So thankful the Lord gave us Thaddaeus! And Dawn do you recognize the PJ's :) These are the ones you bought for Nathanael and they have gone thru all three boys :) hard to believe that Nathanael used to wear these......

12/365

One day last week I was trying to get the other children ready so I asked my little mommy's helper to help me with feeding Thaddaeus, who at the time was LOUDLY letting everyone in the house know that he was hungry and that he wanted it NOW! Madison did a great job in helping quiet the house that night and relieving some stress that was building up in mommy :) And as you can see Thaddaeus was quite a happy camper and so was mommy! Thank you Madison...I love you and so glad you love to help mommy with Thaddaeus!

Well I am still alive, just not blogging as faithful. :) Guess I got way behind on doing a post a day. But I am back and will try to post a few pictures to catch up. I did take pictures this past week but with our church having Mission's Conference we had quite a busy week that I didn't take time to post the pictures. So here they are:

While I was folding the laundry I looked over to check on Thaddaeus and he was completely out as you can see :) He was sooo cute with his mouth completely open I had to take another picture :) Wish I was doing that right now but I know the minute I go to sleep he will awake ....

11/365

Does this look familiar? :) A basket overfilling with laundry...

I needed to do laundry yesterday but put it off and today I really didn't want to pull it out and start knowing it would be a full day chore if not two days. Reluctantly though I went ahead and pulled it out,and by the way there are 2 big baskets not just that one :), and began filling my washer. But as I was filling it the Lord reminded me to be thankful that I do have clothes to wash. Not only being thankful for the clothes but for the 6 precious people the Lord has given me and I have the privilege, you might say, to wash their clothes!I am so grateful for the family the Lord gave me and I need to keep a positive attitude when washing clothes because one day they will be all gone and I will, I'm sure miss washing their clothes. ( I mean my children will be out of the house....Lord willing Brett will stick around :) )

10/365

" Oh wow! What is this stuff?"

These pictures were from this past Saturday when we got about in "inch" of snow :) We took Thaddaeus out this time and it was his first time in the snow....he didn't really smile too much so dont' know if he liked the cold stuff. But the other kids sure did! Even though we only had about an inch it was good packing snow for snowballs so we all had a good snowball fight! Mommy got daddy a couple good times when he least expected it :)

8/365

This morning we woke up to about a foot of snow. It was so pretty looking out and seeing snow covering the trees and all. I only love winter when it snows :) Since today as Saturday and it is about the only morning we are all together to eat breakfast we normally have a big breakfast. This morning I made Belgium waffles. Chocolate chip, blueberry, and plain but with strawberry and cool whip on top :) That is how my mom used to make them and I LOVE it that way tho my kids think it is gross putting cool whip on waffles. But like I tell them they can't say anything negative until they have tried it :) so next time you have Belgium waffles, go ahead and put some strawberries and cool whip on it and then the syrup and I bet you will LOVE it like I do!

hot chocolate

This week I was really trying to stay away from coffee and hot chocolate which lately has been my downfall ;( but today it was a day that I needed a cup.....hey I think I can justify it since I had just come home from a trip to Target with 5 kids that were soooo in need of a nap! So can you understand my need for a cup of hot chocolate :) Good! Tho guess I will be riding my bike longer tonight but I can say it was well worth it :)
I wanted to share you the recipe for this hot cocoa...it isn't store bought :) I made a big batch of this for Christmas to give to some friends andthen for our family. it will be something I will keep in my cabinets since it is soooo good!
Candy Cane Hot Cocoa:
1 cup of powdered milk
1 cup of sugar
1 cup cocoa powder, special dark variety
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup choc chips miniature semi sweet ( I didn't have mini and they did just fine)
1/2 cup candy cane crushed
you can layer these layers in a glass quart jar to give away or just put it in a big container for the family to enjoy.
when you are ready to make a cup just put 3-4 tbl of mixture in cup of hot water and you can't forget to top it off with whipped cream! enjoy especially during "one of those days" :)

7/365

Last night I made blackberry cobbler with the kids. While we were eating Thaddaeus was sitting on daddy's lap and as you can see in the first picture he was wanting to try some like us :) so daddy gave him one bite and well he just didn't get one bite after that :) I think he liked mommy's cobbler :) I am passing on the recipe that I use. This was my mommy's and it is delicious! Definitely a favorite of the family!

2 cups blackberries

1/2 -1 cup of sugar (depends on how sweet the berries are)

2 tbl flour

dash of nutmeg or cinnamon

butter

1/4 cup of water

pie crust( I use store bought since I rarely make my own crust)

I mix the berries with the sugar, flour, nutmeg and then in pour the water. you may have to add more water if needed.you don't want too much but you don't want the cobbler too dry. Once you pour the berry mixture into a 9 *13 pan that is lined with the crust, you will slice some butter on top....not big slices just about 4 small slices then I like to add a top layer of crust. I bake it at 350 for about 20-30 min....just until the crust is light brown. Take out and enjoy with some vanilla icecream and a cold glass of milk! Or just come to my house I'll bake you some :)

tortilla soup

Ok this picture is not mine so giving credit where credit is due....Sarah Vaugh :) But I did make this soup but it was all gone before I remembered take a picture. This soup is soooo good! I didn't have corn but it was still good. Here is the recipe:
1/2 c of chopped onion
3 boneless chicken breast
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp of ground cumin
1/4 tsp of chili powder
2 cans of chicken broth
1 can of diced tomatoes and diced chilies(if you don't like too spicy just do diced tomatoes)
1 can of black beans
1 cup of frozen corn
4 tsp of cilantro
3 tbl of lim juice
2 cups of mexican cheese
sour cream
bag of tortilla chips
Put chicken with the liquids and spices in crock pot and put on high for 4 hrs. then add the beans corn, and cilantro and let simmer for an hour. then pour over chips and add cheese and sour cream and enjoy! thanks sarah weller for passing this on and thanks sarah for the picture :)

6/365

This morning I made smoothies as a morning snack. I was so tired I really craved coffee but since I am really trying to work on watching my calorie intake I decided to go healthy :) Smoothies is one way I can add anything in it and my kids love them! One of my favorite smoothies is a combination of apple juice, strawberries, bananas and then some spinach, yes fresh spinach! And believe me I dont' like spinach but in smoothies you can't even taste it and neither can the kids so I can sneak in some veggies and they don't even know :)

Doesn't that look good :) Its even colorful :)

Cailyn even thinks it good and she HATES veggies....what she doesn't know is that she is drinking some veggies...but hey she likes it so she doesn't need to know what's in it :)

5/365

Nathanael had a recipe for no bake cookies on his math paper today and he wanted to make it. The kids have helped me many times in the kitchen but they have never done it by themselves. Well today I allowed Nathanael to make these all by himself...tho I was close at hand to make sure he didn't get burned. He did so well with measuring out everything and stirring and all. He was sooo excited to have made his first cookies by himself! And mommy was happy since these cookies are one of her favorites :) So much for watching her calorie intake...guess I will be riding my bike double tomorrow!

4/365

Ok for you fans of oatmeal, this is a must! My mom used to make this a lot and since it is all natural it IS good for you :) This is how you make it:
Pour some raw old fashion oats in a bowl.

You can either use orange juice or apple juice. (I like apple juice) You are going to pour just enough juice to cover the oats. Then add honey and cinnamon and raisins. Let it set for a few min to allow the oats to soften. Then enjoy! This is a great healthy snack in the middle of the day when you are hungry and it is vey filling! So go ahead and try it and tell me what you think :)

3/365

This evening my husband requested some brownies for desert. I didn't have any "box" brownies so had to go to my "allrecipe" site and find one. The girls are always right there beside me helping me bake.....it may take longer to mix everything together and tho at times I wish I was doing it alone, I know one day I will miss my "little helpers" so I am cherishing my baking time with them now! and yes I allow my kids to lick the beaters...that is after mommy has had a couple of licks :) oh and if you notice, my oldest lost one of her top teeth last night....this is her third one....

2/365

A friend of mine is trying to get me to do a picture a day...well....this is day three and I am doing 3 today to catch up :) I will try my best Sarah to keep this up tho somedays I might be doing a couple to catch up just like I am doing today :)

So today I am posting a picture from Mt Vernon when he visited it last month with Grammy. We had such a good time. This picture is of the "gingerbread Mt Vernon". I would have loved to watch them decorate it....so talented!

1/365

My little baby is growing up too fast....he is 5 months old now! the other day I snapped this picture when he was on the floor playing with his toys...a rare moment since usually his time on the floor is limited due to his one sibling who likes to "jump" over him when he is on the floor :)

Just brought out 6 loaves of homemade sourdough bread from the oven...yum yum! Just wish I had some homemade strawberry jelly to go with it...guess I will be making that soon :) My mommy used to make this bread at least once a week sometimes 2 or 3 times and I was always close by when she brought it out of the oven...I was the taste tester for her :) My mom was known for her homemade bread and jelly. She was always making a double batch so that she could share with others. We rarely went to church without bringing a loaf of bread or some other homemade baking for someone at church. She really had the gift of hospitality!

Thaddeaus drinking bottle

My little baby is almost 5 months old! This infant stage is going WAY too fast for me! Could we slow it down some! Thaddeaus is taking a bottle now and he just started trying to hold it. But beware if he drops it he is screaming his head off! :)

playing in snow

Today we got about 1-2 inches of snow. It was our "first real" snow this year. It snowed last week but just a dusting so kids weren't able to play outside in it. but today the kids could not finish school fast enough so they could go outside to play in the snow. Even tho it was still in the low thirties mommy bundled them all up to go play, even if it was only for 20 minutes :) The snow was too soft to make snowman or even snowballs but they had fun making snow angels and then playing with their dumptrucks.