Caleb

Caleb just said to me, "Mommy, you're gorgeous. Do you like being gorgeous?"

Boy, I've never really thought about it!

It's Too Quiet!

Not that I'm complaining, but it's very unusual in this house. Here's what the kids are up to:


Jared and Caleb are playing fort up on their bunk bed. No girls are allowed. That's probably why it's so quiet in there!



Gracie is playing tea party with her doll again.


And tech savvy Lily has both Leapsters, the Leap Pad and all of their cartridges out on my bed.

Ten Things I Don't Do

I hope I don't shock anyone out there, but here are 10 things that I don't do:

I don't scrapbook
I don't make my own bread
I don't (won't) diet
I don't take vitamins
I don't knit or crochet
I don't can fruits, vegetables or jams
I don't garden
I don't want to homeschool
I don't dust
I don't know what to write for #10

Now I tag Emily, Stephanie and Brooke

Time Change

Does anyone have advice for helping my kids adjust to the time change? Their new wake-up time is 5:30.

Giving Thanks

I'm very thankful for the time I was able to spend with my friend Emily in Seattle this weekend. I'm also thankful for Emily. I love having good Christian friends. Visiting with her was like a breath of fresh air! We went to bed early, slept in, shopped, ate, visited friends, went to her church, drank coffee, and sat and talked at a beautiful park overlooking the Space Needle.

I'm thankful for my children who were so happy to see me when I got home. Caleb has been catching up on hugs and kisses since I've been home. He pats my face and tells me that he missed me. He said, "Days we didn't talk; today we'll talk." Jared told me that things weren't the same without me.

But Phil wins the prize! I can't thank God enough for the wonderful husband He's given me. Phil took such good care of things while I was gone. The house was clean, the kids were clean, he took them to church and out to lunch by himself, he made blueberry muffins on Saturday night like I always do so breakfast is easy on Sunday morning (I almost bought blueberry muffins for them, but decided he might just feed them Cheerios), and he also fixed the car because it didn't pass the smog check last week. I took the car in this morning to get it checked and it passed! Good job, Phil.

We had a "drive-thru" kind of morning: drive-thru smog check, drive-thru bank deposit, drive-thru McDonald's for our picnic at the park, drive-thru car wash, and, since I was on a roll, drive-thru Starbucks! How could I resist? It was right across the street from the car wash. We ran all of these errands in the car! Mothering 4 small children has never been easier (I think).

Sleeping in Seattle

That's what I'll be doing this weekend! My wonderful husband is sending me away for the weekend to visit a dear college friend. I'll pick Phil up from school this afternoon and then he and the kids will drop me off at the airport. As far as the kids go, we've sweetened the deal by telling them that Daddy will take them to Sonic for dinner after they drop me off. Jared is excited about the new November toys in their Wacky Packs. They're supposed to be little cars. Caleb is hoping his car will be yellow.

As a side note, Jared has been frustrated with his sisters this morning. They're following him around the house destroying everything he's trying to play with. He just said to me, "Mommy, I wish all of your children could just start out at [age] 3." Interesting thought!

A few minutes ago, I caught Lily on my bed trying to stuff her jammies into the bag I'm taking to Seattle. Cute, cute, cute!!!

So Far, So Good

Phil has a very long day today. He left the house at 5:30 this morning and won't be home until 7:00 this evening. This makes for a very long day for the rest of us, but the Lord has blessed us with a calm morning and a beautiful sunny sky! It was still 40 degrees outside at lunch time, so we'll save our morning walk for this afternoon.

I spent the majority of my morning in the kitchen--first, putting stew in the crockpot for tonight, and then just sitting on the kitchen floor with the kids. We had tea parties, played dollhouse, Play Doh, cars, Lego, and fed baby dolls. I got a kick out of Lily! She escaped into her room and came out in high heels and her baby's diaper bag. I followed her around the house with the camera, because it's so sweet to see this side of her. Gracie has always nurtured her dolls, but Lily has always chosen to play with her brothers or help her daddy fix things around the house. She snuggles her baby doll now, feeds her in the little high chair by spooning imaginary food into her doll's mouth and rocks her while singing "Rock-a-bye Baby."

Happy November!

I can hardly believe November is here! My girls will be 2 soon! Caleb received his Cubbies uniform last night at AWANA. He's very proud of it.


The boys were given even more candy at AWANA last night. Here they are going through their bags before bedtime.


We have a bit of a dilemma here. My kids have really enjoyed playing with my empty Starbucks carton, but look at it! I've repaired it many times with Scotch tape. I guess I'm going to have to buy another 4-pack. In fact, one for each of the kids would probably be best, don't you think?

Trick or Treat!

After we read The Pumpkin Patch Parable, Phil carved a pumpkin and we took the kids trick-or-treating on our street. They had a great time. Lily lagged behind the others, because she was digging around in her purse to eat her candy. She had a constant stream of chocolate drool coming out of her mouth most of the evening. Look who followed us around the neighborhood and settled on our front porch for awhile. It's a good thing we're not superstitious!

Cuties in Costumes

Here are Caleb and Lily, the doctor and the cowgirl. Caleb said, "I'm a cute doctor!" Yes, as a matter of fact, you are! Lily still has her snack all over her face. I suppose a cowgirl should look a little rustic, anyway. The kids chose their costumes from their dress-up clothes. Jared said he "just wants to watch" this year, and I guess Gracie will have me help her into her pretty princess costume when she feels like it. The answer was "no" five minutes ago...isn't that just like a princess?

On a Roll?

Could it be? Another picture with all 4 of my children smiling? Presently, the girls are busy feeding their babies their bottles and plastic food, and Caleb and Jared are running around the house playing super heroes. Caleb is using my empty Starbucks Frappuccino carton to lug around his super hero snacks.

From Visitor to Friend

Our Surprise Visitor who brought yummy cookies (mentioned in a post 2 weeks ago) returned this morning--this time by invitation--and she brought her two sweet daughters and homemade canned apple pie filling along with her. The kids played, we drank lattes and then had lunch. I'm so thankful for the wonderful fellowship we can enjoy with other believers. There's a bond that cannot be explained, so I won't even try. I'll just be content to enjoy each special lady the Lord allows me to meet.

Sunday Afternoon

Nap time is over at our house, so the house is bustling with noise and activity once more. The boys are playing school in their tunnel.



The girls are enjoying a spot of tea in the living room.


Now, I have a question: whenever I make cornbread muffins in my cast iron pan, they crumble when I remove them from the pan. Am I doing something wrong?

Was I for Real?

Phil and I spent the evening organizing the basement. We put up shelves and sorted the boxes that we've randomly placed downstairs since our move. I laughed at a few of the things I found tucked away in boxes. Here are just a few:

*The laminated (by hand) alphabet cards that I made for Jared when he was a baby

*Dozens of organic baby food labels that I meant to send in for a free organic baby food cookbook

*Bulletin board figures and border for the bulletin board that hung next to Jared's highchair (which was changed seasonally)

*Pictures that I placed on his highchair and covered with contact paper (also changed seasonally)

*Rows of plastic baby food containers reserved for craft time with Jared

*The green fine-point Sharpie used for handmade Christmas cards many, many years ago

It's all a blur to me now...really, it is! I can't believe that I did ANY of these things.

Before I had children I made my own tortillas and thought that making macaroni and cheese or spaghetti for dinner wasn't really cooking. Wow! What was I thinking?

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

My little brother Tyler is 12 today! I was in college when he was born. The first time I saw him was when I went home for Christmas break. He was wearing little yellow jammies. I love you, Tyler! Have a great birthday!