Go Baby Go

I set her down on the floor and now there is no turning back. As a result of her new found freedom- she tolerates her bouncy for shorter periods of time. She presses her face up to the playpen and smashes her nose against the mesh. She then screams bloody murder till i pick her up (you all know what i am going to say next). When I pick her up she smiles and soon her little tears fade and her nose goes from pink to white again. She coos and gurgles as if to say mommy this is where i belong - attached to your hip( I do love it). Although, I sadly have to speed through my showers and bathroom brakes. Samuel and Ethan went through the same phase, but they were a little older. When she takes a nap she would prefer to sleep on my shoulder -of course. She senses immediately when i set her down and her little eyes open wide and she starts crying again till i rescue her from her misery. I feel like the one armed woman. I have learned to do just about anything with my ONE arm. I can make sandwiches, do laundry, dress the boys, and fix my coffee ( grandma if you are reading this i am very careful not to let her get near the coffee) etc. I gave the boys room a great cleaning today and alternated their toys. They felt like it was Christmas time. Although- Ethan did hold onto his precious Thomas train so he would not end up in the toy pile scheduled to come out in one months time. After i dropped Ethan off at camp this morning i came home and plopped on my couch. I turned on the TV and watched "The Aviator." No, not the one with Leonardo DiCaprio, but the movie with Christopher Reeves. It was and older movie filmed in 1985. The acting was horrible. There was one scene where he gets attacked by wolves where i thought for sure he would rip off his shirt and turn into superman. I don't know how the movie ended. This being, simply because, the laundry beckoned, Samuel wanted to play the Wii and Ethan had to be picked up from camp. One thing is for sure, Christopher Reeve- will always be remembered as superman. In every movie he played in I can only see superman. I forgot to mention there is one exception- Somewhere in time. Its very late so i am going to get to bed. I have my coffee set on delay brew ready to greet me at 7:00 am. My mom will be coming by early with Rina after they drop off Micah and Gipa at the airport. They will be gone for 10 ten days on a mission trip to Ghana so please keep them in your prayers. My brother is taking his guitar and heading up the music for the trip. He has been practicing everyday and learning new songs that he can teach to others. Please also keep my little sisters in your prayers. My sister Andrea is on a mission trip to the Ukraine and Natalie is helping build homes with her church in Mississippi. I remember when i went on my mission trip to the Ukraine. It was one of the best experiences i have ever had. We shared Christ and held wonderful bible camps for kids. I look back and remember wanting to bring every single kid home with me. We are so fortunate and blessed.

Tips and Facts

Tip #1 Sinks knobs

The sink is always a huge pain in the butt to clean. The dirt and toothpaste that gets piled up under the sink knobs is extremely gross. Many a time i have used a toothbrush, a rag, a paper towel etc.to get under those knobs that accumulate gross guck. Well, the toothbrush can't get in the cracks very good. A rag tends to have to thick of an edge to slip under the knobs and paper towels always rip. So to get the job done right, you need a pair of old underwear. Slip the elastic band of the underwear under the knob and rub in a circular motion. The underwear is thin and yet sturdy enough to stand up to the small cleaning area under the knob. Try it. I am a firm believer- that if you figure out something that helps you clean, share that information. And for those of you that don't know that part of the knob gets gross -heaven help you. Take a look.

Fact#1 Vitamin C does not help you when you get a cold.
Recent studies have determined that it does nothing for you. If you want to know what studies those are- ask Rush Limbaugh.

Butternut squash soup

I discovered something delicious today, i added a little bang to one of my favorite Campbell select soups. Here is my spiced up version. I know you won't be disappointed.



1 box of Campbell's select (gold label)butternut squash soup.

1 chicken bouillon cube : with no MSG so you don't get a migraine

1 3/4 cup of water (add more water if needed)

1 squash sliced mediums

1 can of corn

1 green pepper chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped thick

1 green onion chopped

Salt and crushed pepper to taste

Serve with Stone Wheat crackers and you will be in heaven.



Put all the ingredients in one pot and simmer till vegetables are soft. The soup with be thick in texture ( almost like stew) and a little spicy.

One carry on please!!

I have never been known to travel light. We could have camped out at the park if we had too. :)

Four lightsabers aren't enough

Yesterday we had the cousins over for a cookout. Sam went to the store and returned with really thick burgers and lots of goodies. I seasoned them with delicious spices i received for my birthday. I set the outdoor table with my blue china and beaded napkin holders. I also adorned the table with some green shrubs from my yard. The key is not too formal, but still kid friendly. It was really pretty. I should have taken a picture, but i forgot. Soon after they arrived, I took the little ones for a wagon ride around the block.We past a pirate house with a great big red flag and speed down the mountain of doom. The Kitty's got along great for the first few hours then things turned a little ugly. After they called each other stupid, and beat up on one another - we separated the kids and gave them each a playing zone. That lasted about five minutes. A little later we all sat down to watch Deja Vu. I can speak for everyone when i say- it felt like we were watching the movie on TNT, but with longer commercial breaks. All in all we decided to stop the movie when the commercial breaks ( kids fighting) started happening more often. Although, the night was highlighted by great coffee and cheesecake. I do have to say, the time out chair was kept warm most of the night. Somehow all the action didn't seem to make my boys any sleepier. When bed time came around they were still wide awake and ready for another round of rough play. But such is life. After the cousins left we watched a little Thomas and Friends to settle down for the evening. We all cuddled under our new favorite blanket. I can't believe I'm saying this but, hearing only the voice of Thomas and his lucky engines was amazingly soothing after a night filled with many unhappy little voices. Sam carried the boys up to bed and we finished watching Deja Vu together. The movie was great. It sort of reminded me of the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve. You know that movie. The one where you wonder where did the penny come from. Sam left us this morning for work and i am missing him terribly. I hope this week goes by quickly. Maybe it will go by faster if i paint something. HMMM.

Hiding from the sun

Can you guess what this white stuff is? Let me tell you. I wish it was whip cream. I wish it was finger paint. I could have even settled for some hand cream, but i was not so lucky. The boys decided to play with the waterproof 50+ SUNSCREEN. The following day i was still trying to get the sunscreen out. This stuff sticks. I think it was so hard to get out because of the amount that Samuel put in Ethan's hair. I do have to say- these boys had a blast and i had fun taking pictures of them.

The other day i was strolling down the aisle at Wal-mart and I spotted something that caught my eye. Isn't that how it is with us women. When "that" little something catches our eye we run toward it like a shooting bullet. This was the just the case for me. I spotted the HOSE HOLDER i have always longed for. I will tell you, with the summer heat the hose is constantly out. Its impossible to wrap it up in a perfect circle all neat and tucked away. I think it stays like that for a few minutes before someone is tripping on it yet again. This might seem like a silly entry - but for those of you who are constantly tripping over your hose or untangling it from the hundreds of kinks it develops daily the SMART REEL IS FOR YOU. I love this thing. It winds up by itself using water pressure. Watering the plants and cleaning up has been much easier for me. I am sucker for things that make life easier. For example, we just purchased a garage door opener. Granted, I could have lived without one, but pulling into my garage when its pouring rain out with all the kids makes the purchase of it worth every penny. My grocery shopping experience is more delightful and I only have to walk a few steps to unload into the kitchen. I cleaned out the garage before the installation of the opener and what i found when i was cleaning was horrid. Apparently, my garage was a cozy place for little mice to call home. I only wish they were the cute little mice I saw on Ratatouille (great movie- i highly recommend it). I found two mountains of poop which i disposed of as quickly as possible. Then i proceeded to sanitize the concrete. I never thought i would look forward to sanitizing concrete, but i did it at least 3 times. The mouse traps are waiting to be set. I am just mustering enough will power to set them and retrieve them when they are full. I bought the box killer so i don't even have to look at them. I get chills just thinking about it.