"When Good Babies Go Bad"

Today has been productive. We have two extra boys for a few days as their mother had baby #11 just over a week ago and the little one needs to stay in the hospital for a couple weeks. These boys mesh well with my two oldest boys, except the fact their bedtime and waketime schedule is different from our families...oh...and their mother does NOT fix casseroles EVERY night. We are early to bed, late to rise and they are late to bed, early to rise! Oh how I wish I could get there. This morning the boys woke at 5am. ACK! They hustled up the stairs to wake our boys to come play. Daddy, who wasn't even awake for work yet, kindly explained to them to grab books or games and stay in their bed until the sun came up. They did, but even then it was earlier than what we are used to but boy did we get a LOT done this morning. My excuse to sleep is I am pregnant. I haven't had an afternoon nap since I was pregnant with Jacob, my second, after that afternoon naps are all history!

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So, why was today productive? I gave my 3 boys haircuts, got all homeschooling done by 10am, cleaned and washed the kennels, organized Jessica's closet, ran errands, dropped off the children for piano lessons, took the children to skate at a church parking lot with another friend and her 5 children and made a fantastic dinner and dessert to boot, all the while having a blast with the children. Now, that to me is productive.

We had the most wonderful treat today. An old neighbor of ours, now my sister's neighbor, took all her children out for ice cream. For some reason they thought of us and bought a tub for the children and a tub for just Paul and I and delivered it! How thoughtful!!

"When good babies go bad" My son broke the bright orange *ima fake gun cap* off the end and spray painted the *dollar store* silver to black. Smart kid. I am going to throw this gun away as I keep finding it laying around and my heart skips a beat every time I see it.

Sunday Afternoons...

Sunday afternoons are much anticipated. We get home from church and visiting family around 2pm and then we relax for the afternoon. This afternoon Jacob did a little practice shooting while everyone else road ATV's. Gracie sleeps all afternoon, and Micah for a couple hours, so it is nice time with the older children. Paul always make sure there is pizza to cook so I don't have to on Sundays, which is soooooo nice and last night we played a couple games like charades, guess the word or battleship.

My gorgeous husband. Isn't he handsome? ;-)

This kid mastered *donuts* this weekend and can go non-stop. Then he gets the pleasure of raking the driveway afterward.

Paul caught Gracie getting a clip from the bathroom and trying to balance it on her head! She was trying to put it in her hair! Of course, we found this absoLUTEly adorable and make her do it over and over.

Saturday

28 quarts of plums. Now I think we will move onto plum jam.

Hmmm, maybe I should have started that earlier...

Here is my Lillie. My baby. The perfect end to my evenings is to come outside after the children are in bed and just watch my puppies nurse and grope around. Their little eyes should all start opening tomorrow, then the fun begins.

My new 4 day old ShihPoos, now which ones are going to pay for that c-sec? We usually pick a theme like *flowers* for the litter and name them, any ideas? We have done candy bars & gemstones. I'd love to hear any themes you think of and write them down for future use.

Ahhh, the smell of fresh new carpet in the house. Next week Mr. Carpet Installer will finish the staircase, our bedroom and the boys room. Light colored carpet is just NOT practical for a large family. It is bad enough there was large family who lived here before us and they installed the carpet throughout the upstairs and it was already used then! It was hammered to say the least, hence, no before pictures. I kinda hated to see it go you know? Oh look, that is where Danny got his first middle of the night bloody nose when he was 2, and over there where the dog drug the lasagna...and there, someones name written with a sharpie...not to mention all the *clean* spots outside the bathroom door where I have Little Green Clean Machined many an *accident* while siblings took too long to "unlock that door!" Arg, good riddance.

You gotta love this guy...

Check out this article on Fox News. It is very short, but makes a loud statement in today's Hollywood world. Can a married Christian actor/actress kiss another person onscreen all for the sake of *acting*...isn't that still wrong? I am so proud of Kirk Cameron!

Heartbeat...

There is was...as soon as she put the doppler on my stomach.
A beautiful strong beating heart.
She never had to *look*, it was right there.
Music to a mothers ears.

I Am A Breeder...

This is my edited version of an email I received after my nasty dog day yesterday...

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• I am a breeder...(of dogs, don't laugh I feel I need to clarify that)
• My food receipts for a family of 8 and my dog food bills match
  
• My electric bill has doubled
  
• It is I, a breeder, who when my fridge quit, saved the dog meds and let the food go bad.
  
• My feet find the way to the kennel before I have even grabbed a cup of coffee in the morning and the kennel is my last stop before bed.
  
• While my friends are on a cruise to the Bahamas and my family meets for Christmas I am home delivering puppies.
  
• I make all vacation plans around heat cycles, whelp dates and vet appointments.
  
• Most of my friends breed dogs, who else can you call at 3am for support?(SO true!)
  Who else has the experience I sometimes need, the meds I sometimes need or just an uplifting word? Who else would understand how it feels to have invested hours and hours in a weak puppy to loose it or the joy in investing hours in one that lives?
  
• I know what it's like to have slept on the floor beside a whelping box and lost a whole night of sleep to make sure each puppy is delivered safely.
  
• I have learned to be proficient at vaccinations, giving sub-q fluids, removing dewclaws, bottle feeding, tube feeding and grooming.
  
• My vet knows me on a first name basis
  
• My vet knows my children
  
• My vet knows it was I who added on the wing to the vet clinic.
  
• The phrase "63 days" takes on new meaning and I am still excited by every approaching whelp.
  
• It is I who is there to deliver all my pups, towels and heat lamps on and ready.
  
• I love puppy breath. I want to bottle puppy breath.
  
• I love my dogs, each one and am not illiterate or lazy as some Animal Rights folks would imply of breeders. I have found my niche.
  
• I am a breeder.
  
• I tell my children to hush, do not tell others we are dog breeders, and I wonder when did breeding puppies go into the same secret place as criminal activity?
  
• The cards of thanks and the pictures of my puppy with its new family are the fringe benefits of my efforts.
  
• I am an animal lover, nurse, midwife, heavy laborer, customer service representitive, and marketer. AND..
• I am a breeder.

More Voddie, Dogs and C-Sections

Last night my husband found this mini-sermon (5:08)by Voddie Baucham, one of our favorite teachers. He starts off funny, but don't let that fool you. Wow. The Lord has taught me many sobering things through Voddie and I encourage anyone searching for a new *teacher* to glean from, he's your man. He is going to be speaking at our annual Christian Heritage Conference next Spring and we are giddy just thinking about hearing him speak. ;-) Don't get me wrong, we don't him on a pedestal as gospel truth, all things must be tested with scripture, but this man has amazed us with Truth.

Other mini-sermons or snippets by Voddie

The Consequences of Feminism 1:58

Is It Ever Too Late For Our Children? :57

The Importance of Family Worship 1:22

Why The Bible Is True - 9:54

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Yesterday was a big day. It started the night before with having dinner guests from church bless our home with their fellowship. We all ate to our full then settled into conversation. We do not ask the children to *go play* we brief them beforehand that they are wanted to sit and participate in the adult conversation. Our visiting couple each had a child leaning against them with a couple on the floor as we shared our testimonies of how the Lord saved each of us, how this couple met, life in general. We don't pretend to have lived these perfect lives, the children hear how their now *perfect in their eyes* mommy used to visit bars with Daddy. It humbles them as we explaining what their lives would have been like without the Lord intervening. Daniel, Emma, Micah, Gracie and now the little one growing never would have been. It makes them sad for a twinkling moment and then they realize what the Lord has already done for them personally.

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With that said, right before our visitors arrived, and I mean minutes, my dog Pansy decided to whelp two days early. I was excusing myself many times to check on her as she finished whelping six puppies and then could not pass the last one. Long story short, we had an $800 C-sec, the first for our kennels, yesterday afternoon. The pup was dead. She is back home with her babies doing great, but I felt as though I had been hit by a train when I got that bill! I had enough from our last set of puppies back in March to cover the expense and her existing litter will pay it back, but still. Wow, a one hour procedure on a dog costs that much???? So that said we have another sweet litter of puppies, they are so fun!

Not exactly entertaining.

No time for blogging. If you walked in my house this is what you'd see.

Jessica practicing piano and Emma getting her schoolbooks out.

Daniel and Jacob schooling.

Gracie shopping for shoes.

And Micah *vacuuming* the living room for me.

That's all folks.

First Day of School

Back to school. Jacob & Daniel are busily doing school at the table, Jessie is folding laundry, Micah & Emma are playing with play dough, Gracie is on my lap and I am chasing down a recipe for dinner that I am delivering to a family in church who just had a baby. Somewhere in there I need to get groceries yet and check/help with schoolwork, read our history & biology lessons as a family and make dinner. I wish I could say I have it all together, but I do feel a little overwhelmed. It always takes a couple weeks to get back into the routine!

Plums, Woods and Great Mothers

O.k., my mom saved the day. As she always does. She came to my house this morning with two yummy hot lattes from Woods and we canned plums together. What a hoot. Here is our bounty.

I must admit I am a far cry from Susie homemaker in respect to canning. Oh, I have canned many peaches, carrots, tomatoes, beans, jam & stew...why the last time I canned was in 2004 when the children and I picked and canned 95 quarts of blackberry jam. Hmmm...that may be why it has been so long.

Cash-n-Carry's' frozen veggies give me NO reason to can corn, peas or beans. I just had to can these plums as I couldn't watch them rot. We ate a ton already, and we all know you can eat too many plums...no really...you can. 5 children eating unlimited amounts of plums equals at least 3 children lying on the floor groaning with tummy aches.

The children were bright eyed as they washed and pricked the plums for me. Plums are a beautiful fruit, you know? Shiny, plump, purple, aesthetically pleasing in every way....That is before hitting the canner. A jar broke in the canner and when the children saw a canned plum I got these looks just like the first time they saw a pig butchered....sick, queasy looks and statements like "We have to eat that? "What HAPpened to them?" Fortunately they will never know when I add them to breads or smoothies. Hee hee.

Ho-hum

For years, every Saturday morning my sister, mother and I meet for coffee together, alone, in town at our favorite little coffee shop The Kitchen. We sit for an hour and a half and visit and catch up for the week over lattes or coffee. This is the part where you are supposed to feel sorry for me...remember Paul is working 6 - 10 hr shifts? Well, poor me(not to mention HIM) I loose out on my coffee time. Ho-hum. I think I will start those plums... stay tuned.

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While in the car ride to California Micah sang Jesus loves Me in an aDORable way. Over and over and over he sang it while we oohed and awed at how cute it was. All was fine and dandy for the first half hour...then hour...then it came to the point we wanted to pull over and all run from the van. After too many gentle pleas Paul finally got serious and in his low louder voice commanded Micah to stop singing that song(he knows no other songs so it isn't like he could sing something else) Micah dropped his blanky and his whole body showed the sign of shock as he said "Daddy, you don't love Jesus?!"

Another recipe with a twist

Noodless Lasagna

Recipes like this are perfect for playing around with as there are so many ingredients you may add to custom fit it to your family.

1 whole cabbage, cooked a little on the raw side. I cut mine in wedges and boiled for 8 minutes(instead of usual 9-11min) then drained immediately and rinsed in cold water to halt the cooking.

1 lb ground meat(I added rice to increase volume)

1 Onion(I used two)

2 C Spaghetti Sauce

12 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded(I used cheddar)

Parmesan Cheese


Brown beef and onion together then add speghetti sauce and heat. Layer in 9x13 starting with cabbage, beef mixture then cheese...repeat...ending with a good heavy sprinkling of Parm. Make 350 for 30 minutes.

My 3 yr old was the only one suspicious of this casserole and in need of persuasion. All my children love veggies, every veggie, that was a goal of mine from before my firstborn arrived, therefore they all loved it. Because there were no noodles I served it with corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes from the garden...yummy!! We all loved it, but then again, you need to like cabbage.
The kids and I picked our plum tree clean this afternoon and were dissapointed at how few plums we harvested. I am going to plant more trees tomorrow and then we are going to can what we did get. Canned plums are great in winter smoothies and on ice cream!

Life is over...

There is no reason to live. (Oh the drama)

Blanky is in the big white machine and I am going to sit here until it returns safe in my arms.

I love my blanky and my blanky loves me.

We are inseparable. We are forever friends...

(Paul snapped this while Gracie sat on the peanut butter bucket wailing. She saw her blanky in the dryer when I opened it to throw something else in. Whoops... It sent her over the edge. This was the day after coming home, give me a break on my messy laundry room)

Goodness...

We went into the dentist this morning for a couple fillings and as our brood was walking out a taller woman walked in the door. Micah(3) pulled on my hand and said nice and loud "Boy, dat's a BIG mommy, huh Mamma?!"

Blessings Abundant

The Lord has provided for our family through Pauls faithful work from the beginning. I have such a hard work'n man and am so proud to be his wife! We laugh how every time we find ourselves pregnant, Paul gets a raise. Every time. Remember that song Count Your Blessings?Well here are a few of our blessings just this week...

1. Last night Paul came home with some news that isn't good, but isn't bad at the same time. He was offered overtime for the next 8 weeks, which could be enough to pay for the midwife for the new baby. Very cool, though we will miss daddy temporarily on the weekends.
2. Found a brand new pair of Avia tennis shoes for Jacob for $4.99 at the thrift store.
3. Mom just called and happily announced she found my 4.5 quart baking dish I have been hunting for for months at a garage sale!
4. I went shopping yesterday for Fall clothes(warm ones) for Daniel, after much looking I came home empty handed. An hour passed and Mrs. Sunshine(my tomato sandwich neighbor) was standing there with a heaping grocery bag of clothes of which complete a Fall wardrobe in Daniels size.
5. Went to the Green Barn for this weeks produce stock and they had a strawberry closeout and I was one of the first to arrive. Which means I picked all the beautiful looking berries and came home with 14lbs for $14. Less than U-pick. We quickly coordinated an assembly line, right down to the three year old and the berries were processed and frozen on cookie sheets in no time for winter smoothies!
6. Oh, and my wonderful niece Emily is going to watch the children tonight while Paul and I go on a date...alone.
7. Many more forgotton by me.

California Trip - Day 4, 5, 6 & 7

I couldn't' help but add this. As I was getting ready for bed tonight I noticed these two sitting on the front porch swing together. An 11 yr old sister resting her head on her 10 yr old brother's shoulder, all wrapped up in a blanket as he reads to her from a book. Isn't that sweet?!

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Saturday Day 4 - We settled in at the S's home. We got up and went to a city wide garage sale in Ferndale, CA what a hoot! They put Lynden to shame. There were so many G-sales and so little time. Lot's of fun. The day was packed with activities, food and topped off with a movie(Little Lulu) before bed. This couple's energy should be bottled and sold. They put us to shame!! These two gems get an A+ in my book for hospitality, I learned a lot.

Sunday Day 5 - Laundry Day. To preserve space in our all but spacious trailer, I put four days worth of clothing in a tote for each child. We visited only two laundromats! I don't know if that is something I should be proud of, but we did it. Above is how you pass an hour and a half in a laundromat...

We packed up lunches and drove to Fern Canyon. A BEAUTIFUL hike in a fairytale-like canyon. Blanketed with petite ferns with brilliant colors and itty bitty streams cascading down the walls.

Here we are with the S's all taking a break from the walk and having lunch. Paul doesn't normally take his blanky with him on hikes....Gracie is in the back-pack directly behind his head.

Picture perfect.

I know, I know. It's JUST a mushroom. But you know me and mushrooms. This is the only little guy I spotted and I couldn't help but get down and take a picture of him. The only one around and basking in the sunlight.

We finished the day with a stop at Moonstone Beach for a good hard play, then Trinidad Marina and Dock then a killer buffet dinner. I rarely see my two oldest stuffed and they were stuffed!!!

Day Monday Day 6 - Andy's waffles! Waffles and peaches for breakfast, who could ask for more. Off to the Redwood Forest!

Founders Tree - Was the tallest tree in the world until another redwood was found to be taller.

Still a celebrity in our eyes.

Many more things were packed in this day, We ended with a hot dog roast and the blessing of meeting one of the S's daughters and her family. It is not every day you meet someone who is so like-minded, it was so wonderful to meet them.

Tuesday Day 7 - We went over the S's other daughters home who is a avid collector of M&M's memorabilia. Their garage is tastefully smothered with 50's type decor, a full soda fountain and everything you need to put on one good party. We all had ice cream with yummy toppings and played I-Spy with the walls.

Then came the hard part. Look at all those red eyes. It was so hard saying goodbye to this couple and their family. I am an emotional wreck when I am pregnant anyways and just turned into mush. They children cried miles down the freeway(don't' read this Lorraine) We started wondering if it was even such a good idea to do this. But then as miles and time were put on, everything came back into perspective and we were so happy the Lord allowed us the opportunity to come down here and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Tears turned to tiredness and soon after this picture they were all napping.

On the road again....Soon enough Micah was entertaining all of us with the frog that lives in his tummy. He has this make believe "frog" that he swallows and regurgitates. At any given time you may ask Micah "May I see your froggy?" and he will make this *noise*(a tasteful noise) and up comes this *frog* into his hand and he carries it around and shows it off. When he is done, he swallows it again until the next day...week...or month.

Mornings like these

Make me smile....

Look what I woke up to! 5 healthy little ShihPoos. 3 boys/2 girls. No heart murmurs, no cleft palates, everything looks good from the onset.

We are having a fun day today. I got a phone call from a friend who announced she was "finally" in labor and asked if her two boys could come spend the day with my boys, what fun! Their mamma has had a really tough time with this baby and it sounds like her labor is no exception. Hopefully by the end of the day they will have #11 safely in their arms at home.

On the baby note, if anyone knows of a tasteful pregnancy ticker/countdown for blogs that does not promote astrology or other, please let me know.

If you have time...

Here is a YouTube link to Pastor Voddie Baucham opposing the issue of having a woman in one of the highest offices in the country (and the world). This is becoming a very hot topic in the church and rightfully so, weighing out a pro-life view vs. the biblical role of a woman is making us all think....and talk. It is 7 minutes long and worth the time. I will be posting more articles as time goes on why my husband and I will not be voting for Mr. McCain/Mrs. Palin or Mr. Obama but rather writing in a candidate that we can vote on without usurping God's Word.

Should Christians Support a Woman for the Office of Civil Magistrate?

Many other thought provoking insights on this topic at Doug's Blog.

California Trip ~ Day 1, 2 & 3

It is SO good to be home! That is a successful trip when you are not looking back thinking "Oh, I wish it could have gone on longer" Nope. We are done. It was great. I am going to post a little each day as I took over 309 pictures(don't worry I will spare you) and I am wading through them for our album. Yikes.

By the way, the Lord graciously answered our prayer and though Daniel had the flu the first 24 hours of traveling it just went away and no one else ever became sick. That just doesn't happen.





Wednesday, Day 1 - We left Wednesday night after dinner at 6:30 pm. We made it to Salem, Or at 1:30am and put down anchor in a good ole Walmart parking lot. Most Walmarts offer free RV overnight parking, so we are well acquainted with Walmarts around the West Coast! Hit the road Thursday morning. We kept driving to nap times. As soon as the little ones got antsy we pulled over and hit a city park for a good hard play.





This picture says it all. How do two parents survive a trip of over 1000 miles with 6 children? Espresso and Jonathan Park played on the Ipod through the van stereo. It kept even Gracie listening to the action. We went through 2 full albums!





Thursday, Day Two - Driving and stopping. We were impulsive. If we saw a beach or anything interesting we pulled over and jumped on it. It was so great to "just do it". The above picture is a forest fire near the I-5 coming in to Sutherlin, Or.





A very familiar sign on the Redwood Highway! We pulled more hills and our van did so well. Never a hitch in her giddyup.





Dutch Brothers! We have heard of these these quaint coffee stands from other Lyndenites. Dutch Bros is a popular stand throughout Cali and Or. They blend their own espresso and it is nothing like anything I have had before. Very tasty! Needless to say, we were loyal customers if one was in town.





We made it!! We had to stop at the sign amidst all the whoops and hollers that we made it to Cali! The kids think they are something special now! Two nice, um, young California men took this picture for us.





Highway 101 is gorgeous. We love it. Isn't this great? Did I mention our weather from Oregon to home stayed around 80 degrees every day? We were in a couple 90's, but it was nice.





Here the kids and I had to jump out on this beach and play, it was too postcard-ish not to. The waves crashing we so loud we had to yell to communicate.

A new game "Wave Running"

Friday, Day 3 - Stayed in Crescent City, Ca. Highlights of the day - seeing huuuge redwoods, beaches, elk heard by road, Gracie tumbled out of the trailer and buggered her nose.

Paul Bunyan and Babe at the Trees of Mystery. Paul even talked to the kids, waved his hand and made Babe do tricks. Nice gift shop and tours.

After the announcement we had passed the sign "Entering the City of Fortuna" This is their response...we made it!

We made to the S's home in Fortuna. Got all set up and relaxed....