The Chicken and the Ninja

Daddy took this picture... I was on the sofa having just been diagnosed with pneumonia and feeling horrible... I laid on the sofa as daddy got the kids ready for trick or treating. It was really sad not being able to go with them this year... so different from last year.

Daddy said he wouldn't be able to take pictures while they were out so I dragged myself to the window to snap this picture...sigh...

But oh the faces of joy that returned home - It was like getting a big dose of good medicine.

Memo gave the kids their own bag full of goodies... Of course it was just something she did for her grandbabies, but Jack was so cute... He told me: "Mommy, guess what Memo is giving away?" "What?" I said. "An entire bag of stuff!" I laughed. He thought it was just amazing that Memo was giving away (to all the kids) a huge bag full of goodies. :)

Dear children, you are soooo loved!!!!!

Mommy loves you so very much!!!

Footprints

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Footprints

by Mary Stevenson

About 5 minutes

... is all the energy I have to get this post out, and then I'll crash on the sofa again. And that's been my life lately. But it is a good day because I don't feel like I'm dying anymore... so that's always a good thing.

I wanted to share with you what puts a smile on my face - these videos of the kids jumping in the leaves (taken the day before I got sick).

I will post again...

as soon as I'm done with this flu thing!

Favorites Friday

I love, LOVE, LOVE, this!!!!!

It's called the

"HUG CARD"



Here's what you do...

Put your finger on the black box and count for 10 seconds. Then whatever color the box changes to that's how many hugs you need (black = 4 hugs, red = 3 hugs, green = 2 hugs, and blue = you give a hug)

Here are our results:

Jack: needed 2 hugs

Bella: needed 3 hugs

Me: I needed 4 hugs!!!!!

Mine is always black! (I love hugs)

Daddy: Blue!!!! He doesn't need any hugs... he gives them away! Awwwww, sweet daddy! It figures he gives them away - he's so sweet!!!

I love this so much that I'm going to be giving 5 of them away to the first 5 comments on this post! So if you want one of these, let me know by leaving a comment!

The Good Old Days

I loved the days when the kids were smaller.

Both of them home with me.

We had fun.

Life is going by way tooooo fast!!!

Mountains of Gold

I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of

heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip -He who watches over you will not slumber;

Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you

The LORD is your shade at your right hand;

The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm -

He will watch over your life;

The LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

A rainbow on my plate

5 A Day

keeps the doctor away!!!

click here to find out how many veggies you should eat

Mothers, always remember...

Everything you do for your children matters.
Even the little things... tying shoes, wiping noses,

cleaning little fingers, playing funny games.

And when it seems like

nobody notices all you do,

one day they will

rise up and

call you

blessed!

A beautiful day

Have a great day at work daddy!!!

This is what the kids are doing... a little bit more rest and recovery..

And I'll be turning these...

Into this!

Sick boy and first snowfall

My dear little boy is very sick. We found out it's pneumonia and I've been praying around the clock for him. It's horrible to see your child so sick. But I know he's going to be fine... he is my promise from God!


I was so happy to read the forecast for today was snow! It was very exciting news for my kids and I just wanted to see a smile on my little boys face. It worked!

They sang to me

It could be a dangerous thing that daddy knows how to make this cake! He insisted on making it for my birthday, despite the fact that we've been dealing with a lot of sickness lately.

It was soooooo SWEET of you daddy!!!

I came up with a birthday resolution, that I'm trying really hard to stick to: I will stop researching swine flu. I will stop researching swine flu. I will stop researching swine flu!!!!!!

Hello future leaf pile!

YOU'RE GONNA MAKE MY KIDS

SOOOOO HAPPY!!!

Belle says funny things

I never know why or where these thoughts come from... it makes me laugh though...

Belle: Mommy, where do clowns come from?
Me: Belly, clowns are just people.
Belle: No they're not. Clowns are just clowns!

I was cleaning up another little accident in the bathroom when Belle must have heard me say "God help me"... really, you would understand if you knew that I just spent last night cleaning up the entire bathroom, and this morning cleaning up p-- off the toilet seat and then cleaned even more p-- on the seat 5 minutes later, plus a whole lot on the floor that I stepped in... and this was Belle's response:

Belle: Mommy, God can't help you.
Me: Why not?
Belle: Because God doesn't have toilet paper.

Oh I love how she can make me laugh....just when I need it too!

Favorites Friday

I loved these things when I was a kid. Guess who loves them now? Okay, it's me. But seriously, my kids love doing these too.

Fall is for...

READING TOGETHER

After dinner last night, we nestled down together and listened to daddy read "Despereaux". It was a perfect way to spend a fall evening. When it was time for bed the kids begged daddy to carry them upstairs...

Dinner and Entertainment

It’s the unexpected that can be expected during our dinnertime. In fact, the shenanigans that transpired tonight are pretty typical. And for the most part, this stuff strikes me as amusing. That is, in retrospect… say, like in a few years from now, I fully intend to find myself in a fit of uncontrollable laughter over this evening’s squirt gun incident…As for now, I can’t understand why my life doesn’t play out like a Norman Rockwell painting. LOL...hmmm, kinda reminds me of this.

So here’s what happened tonight. We were partaking of my scrumptious dinner (By the way, the sole qualifier for scrumptiousness is the fact that I made food. I’ve been totally wiped out since being sick with sick kids, and may have missed a meal… or two. Thankfully, daddy’s picked up the slack…i.e. Chinese takeout.) At some point Belle had asked to be excused for a potty break. Nothing unusual there, after all, what’s dinner without a course of musical chairs? However, as she was leaving I noticed on her seat minuscule droplets of liquid. I assumed the worst and thought she must have had an accident. That is until I noticed large droplets of water on my apron that was still affixed to me from making our scrumptious dinner. What in the world? Was my glass leaking? No. Could it be that I dribbled some water down my chin and not know it? Never! Did Jack, who was sitting to my right, bite into something incredibly juicy, therefore creating an arsenal of fluid to disperse onto my lap? Well, Jack? Well? Jack? J A C K?!?!

I’ll leave it up to you to draw your conclusions...

A glorious announcement!

I am happy to announce that we have officially weaned our homestead off of store-bought bread!!! Hooray!!! This is a glorious moment for me! Especially since I have produced my share of dud loaves. So to be totally dependant on the product that I whip up, and everybody approves of, is very exciting to me!

This loaf just came out of the oven. Oh, and I will be sharing the recipe soon!

More decor

some of the harvest decor I put around the house for the kids...

Sisters

Today was my sisters birthday so I made her a cake. It wasn't perfect..but what matters is that it was made with a lot of love.




The bond we have is immeasurable. Over the years we have shared so many things together - so many experiences - including cesarean deliveries to our precious babies. I know exactly what she's going through right now. Those pesky side effects of surgery interfering with the cravings to be a supermom to that wonderful gift that was just delivered. But, my sister is strong and once again becoming the supermom that lies within her.

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my sister. We were glowing on the outside then. But now our beautiful children and wonderful husbands make us glow on the inside!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!