Baby makes a catch...

Luckily we don't have poisonous toads here...I kept having to tell Baby not to kiss the toad! I heard her laughing out front. I came out to see what was so funny and she had the toad right up to her face looking eye to eye..."dood doad, dood doad" = good toad, good toad.

We are so lucky to live in a place with so much entertaining nature about us. We are blessed.

Responsibilities...

My biological father died in July of this year. He was 56 years old. He died alone, without a wife, his siblings absent and without his children. He made a choice to live as he did. Drugs, alcohol and who knows what. He lived on the street the last several years before his death. He once told his sister he preferred it that way...no responsibilities. I've been thinking about that for some time. Responsibilities such as phone bills, dental appointments and taxes are bothersome yet there is still a sense of accomplishment when completed. Other responsibilities like children and family are a blessing, a joy...fulfillment. Without responsibilities would there be true joy in my heart? That joy when you look at your family and your chest aches because it's overflowing with unbounded love? The joy of looking at a finished project (responsibility) and knowing you did a good job, you finished what you started? I love my responsibilities.

I have been thinking on this because Doug left a small pension to us kids. I have been thinking on what I should do with the money. I don't want to fritter it away on dinner out, a new pair of shoes, etc. Some will go towards my responsibilities like the phone bill but I think I will purchase myself a new quality digital camera with a good lens with the rest of it. I would like to capture my children's youth with the fuzzed out background of a good lens.

cool homeschool...

This is my first year homeschooling our oldest. My sister, Loral, has been homeschooling her children for a couple of years. I am so blessed to have her helping me make the transition from public school to homeschooling. I am feeling a tad overwhelmed at the moment....afraid I will "mess up" the children's education. Our activities yesterday helped to alleviate some of the anxiety I've been feeling. We had a great time "learning" at the beach. We are working on a dinosaur lap book. We had a fossil lesson and looked for fossils. We found many and had a swim too!

Jedi (new nickname for my ds,4) and Butch (nickname for my nephew, also 4) have recently developed a closeness that warms my heart. (pic below) Up until last week their visits together have been wrought with tears, anger and frustration. Just over the last few visits there has been a remarkable transformation into best buds. The other night I saw them talking and sharing what appeared to be an inside joke. Jedi laughed while giving Butch a pat on the back...like, "Good one, bud!"

Tumbles (my niece, 10) stays over on Wednesday nights so we can do life skills for girls while Jedi stays with my sister to life skills for boys. Here the boys learn about screwdrivers and practice their "righty tighty, lefty loosey."


The girls are working on a doll pattern generously offered as a freebie on One Red Robin. Her dolls are simply delightful! Last night we traced off the pattern and next week we'll delve through my scrap stash for the perfect fabric combinations.

Hobbit House

The kids and Ken built a really neat fort yesterday that reminds me of a hobbit house. It is very round and squat. It brought back wonderful memories of when I was about d8's age...Loral, our cousin Bonnie and I built a teepee in the woods behind our Gran and Paw's house. That thing stood for at least 12 years. I hope our littles have as much fun in their fort as we did.

What's Cookin'?

Rosemary and Garlic turkey cutlets, dill redskins and cuke/tomato/feta salad. The rosemary dish is one of my favorites and you can use chicken or turkey.

Rosemary Dish

Preheat oven to 400

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 small onion chopped

1 TB chopped fresh rosemary

1 TB olive oil

1 TB Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

combine ingredients and spread over meat....bake for about 45 minutes or until done. Voila!

Baking....it is her talent

One of my sister Loral's many talents is baking...mmmmm...look at that cheesecake! That was her first attempt at cheesecake and let me tell ya...it was absolutely worthy of being served in a topnotch restaurant. Last night Loral's family came over for the evening. We had a blast, laughing and talking. Pizza, cocktail shrimp, cheesecake and good company, what could be better? We played a game of Fact/Crap. Yes, Loral won ;-) Next time I'm thinking we'll try Spades.

Our burly men...Todd and Ken.

Baby's baby

I am planning to make Laurel aka "Baby" a soft doll and wardrobe for Christmas. I decided to try my hand at a mini one before I invested money in the mohair hair and dolskin for the body. While researching I found this adorable free pattern Laurie S. Wagner. I was able to make it up while d2 took a nap this afternoon.

Okay, so I know d2 is not a "baby" anymore but s4 insists it is her first name and d2 is her second name...just like his Aunt Loral's second name is Baby. ;-) Loral Baby and Baby d2. I can't help but get a chuckle thinking there may be a Patrick Swayze in d2's future saying, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"

Babies on Ponies

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesturday we had a delicious lunch and cake at my sister, Loral's house, to celebrate my mom's birthday. The food was fabulous and the company terrific. Happy Birthday Mom!

shelter from the storm...

ahhhh....the smell of rain then the kids scramble for cover

a mad dash to the house when the thunder rolled!

Kindly lift my friend Krista's family in prayer. Several members of her family were in a severe car accident. Her ds Noah, 9, is in i.c.u. for a lacerated spleen and her mil and mil's sister are hospitalized with multiple fractures in need of surgery. That is her youngest son,Mathew, in the fort with s4 and d8. Thank goodness he and his father weren't injured. Thank Him in his mercy.

Making Room

A couple weeks ago d8 had 2 teeth pulled to make ready for her new expander. Yesterday we went in to have her impressions made. It was super cool! It was just like Playdoh barbershop...with the stuff oozing through the tiny holes. My niece and I just giggled while it squished out. d8 was a total trooper of course. The dentist and hygienist just love my kids, especially d8. The girl doesn't even flinch while getting shots. "She's a toughy" as my Aunt Lynn would say.

3 weeks we go in for her dental appliance. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will fix most of her dental woes and we won't need 6 years of braces. d8's first question was, "will I be able to take it out on Halloween for candy?!?" Rest assured, she will. :-)

We were blessed to have most of my family over on Monday for a BBQ. We had a wonderful visit. The menfolk sat outside and talked shop and us women enjoyed a nice chat in the living room. My little sister, Coco, and her boyfriend, Derrick, brought over his racing 4 wheeler. He was a total sweetheart and took all the kids for a spin. He's a very nice hardworking young man.

s4 and Derrick...s4 totally looks up to Derrick. It's so cute. s4 is always trying to impress him with how. And I think Derrick likes to impress s4 too.

Here are Colette, d2 and Derrick. They went SUPER slow. d2 doesn't look like she was having fun but as soon as she was off she wanted another go.

We finally had some rain...too late for our farmers but it was nice to have the fire level taken down a notch. Hopefully we'll be able to burn leaves this fall.

blessings to all!

Tie Dye Baby!

We received this awesome dress today from Jen of tie*dye*diva*designs. d2 absolutely loves it. These are top quality and very affordable so check 'em out.

Abi rides Champ from Spring Bean and Vimeo.

Here's d8 riding Champ. Miss Jakki gave us some good news. We might be able to do indoor lessons this winter at the club she works for. Woo hoo...d8 is thrilled she might not have to ride in the bitter cold this winter. Please excuse the camera fumble at the end...I thought the camera wasn't working.