Timothy's First Snow

Yesterday, we had a "humdinger" of a snowstorm, and my two oldest boys loved playing out in the falling snow. Stephen vividly described it. He said, "Mama! I have sugar in my bowl! Sugar is falling from the sky!" :)


This is the first winter, though, that Timothy has actually understood the snow. Last winter, he was just a wee babe and I didn't take him out in it. He wouldn't have understood it all even if I did! I woke him from his nap yesterday and asked if he wanted to go play in the snow. "MMmmm Hmmm!" he said and wagged his head up and down. He was a bit leary of the snowpants and didn't want me to put them on him until I explained it would help keep him dry. I opened the door and he walked out onto the porch...and stopped dead in his tracks. He just stood on the porch for the longest time until Matthew cleared off the steps for him. He walked down the steps, only to stand in one spot in the snow! It was very cute to witness. :D I think he moved only a few steps in a half an hour.


Here are some photos of Mr. Timothy:

Salt Dough Fun!

We decided to get creative one day and make salt dough ornaments for the tree. We used all sorts of shapes- a tree, a moose, a dolphin, etc.

Here are some photos of our salt dough adventure:

Matthew grinding wheat

Stephen "organzing" cookie cutters...

The salt dough mixture (purple and green were the requested colors!)

Matthew first chose the Alaska grizzly bear cookie cutter.

Stephen making a triangle.

So proud!

The finished salt dough ornaments/shapes!

The "Chore Chart"

It seems as if deep cleaning never gets done around here, and suddenly I am sitting in the rocking chair, noticing cobwebs on the ceiling fan!

I have tried to think up a new plan of attack for this: THE CHORE CHART. (I thought I would never type those words!)

It seemed while every mama I knew was buying MOTH I was snickering that I didn't need such a thing, that I "couldn't function that way, with such a rigid schedule"! I think the rigidity of the whole thing was pushing me away from any sort of chart, but I have learned you can adapt things to YOUR life. Just because it is written one way in some book doesn't mean you need to implement it that same exact way!

So, I drew up a makeshift MOTH plan. I listed each day of the week, and put regular things to do on each day. Sundays here are days of rest, not run around days or catch up with chores days. Dishes will be done as needed then, and other emergency things as they pop up. This is a loose "chart", with room for exceptions.

Our makeshift MOTH plan goes as such:

Monday: clean bathrooms upstairs and down (2X/month clean shower and tub)

Tuesday: vacuum downstairs, laundry (wash, fold, put away)

Wednesday: full clean kitchen (spot clean floor, sweep, wipe down fridge and cabinets, etc- 1x/month clean out fridge of ickies)

Thursday- vacuum, laundry

Friday- living room/carpet room full clean (this means straighten bookshelves and other random papers, look under/in couches, etc)

Saturday- vacuum upstairs as well as downstairs, laundry

Sunday- day of rest, emergency clean up as needed

There are other things that are dailies, such as: dishes, put away toys, everyone make beds (we'll let Timothy and Rachel slide, as Timo has just a crib and Rach only a pack and play!), children bring dishes to sink after each meal and clean their respective spots-chairs and table, sweep kitchen floor.

I think this is a pretty reasonable list. There isn't so much on any given day as to swamp me and make me toss the list to the chickens. I think I can handle it. :D

Snow Day

Trees in our yard

A few stubborn leaves cling to the branches...

This is the kind of snow we lovingly refer to as "snowball" snow. I love how it clings so thick and heavy to the branches! Photos never seem to do it justice...

Snowshowers forecasted!

Looking for falling snow...

More Rachel Photos

She is growing uo so fast! These are from late October, 2007. She was 2 months old.

Splish Splash

I finally finished my first knitted washcloth! I am so pleased with it, and excited to start on other ones, as well as new projects. I am planning on making one for each of the boys, plus Dave and my mom.

This was done with #6 needles, Peaches N Creme cotton yarn (color: Fiesta Ombre)

Winterized

Timothy is our happy little man. He wanted so badly to go outside this morning with his big brothers, so I got him all suited up for the chilly weather. This is the first fall/winter for him because last January, he was just born. We didn't put mittens on him then, just tucked him snugly into his carseat bunting.

This explains why today he had a confused look on his face when I stuck his bright red mittens on. He sort of looked like a lobster (a cooked one, of course). :) His face quickly turned to what I captured in the photo when I said, "Let's go outside!"

I am Not Martha...

Note to self: Do not EVER become preoccupied while trying to put yeast into your bread dough mixture!!

I had opened the yeast bag, and started to pour some out into the tablespoon. It rushed out of the bag in a wild fury and so I thought, "Hmm, that looks like about a tablespoonful". Wrong! Yeast is one of those things you apparently must measure exactly!

Excited screeches beckoned me to the kitchen. Matthew and Stephen excitedly pointed to the bowl and errupted into gales of laughter. I didn't think it was so funny. Then, I looked at it again... I, too, started to laugh. Life is too short to get all tied up in a knot over things like this! :D

Knitpick

I got together with some good friends a few days ago and one friend pulled out her knitting to show us what she had been up to. There were knitted dishcloths/washcloths in all sorts of beautiful colors. I have wanted to learn how to knit for ages, but have either pushed it aside or gotten too busy with taking care of 4 children!

I have been thinking lately, though, about how important it is to learn these types of skills. My mother did not teach me these things, probably because her mother did not teach her. How much longer do we want that cycle to continue? I learned how to do basic crochet years ago from my great grandmother, who has now passed away. Too many women are still working nowadays to be "Titus 2" women to the younger generation. I suppose it is up to us to either seek out people who can teach us these skills, or learn them ourselves!

My friend Leah gave me address for a great how-to site on knitting! I am very excited, and I took the opportunity this morning to learn how to cast on, and do the knit and purl stitches. I have done about 5 rows so far, and it is fun. It could very well get addictive and make me neglect the children! I don't want that! ;) I will have to save it for while they are napping or in bed.

Surprise!

We just got back from my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. It was really fun, especially since the biggest surprise was seeing us, as well as my brother and his fiancee from MD. My dad had no clue! To top it off, we went home and watched the Red Sox win the 3rd game of the World Series. The next day, they swept the series. Icing on the cake, and great surprises all 'round.

Something Old, Something New

Something old: the "old" kitchen.

Something new: FRESH PAINT!!

We have finally begun to paint the "old" kitchen. We painted the ceiling, as well as the walls and what a difference it makes! I decided to get a peachy tan color (which, alas, doesn't show up well in these photos...) because it will go with pretty much whatever other color you want to throw at it. I am hoping that the next family that moves in here will be pleased with it.

My stepdad also fixed the front door so it is more secure. We still need to strip the paint off of it and repaint it. I admit that I am skittish about that, especially since there are many, many layers of old paint on the door (think "Gobstopper"!) and who knows if there is lead paint in there. Maybe I have been reading too many reports about lead paint from China, but I know it is a concern when you buy an old house, and old house this is. We are debating about using a natural paint stripping liquid. Hopefully, that will work just as well.

Then, it is off to put flooring down, do molding around windows and doors, etc. Who knew ONE room could take so long! We are also looking at finishing up the pantry... Whew!

There is a man who might be interested in the house. He is up for the hunting season, and might be stopping in this week to take a peek. Please pray that this goes without a hitch! We would love to avoid a realtor, yet we also would love to sell this place to someone who would take care of it. The housing market is already so saturated!

Gossip

Our church recently split. I got the most recent Vision Forum catalog in the mail yesterday and found this quote to be quite fitting:

"Don't be the Devil's bellows any longer to blow up the fires of strife. Leave off setting people by the ears. If you do not cut off a bit of your tongues, at least season them with the salt of grace. Praise God more and blame neighbors less. Any goose can cackle; any fly can find out a sore place; any empty barrel can give forth sound; any brier can tear a man's flesh. No flies will go down your throat if you keep your mouth shut and no evil speaking will come up. Think much, but say little; be quick at work and slow at talk; and above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips."

-Charles Spurgeon

Decisions

It is something that we have been thinking about and praying about for some time, but, finally the decision has been made. We are heading back into the military. It isn't an easy decision. It is bittersweet. There are many things which we will miss about this area (family, country living, etc), but we realize that there are great opportunities awaiting us and it doesn't mean that we cannot ever have a country life again!

As of this time, we do not know when Dave will be leaving. He was accepted for officer school in August (shortly after Rachel was born!), and is heading down to MD for his flight physical today. If he passes that, we have to wait for a class date for Officer Training School (OTS). That will be 3 months of separation, with him in AL and us up here in PA.

The military will pay to move our things down to FL, which is where we're heading after OTS. We will be on the Panhandle. I am praying for no hurricanes during that time! :)

That is about all we know right now, but if you could please keep our family in your prayers, we would appreciate it!

I am Back

I thought about closing down this blog since I don't have much time to post and I have vacillating thoughts about postings pics of my children. In the back of my mind, though, I must admit that I like these goofy blogs. I enjoy writing on them, no matter how sporadic I post, and no matter how few people actually give a hoot and read and/or post comments.

Rachel is growing way too fast. This is perhaps the first baby I have had where I enjoy nursing. In fact, last night Dave suggested that I feed her then put her down in her pack 'n play in the other room instead of having her in bed with us, and I was actually sad. :( However, I did get a nice 5.5 chunk of sleep, uninterrupted! She will sleep that much when she is in bed with us, BUT only if I sleep completely still, in one position. Lately, that has been killing my hips, so I would try to gently roll over onto my back in hopes that she would still sleep. No dice. Each time, she would wake up and start "snuffling" around for me. Hmmph. While it is cute, it is not too cute at 3:30 a.m, especially when I just fed her at 2:30 a.m! :P
So, we'll see how this new set up goes.

Rachel at 2 months

Babies sure grow fast!

The Boys Love Her...

It's a Girl

The balloon says it all...

Rachel Jewell

It is 2.5 months late, but:

Introducing Rachel Jewell
Born: August 11, 2007 1:59 a.m (why do they always want to come in the wee hours?!)
Weight: 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Length: 22.5"

Crazy Busy

Things have been so very busy around here lately. My stepdad has been coming over when he can to help Dave work on the old kitchen. It is really starting to look impressive now! We have some sheetrock and outlets and lights up now. The insulation is almost all done. That seems to take up a whole lot of time.

We have been having a rat infestation in the old kitchen, too. They want our bags of chicken feed! There is really no other "safe" place for us to store them, besides in our house. I don't really care to have the inside of our house look like a general store, though... Dave has been setting traps every night and we have caught FOUR rats so far. Call me odd, but they are kind of cute. If they didn't possibly carry diseases and such, I would consider making them a pet. I know you can get them at pet stores, too, and they don't have diseases. However, with a fourth child on the way, my life holds enough excitement without a pet at this point! It will be nice when the boys are a bit older and we can have a pet that they can be responsible for.

As I type, Dave and the two older boys are driving to the airport to pick up his halfbrother and halfsister who flew in from Alaska. They are coming to help sheetrock/do whatever needs to be done out there and around the house and help take care of the kids and let me get some rest before the baby comes. They will be here until August 30th. I have to admit, it is a hard thing for me to do, although I know it will be most beneficial in the end and I will enjoy their company.

Things are progressing well with my pregnancy. I am now at 36 wks (tomorrow!), and am feeling quite icky. You know that feeling of "Just come on out so life can go on!" This is my first summer baby, so needless to say, Mr. Air Conditioner and I have become close friends! :D The baby is way past the cute little kicking stage and into the kung fu kicking stage. I feel grumpy and hot and huge, even though everyone says I am not. I have also been having quite the pelvic pains, and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to them. I get them when I walk, when I stand up, whenever! I do have a support belt I have been wearing, but that only helps so much. I didn't go to church last Sunday, because I had been hurting so much the night before and Dave wanted me to rest! They are actually bad enough that I have to breathe through them. If only it WAS labor!!

Speaking of labor, the hospital that I go to now has installed ONE labor tub. My midwives say it is supposed to be ONLY for labor and that the powers that be would get rather upset if they found out someone intentionally gave birth in it. The midwives also said that a few women have given birth in the tub since they didn't get out in time. Now, I think to my self about how rickety I am with my pelvis and pain and such... I might just get in and not be able to get back out in time. I find my pain escalates so much when they make me get out of the shower and on to the bed to be checked! So, maybe I will have a water birth. Maybe I will have an epidural! It is hard to say right now. All I have to say is, I am not trying to be superwoman at this point. As little pain as possible would be excellent after months of this pain I have now!

So, this is why my dear husband felt that our relatives should come out sooner rather than later. My last labor was extremely exhausting and I had been worn out even beforehand, so he doesn't want that to happen again and neither do I! If his sister can take the boys outside to play and I can take a short rest on the couch, that in and of itself would be heaven! ;)

That is the update from northeastern PA! I probably won't have much time to update this while we have our guests. Have a great summer and I will be sure to update when there is baby news!

Mere Pittance

I awoke this morning with glee, knowing that it was my first berry picking excursion of the year! The boys were filled with excitement, too. I purposely didn't give them fruit this morning, knowing how they would stuff themselves with the sweet red fruit once we arrived. I picked up my mom and we drove to the berry farm. The first thing we noticed was a sign stating, "$2.25 per level quart". Ack! I had visions of the woman standing there with a ruler, shaving off the top of the quart boxes, saying, "No, no, missy! These few will have to go into another quart! You have too many!" The berries were also pretty small and not too sweet. Maybe we went a bit too early in the season?

I don't think I plan on going back, though, because of the price! I am now left wondering what would be the proper utilization of my 5 quarts of berries. YES. I only picked 5. You can only squat so much in blazing sun when you're 32 weeks pregnant! :) (I probably fed another 5 to my sons, though... Shhhh...) Jam? Shortcake? Freezing some for the winter (*snort!*)? Eating fresh? So many possibilities!

It was nice to get out for a bit, though, and talk with other people and just enjoy the sun before it got too hot. It only got unbearable toward the end... Timothy stayed in the stroller very nicely and ate what berries we brought him. He would even have his hands folded when I looked at him. Everyone who passed by had to chat him up, so that helped him not to get too itchy sitting there. He didn't like it when I got too far away, though, and I didn't want to drive the stroller into the rows for fear of mowing over what good berries there were, so I stuck close by him.

This makes me want our own berry plants and bushes that much more!!

Taming the Chickens...

Our chickens are going to be so very tame! They put up with a lot from three active little boys. Witness the torture one particular chicken we've nicknamed "The Falcon" goes through within the span of a few minutes!

Petting Zoo

Stephen Resting with a Chicken

Birdy Update

I went to the lilac bush yesterday and saw the baby robin with its eyes open! I chugged back into the house as fast as I could and grabbed my camera to capture a few shots. I am glad I did, because this morning when I went to peek, the bird flew away! How quickly they grow up and "leave the nest"! I think of the every day frustrations I go through in raising my three boys, yet I am still glad they don't grow up and leave as fast as birds do...











This is what the robin did when I spooked it-it crouched down into its feathers to try to hide.

Newborn

It is that time of year again! All of my friends have photos of baby birds on their blogs, so when Matthew found a robin's nest in one of our lilac bushes, I took a few shots of the sleeping baby bird. The boys were all in a twitter about this find and wanted so badly to touch the bird. I explained how we cannot do that, for if the mama bird smelled our scent near the nest, she wouldn't return and the baby would die. Matthew decided if he couldn't touch the nest and bird, he'd climb high into the lilac bush for a better look!

Our Trip to MA

Here are a whole slew of photos from our recent whirlwind trip to Massachusetts. Dave enjoyed seeing all of his family, and the boys enjoyed being spoiled...a lot (*cough*)... This photo is of Dave, the boys, and Dave's grandpa. The boys are watching tv, which we don't usually do. That explains the "zoned" looks. ;)

Stephen and the Sumo Wrestler...

I mean, CAT. Isn't this the biggest cat you've seen in your life? It even has diabetes! How crazy is that?

Sweet Sleep

This is how I wish the boys were alllll the time! :)