Thursday's Thoughts. AH HA! That's IT!!!

Let’s see. What can I say that is worth wasting your time over.

We had Thanksgiving at my house last Wednesday evening. I brined (is that a real word?) the turkey, made dressing instead of stuffing, and completed the feast with cranberry jalapeno sauce, pecan pie, cherry pie and lemon meringue pie. Mom made mashed potatoes and Grandma made a pumpkin pie. I know it was a success because I just at some leftovers last night for dinner and the turkey is still juicy. Also, my dad said that is possibly the best Thanksgiving meal he’s ever had. Now that there is quite a compliment.

Thanksgiving dinner...with half of us not there yet.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am reminded every year about this time how incredibly blessed I am…we are. Our fridge and pantry are brimming with food, we have enough money to pay our mortgage and buy electricity and clothe the kids and still there is some left over to waste frivolously. I am trying to become more frugal and mindful of the gifts that God has given me.

We took a family photo. From top to bottom, left to right that's me, Del, Isaac, Mom, Dad, my mom's dad (Gramps), Anna, my dad's mom (GG), Lily, Rachel, Sarah and Ella.

I’m sewing like a banshee. I am making purses and wallets and shopping bags and balls and crayon rolls and stockings and…am I ever grateful that we’ve taken a break from school for six weeks. During this time of holiday excitement, I am happy to have the freedom to work in the sewing room as I need and not have to worry that I’m getting behind in school.

The state of my sewing room; it must look like a guest room again by Saturday .

 This is a picture of the messenger bags I'm making for the girls for Christmas. I'm making one for the neighbor's daughter, too. I made them from men's cargo pants. This particular one is for Sarah, since blue is her favorite color.

I am considering changing my writing curriculum to Classical Writing. Granny has been recommending it for many months and I can see the kids getting really bored with the writing we are doing. I wish there was a way I could try it out on the kids to see how they like it. It seems to combine grammar and writing and includes a lot of creative stuff which the girls really would enjoy. They spend most of their free time reading, playing outside or drawing and this curriculum includes a lot of that…as far as I can tell.

I wish you could see the laughs and smiles and giggles I get from Isaac. Are all boys this sweet-tempered? My mom says my brother was the type of baby to make a mother never want any more kids. I think he had a colic problem. But Isaac, even with a bit of a sour stomach sometimes is the sweetest baby I ever did see. Always happy and never cries without a purpose. What a blessing he is to me after such a hard and miserable pregnancy. He is definitely worth every second of moaning and groaning I did about what a sorry state I was in.

I have a better picture of his sunny disposition but Blogger keeps distorting the picture so I'll have to post it later. Look at his lovely chubby cheeks!!!

Alright, stop distracting me. I have to go sew.

 Isn't Lily cute? She's got that mischievous look in her eye.

Cutest When She Sleeps

I'm ready for a break from two-year-old-insanity.  Isn't she lovely though.

Who Broke the Window?

If you guessed Lily, you are correct.  She smashed it with a toy golf club.

How does one little girl get to be so troublesome???  Look how cute she is too?  It's amazing.

Some Little Girls

Look at this cute, fat little baby.  My goodness Anna!!  Look at those fabulously chubby thighs.

My stomach sinks when the kids hurt themselves.  She fell and hit her face on the tile and my stomach flipped and flopped all over the place as I saw her mouth fill with blood and the huge gash on her lip.  Poor Lily.

Sarah is getting her hair cut by my grandma today.  I can't wait to see what she looks like.

A Tale of Two Sisters

I would just like to point out to those of you that take in interest in my family that my last baby is seriously chubby. And really, I'm not sure you truly understand how very chubby she is.

See this baby? She's eight and a half months old. Look how cute she is. Look at her deliciously chubby cheeks. She how she has absolutely no neck at all? I often wonder how it is that she swallows!! She weighs about 21 pounds.
See this cute little girl? She's two years old. She is 17 months older than her little sister, pictured above. When you pick this girl up, it's almost like picking up a feather. I just caught her applying her snack of blueberry yogurt to her legs as lotion. She weighs about 22 or 23 pounds.

Yes, you read that correctly. I now have to share clothes between my 8-month-old and my 2-year-old.

Weird.

Lily

Two. Where does the time go?? Happy birthday little buggar.

Lily, Get Out of the Trash Can!

Just so you know, if everyone in the house except Lily were to suddenly drop dead for some unexplainable, unforeseen reason, Lily would be able to forage for food and survive for months. She is a food hound.

Rachel and the Faerie Queens

Sorry Johanna, I didn't mean to totally wipe out your post.

We bought new pepper plants after whatever-it-was ate the others (we think it might be raccoons now). We put them in the ground and immediately they were chowed down. But we managed to rescue this one with one leaf and now it's growing more leaves.

And this one ha already got a pepper growing on it. Wahoo!

Do I talk about Rachel a lot? It seems like I talk about her more than the rest of the girls. She's at that age though.

Monday I took her out on an errand to JoAnn's and to make it extra special the plan was to get her a freezy drinkie thingie. Whatever they are called.

I decided to pamper her real good and carried her around, whispered jokes in her ear and tickled her knees. I said, "Rachel you are so heavy. You're getting so big, why do you want to grow up like that?" And Rachel says back to me, "Because I want to wipe my own butt."

She's got lofty goals.

We have been studying the Renaissance in history. This week we read about Good Queen Bess. That's Queen Elizabeth I. Edmund Spencer wrote and epic poem about her called "The Faerie Queene." So as a project for a house full of giggling little girls, we made fairy wands. Lily is now pointing with her wand and saying things like, "I'm hungry" and "Go get it". I might have to take her little wand away. She's getting a wee bit too big for her britches.

Lily Got a Hair Cut

We usually wait until they are two years old, but the back of her head looked like a rat's nest and it didn't really help to comb it. My precious grandma has given all four of the older kids their first hair cuts. I love that.