Thursday's...Things??

I'm really into taking pictures of the girls' eyelashes. Maybe I'm covetous. These are Anna's and let me tell you, this blurry picture was hard won. This is a girl that cannot stay still to save her life.

Rachel is a little uncomfortable holding Isaac. Of all the girls, she seems to care the least that he's around, but she still likes him.

 Speaking of Rachel, this is what her ankle looks like. It looks like she got burned. I'm treating by putting triple antibiotic ointment on it and covering it with gauze pads and tape. I change it every day. I've never felt more like a nurse.

And here she is in her broken-foot-boot and with her crutches. She's getting pretty good with the crutches. The orthopedist said that her broken foot is about 70% healed and that the horrible, awful-looking sore on her ankle will take longer to heal than her broken bones.

Anna is starting to refuse taking naps during the day and then passing out in random places and odd positions. This was two days ago. Yesterday it was at her high chair.

 This looks like a mess but it's actually really beautiful cypress vine and a green bean plant. You may not be able to see the green bean plant. Ella has picked quite a few green beans from the plant that we're going to eat for dinner tonight.

Here's a closer look at the pretty flowers. It's not a very good picture because I took it through the window instead of going outside. But there's snakes back there.

 We've never gotten the stump removed from our palms that died during the hard freezes we had this past winter. I think the stump looks lovely with this bitter melon vine growing on it.

 And look at my baby boy!! Look at his chubby cheeks. Ignore my double chin!

Mini Post Monday

• Last week I knew there was no way I'd get a post up, but I almost published one that had the Mini Post Monday title, followed by text that said, "Made you look!" I decided against it thinking some of my (3) readers might not find that as funny as I do.
• It's been a while since I've said anything about remodelling, but our house remodel continues none the less.  It's going a bit slower recently, though.  Here's a glimpse of the portion of the kitchen that's 100% complete!  Isn't it lovely?  It is a lot darker than it used to be, but I love it!

(I also like having all my doors back on the cabinets.  These were open and doorless for a long time!)
• Of course, most of the kitchen still has the "patchwork" feel to it, but slow and steady wins the race, right?

(Old meets new.  Modern meets the 80's.  My kitchen is having an identity crisis!)
• We also started on the other hall bath.  It looks like this right now. 

(Actually, right now there is no sink and a tub has been added.  Oh, well.  Next week.)
• We're not using this bathroom much right now! :) Here's what it looked like before we started. Cute, but not very functional.

 (I thought I had a picture of it before we started...I hope Jerry has one somewhere!)

• We've made good use of the claw foot tub! It now lives in the boys room an is a favorite reading nook! 

(Doesn't every little boy have a bathtub in his room?)
• No we did not get a dog.  This is the "thinking spot" that Ethan told us he needed.  He sits in here doing nothing but think quite often. 

(Yes, our son willingly puts himself in the dog house!)
• Scouts has officially started again.  This year, Aaron is a Wolf.  He is still loving it, and Ethan has declared that next year, he is going to be a Cub Scout, too.  Our popcorn sales have started, too.  Anyone want to buy some popcorn? :) 

(My oldest is sure grown up all of a sudden...)
• Isn't Andrew cute?

(Loving some pancakes!)

(Making a silly face at the camera...)

(Okay, Mom.  I'm done getting my picture taken now!)

Thursday's...Tidbits??? Thidbits???

Do you know it's near on impossible for me to write anything here without some pictures to prompt me. Isn't Sarah cute with her baby brother?

You may or many not know that Rachel broke her foot and there were a few complications with the splint being on too tight. I don't know exactly what's going on here but I think it has something to do with her skin dying. Anyway, it's getting better every day. Next time she's hobbling around in her boot and crutches I'll snap a photo. She's cute.

There are blisters all over the dead skin area...or whatever that is. The orthopedist said it was fine and told us to expect blisters. It looks terrible though doesn't it.

Ella has the most lovely eyes. She's got these lines around the outer edge of her iris. And beautiful eye lashes.

I thought this acorn was pretty.

Other than school and nursing and sleeping and making food and wasting time on FB and playing Bejeweled Blits (thanks a lot Johanna) life is pretty normal around here.

Mini Post Monday

It's been a long time since I did one of these, but I am beginning to think that it might be the only way I will get posting on a regular basis again, so here goes!

• Did you know that if you put a raw egg in vinegar for 8 hours, the vinegar completely eats away the minerals in the shell leaving it the consistency of a balloon?
• The funniest thing one of my children has said in a long time, "Stop screaming like a Girl Scout in a cave!"

(Aaron - looking so much older than 7 year olds should be allowed to look. I'm strangely proud and sad all at the same time.)
• Why, oh why, do peanut butter M&M's have to be so good?
• We have been deep cleaning the boys' room and have come to realize that we have allowed them to collect way too many toys.  We are going to have to make some changes around here.

(Our first day of school pictures.)
• We are beginning our third week of school today!  Andrew still does not like the fact that I am spending so much more time focussed on his big brothers (leaving less time to dote on him), but he is getting better each day.  Aaron still "hates school," but Ethan is loving being "official" now!

(Andrew FINALLY gives all out smiles on a regular basis.  He has been our most serious kid by far, and getting him to smile in pictures has been like pulling teeth.)
• I'm trying to get back in the habit of exercising, but I'm having a really rough time with that!  I have always been an early riser who is ready to go to bed for the night by 9:00, but recently I have been having the hardest time waking up and have been able to stay up until 11:00 with no trouble.  Since the only time I have to get to the gym is early in the morning, this is making it very hard to get the exercise in!

(Ethan on one of our early morning hikes in Oregon.)
• Ethan officially weighs more than Aaron now.  Poor Aaron is so small for his age, and even though Ethan is the epitome of average (50th percentile on every measurement), he has still surpassed his "big" brother.
• I have beautiful pictures from our vacation to Oregon, and I hope to be able to post them soon.

(A view of Mt. Hood from the trail around Mirror Lake.)

This Is Not How To Memorialize Me

I always think it is really cool when people choose to remember their loved ones in a way that highlights one of their great qualities and preserve it for the future generations.  I think it would be really neat to have a building, park, or some sort of monument named after me some day, so I thought it was pretty neat when I saw this at a farm we visited in Oregon:

It is clear that Millard's family found great comfort in him when he was with them in person.  It is a great idea to name a comfort station after a person like this, until you realize what a "comfort station" really is...

Yeah, that's one monument to my memory I could do without.

Howdy Stranger

I didn't just have a baby, or go through a major illness, or go through a major life change.  I wish I could say I had a really good excuse for not posting in a coon's age, but alas, there is no good reason.  I did continue to add books to my finished reading list though...does that count for anything?

We recently got back from a glorious 2 week vacation to Oregon.  I just love the Pacific Northwest.  I really hope it is in God's plan for me to one day live there, because really?  I don't think I could ever get tired of views like this:

Or of having sights like these on my morning walks:

Isn't God's creation marvelous?  Normally all I see is suburban sprawl and green/brown shrub growth, so this trip was a real treat!

Less than a week after returning home, we started another school year.  I was excited, Ethan was excited, Aaron was not so much.  We are less than a week into the school year and there have already been tears, pouting, whining, complaining, and melting into blobby heaps on the floor at the mere mention of writing.  I was still thrilled about school in the 2nd grade, so I really don't understand all of this drama.  It could be a very long year if we don't find some way to motivate my oldest child.

Also adding to the commotion is my youngest, who does NOT appreciate having mommy's attention pulled away from him and suddenly showered on his brothers for hours at a time.  He is more than a bit jealous of me normally, but this week his jealousy has been off the charts.  We have done some lessons over the loud screams coming from Andrew.  Usually he is screaming the word, "ME! ME! ME!" over and over again.  I don't know where he gets that from...

Regardless of these issues, we are getting into a routine and personally I am glad to be back to some normalicy in my days.  Hopefully I'll be able to share more about my vacation and the goings on around the house with kids, school, and home improvement, too!

A Couple of Things

I think this is huuurr-larious! (Leah linked on FB)

Four Levels of Social Entrapment

This is a really interesting article that Granny linked to on Facebook.

God, the Gospel and Glen Beck

Things went very well today with all the kids. Her boys and our girls got along really well, especially once they found out that we have light sabers and the girls play Star Wars. Even Anna got along with their daughter quite well.

There are only 10 kids here (you can barely see Kellen back there) because Arianna was wandering around and Isaac was asleep. The ages are 9,8,7,7,5,5,4,3,3,1,1,newborn. I had the oldest and the youngest. It was fun to talk about all the births we had between us. She is a new homeschooler, too so I showed her our curricula choices and how I planned it and reassured her that the chaos was normal and we gave her a ton of A Beka stuff that had been given to us. Their names are Nolan, Kellen, Jaylen, Deakon, Mikalen and Arianna. Fun family! It was quite fun to commiserate with a real person over the comments, "Are they all yours?", "You know what causes that, right?", "You sure do have your hands full!"

I was stunned that Anna was so nice to Arianna. I thought she'd be jealous and try to knock her over or something. Apparently my mom exudes that Gramma smell because Arianna was immediately following her around wanting to be picked up. So there's Mom, with two one-year-olds trailing behind her wanting to be picked up. It was really cute!!