Grocery List

P and A got the grocery ads today and decided to let me know what to buy this week...Looks like I might want to find a paying job to supplement their appetites... :)
Texas Broil
Soda
Gatorade
Eggs
Applesauce
Cheez Curls
Dog food (we don't have a dog)
Microwave pizza
Brownie Mix
Spongebob yogurt
Candy bars
Hot Wheels
Diapers
Beer
Energy Drinks
Kool Aid
Tea
Canned biscuits/cinnamon rolls
Bagels
Toaster treats
Ice cream
Hot pockets
Wine
Frozen hamburgers
Chicken drumsticks
Corn on the cob
Asparagus
Tomatoes
Cherries
Bananas
Mini carrots
Onions
Watermelon
Avocados
Mini carnations

Getting them to Giggle

Anne and Elijah were taking turns getting the twins to giggle this morning. Of course as soon as I got the camera out they stopped, but managed to get a few giggles out nonetheless.

Pictures from the Canyon

Here are a few pictures of C's trip down the Canyon this past weekend...Enjoy from the comfort of your chair! C is paying the price of these pictures with some pretty sore muscles today! :)

What?!

Yesterday the wind FINALLY stopped after 3 days of constant howling. In the morning the kids were jumping on their trampoline and said something about something not being quite right (obviously I was paying close attention, right?). Somewhere in the afternoon I looked out the kitchen window and this is what I saw...

Guess I should listen to the kids a little more carefully...one of the supports completely came off and the whole thing went for a spin, unaided by the wind! Glad the kids weren't on it!

Thinking of my Man

So C is (hopefully) somewhere in the back country of the Grand Canyon tonight and I'm feeling rather nostalgic. So I'm posting a picture of his thumb, which is healing nicely. This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago and the scar is much less pink now. Still working on getting the mobility back, but it's overall doing great. If you're one of "those" types and want to see pictures of his surgery, let me know and I can e-mail them- his crazy doctor took pictures. The 2nd picture is of the last kitchen he built and installed last year. It seems business is picking up again, praise God, and he's gotten a couple more inquiries on kitchens (as opposed to some pretty small jobs that he's been doing for about a year).

P.S. Yes, he drew a smiley face with a mustache. :)

Of monsters, gardens and patios

I can take pretty much absolutely no credit for any of these, except maybe a small part of the craziness my children exhibit... Anyway, the garden (normally under a plastic sheet) was an idea C. got from an 80's video about gardening. We have lettuce and spinach in great abundance right now and lots of huge white radishes...that taste very much like dirt. The radishes, not the lettuce and spinach. We'll see what becomes of our next crop, since the grasshoppers are just now starting to show their wee beady eyes (I disliked grasshoppers even before gardening, but now....I think "hate" might be pretty accurate). Christian pretty much does all the hard work while I just get to eat out of the abundance. It's a great set-up. :) And of course the last picture is of the new patio- on which we've been enjoying the fire pit on evenings that aren't threatening to blow us away. It's so nice to have something between the dirt and the house- I've noticed a lot fewer rocks getting tracked in! Huzzah!

Managing

A lot of people have asked me in the last few months "How DO you manage?" I've been thinking about that and I've remembered something a friend of mine told me once upon a time..."When you have a baby they take up 24 hours of your day. When you have another baby, they take up 24 hours of your day..." (I guess I could just keep on going, but I'll spare you) Fortunately needs change- I'd definitely hate to still be changing diapers and spoon feeding my 8, 5, and 3 year olds at the same time as the twins. First and foremost though, is the grace of God in working in my children's lives even when I fail on a regular basis. I don't often feel like I'm pulling my hair out (except maybe at bath time...and certain times of the month...). I stay home. All the time (with the exception of Sundays). THIS is my job. We're not involved in sports, we don't even do Awana. We do school, we learn how to take care of our house and possessions, we learn how to do things we don't feel like doing, we learn how to get along with each other. I don't sweep every day. I don't clean the bathroom every day, I don't even do the dishes every day. But that's ok. My kids are fed and they go to bed happy. I am very grateful for the wisdom of my husband in keeping things simple for us right now. Someday we'll probably get more involved in things and I'll miss this period of time of just getting to stay home and live and learn. I have a friend who now has 10 kids in a pretty small house- and you know what? She always looks so calm and so happy with her life. I also have friends with fewer kids that are way busier and more stressed than I am. Anyway, the babies are chewing on some "unknown" from the kitchen floor, so I'd better go investigate. :)

9 months

Oh boy. You know SOMEone needs changing when you can smell SOMEthing (that you know what) as you walk down the hall even with all the doors shut. Whew. Not looking forward to the end of nap-time.

Anyway, the girls had their 9 month check-up today and showed amazing memories of being there before...they both freaked out when we laid them down to get measured, remembering that that's where they lie when they get their shots. But at least they didn't get shots today, so maybe they'll forget about that sometime in the next three months! Both girls are in great shape, Tirzah's slightly larger- maybe 3 ounces difference in weight, 1/2 inch taller, and 1/2 inch bigger in the head.

Patio!

The day before yesterday a couple friends came and helped Christian lay a patio outside our back door. We called it a "field trip" day for school (like they would've been able to concentrate with a cement truck right outside the window...). The kids were real troopers and I think E only stepped in the cement once! Yesterday the wind blew so hard it blew our big playground set right over! So it's good the guys put laid the cement when they did!

Fun times

The girls have enjoyed watching C working on our up and coming patio (to be poured tomorrow!). C says it's pretty amusing to see two little faces plastered to the glass. 

Berea is sporting a lovely Flintsone-style ponytail (sans bone, unfortunately)

and enjoying playing in the boys' room.

 

Maybe we need to teach some gun safety.... Can you guess whose bed that is with the large pencil "drawing" on the wall?

Our little T-bear with her pony tail.

We had a fun game night last night with some friends at a park- the kids mostly just hit the baseball around. Peter woke up giddy this morning, so excited to do it again next week. :)

And of course we left the girls' sweatshirts at home on the living room floor- thankfully our friends had extras for their boys, so we just rolled up the sleeves a little and- voila!

...And the little slugger getting some more hitting practice.