Welcome to Crazy Town!

Such a funny title don't ya think?

It's very fitting to where I am entering right now. My mind is crazy and I have offficially lost it and wound up in crazy town. As if my life isn't busy, crazy, hectic, oh yeah and fun too, I take on another challenge and change our very well working schedule. I have been trying to put the girls in a charter school for a year now and man are those things hard to get into. They work by lottery and wouldn't you know after submitting four, yes four, applications to four schools we didn't get picked in any of the lotteries. Just my dumb luck! I have been having issues-well my kids have been so it makes them my issues, with the school and they are ABSOLUTELY bored in their classes and the work I believe is WAY too easy for all of my bright-minded girls. So, I thought to put them in a charter school where they can be challenged. A lot of their friends have switched to charter schools so I thought why not and have been researching them for over a year and voila I knew it was the right decision. Only problem is we can't seem to get into any of them due to high demand and too few openings. Next best thing... HOMESCHOOLING! Yep, you heard me. I am and have signed us up for homeschooling. Well it's actually considered a virtual charter school and they give me all the materials for free! I have signed them up with Utah Virtual Academy who's curriculum is the K12 program. The K12 program is awesome and I have fallen in love with the lessons. I will be their learning coach and teach, but they all have thier own online teacher they are accountable to. It's perfect! This way I don't always have to be the mean teacher/mom. They have to turn their assignments into someone else, I just have to teach them and guide them. We'll hold "school" in the house and have "field trips" and "labs" outside of the home. I'm excited and terrifed all at the same time. Can't wait to see how this first year goes. It'll be busy, well with a baby, two toddlers, and trying to teach the 3 girls, but a fun adventure! Wish me luck and I'll keep you up to date on how our adventure is going.

FHE Week 3!

This week's lesson was on God's gift to us all- Nature and how to take care of our surroundings. Eric taught a fun lesson and for our activity we made some cute garden signs to show where everything is planted once we get to actually plant our garden. The weather has been bad, and in fact it is snowing right this very minute. Only in Utah, right. But we want to be prepared and ready for when we do plant the garden. It was Noah's week to do the treat so I had to make it a simple thing to do. So, we made a rainbow. I thought it tied in nice with Eric's lesson and Noah had a blast at sprinkling all the colors and dipping the marshmallows in the chocolate.

Here is our cute marshmallowy rainbow.

Noah loved getting to lick the spoon and was quite pleased with himself at his rainbow. I had to keep reminding him the treat was for everyone, because he kept saying "ooh, my treeet." Such a happy little guy, don't ya think.

Look What I Can Do Now!

My little munchkin has been at it again! She has had the standing up against something trick down for a week now, but now she has taken it a step further. She has figured out how to pull herself up ALL BY HERSELF! Aggghh! She is so proud of herself and so cute doing it, but she needs to slow down for me, I mean for herself, I mean, c'mon give one trick some time before you go learning something else. Sheesh!Here's her trick in her crib and I think we need to lower her mattress again. I don't want her to start climbing out of it now.
Bella loves to try and eat everything, hence she just had to "taste" the gate. Apparently she actually did this trick last night, but I missed it. I was out mowing the front lawn and Eric sent Alexis out to get me to come and see. However, she said Bella is holding onto the gate and standing. I didn't think this was a big deal because she has been doing this on her knees for awhile now. I didn't know she meant Bella had pulled herself up and was standing on her feet at the gate. Eric actually got to see one of our babies do something for the first time before I saw it. And this folks is why I DON'T work out of the home. I hate missing my babies' firsts. I'm glad and grateful I have been able to stay at home with all my babies. I have seen all their firsts, laughed, cried, yelled, cooked, played, etc. with all of them and I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world. I may have missed this first of Bella's, but I got the first picture of it!

You just gotta love that grin!

Loves eating those bars!

ANNOUNCING...

This little sweetie has FINALLY gotten her appliance off and she can now have any sticky, chewy, gummy thing she wants. It has been a tough 8 months for her-given she had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's, and Easter to survive not being allowed to have her treats she received. To say the least she was THRILLED to come home last Thursday from the orthodontist free from her appliance! She claimed the weekend as her Chewy Party. And that is exactly what we did.
I made these for breakfast Saturday morning. She has been missing them. This is my quick version of caramel monkey bread. It was ooey, gooey, sticky, caramel liscious! Just what Kaleigh ordered up. They had lifesaver gummies at lunch time and I made peanut butter chews(some know them as Scotcheroos). Kaleigh was in pure heaven! Oh, and she also finally got to have dried mangoes with her lunch too. She loves, loves, loves dried mangoes and 8 months without them has almost "killed" her. Her words, not mine. She's a funny, funny girl. She's also one very excited girl. Poor thing though, the orthodontist said she is still going to need both up and down set of braces. Oh man, I sure hope she gets her fill of chewy, sticky, gummy things before that day comes. Poor girl, she takes after her daddy-well at least her teeth do. I on the other hand have never had the lovely experience of anything being wrong with my teeth. They are naturally straight and cavity free! I only hope that most of the kids follow my teeth and not Eric's!

Fast and Easy Caramel Monkey Bread
2 cans of Pilsbury Grand Flaky Biscuits
1/2 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
sugar
cinnamon

Heat oven up to 350 degrees. Mix up some sugar and cinnamon in a ziploc bag. Cut up all the biscuits in fourths and place in a ziploc bag with the sugar cinnamon mixture. Shake the bag to coat the biscuit pieces. Place the biscuits in layers in a 12 cup bundt pan. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the brown sugar until dissolved and mixed together. Pour it over the biscuits and smell the caramel flavor-Yummm! Place in the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes. Pull out of the oven and cool for about 5 minutes and then flip it over on a serving plate. Eat and Enjoy!

Another Yummy Recipe!

Yummy Costa Vida Chicken Soft Tacos! And oh man, they were so tasty! This is a quick crock-pot dinner so I'm sure I'll be making it a ton this summer.
This is what the inside of my taco looked like. I also threw together some mango salsa, because I didn't have any on hand and it goes really well with this chicken.

Costa Vida Chicken
5 chicken breasts
16 oz of italian dressing(I make my own and used two recipes of it)
1 Tbsp of chili powder
1 Tbsp of cumin
garlic powder or 3 minced cloves of garlic if you have it.

You mix the dressing with the spices. Place the chicken in your crockpot and cover with the dressing mix. I cooked it for 6 hours on high shredding the chicken at around 5 hours. This made a lot, so I just froze the rest of it for another night's dinner.

For the mango salsa all I did was take some pineapple chunks(about 1/3 of a 20 oz can) and dried mangoes(about 20) and chopped them up together. I added some of the pineapple juice mixed it all together with some of my bottled salsa from last year's canning session and voila...my own mango salsa. I added a little frank's red hot sauce because we like things a little spicer at our house. I then chilled it for about 30 minutes and it was perfect. Very simple and easy for me because I had all the ingredients on hand, but if you don't just buy some mango salsa. The tacos really taste better with the mango salsa instead of just plain old salsa, but to each's own taste buds right! Eat and Enjoy!

LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!

My little munchkin has been making me go "aww, my baby," a lot this week. She has been doing tricks and trying out things that she thinks she should be doing. Wait a minute Miss Bella, not so fast, I'M not ready! She now thinks she can just eat all by herself now. Up until now I have been mashing up her food and feeding it to her. She has been getting impatient with me, so I just put the banana on her tray and this is what followed.
She ate her whole banana all by HERSELF! Stop, wait a minute, not so fast! I want my little baby back. Rats! Here I thought I would just put the banana down on her tray to calm her down while I fixed the other kids' lunch and then I would go feed her. Haha mom, jokes on you.
Here's our lit'l munchkin holding onto the side of her bouncer trying to climb and pull herself out. One trick at a time, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE!

She fell down just as the camera went off. Darn it, it was a cute snapshot. She looked at me like,"geez mom, just let me do it already."

Proud Bella

She was so proud to be standing holding onto the couch. She is a real mover and a shaker. Funny thing is, she still hasn't really crawled yet. She is still doing the army crawl, but she hauls. She also loves to sit herself up now, all by herself. I love and hate this stage. Right now I'm experiencing a lot of the love-hate emotions right now. I love she is doing all new stuff and is getting bigger, but I hate that she is doing all the new stuff and is getting BIGGER! My little munchkin- I love you so, so, so much!

FHE WEEK 2!

Prayer was our family's theme for the week and Alexis and Kaleigh had the lesson and activity.We started out with the song A Child's Prayer-Noah's pick, and then some stories and a quiz game. Logan and Laney had the treat and chose rootbeer cupcakes with rootbeer frosting. They were delish. Our family is on a rootbeer kick right now. We had some homemade rootbeer on Sunday and it was finished to the last drop.
Here's Logan mixing the cupcake batter and having fun. He was singing, "I love my family, I love my family," it was the cutest thing. That's a boy who is very happy and proud of himself.

Laney got to do the decorating and here is her masterpiece. She had fun and so wanted one right away, but alas, she had to wait until after the lesson. "Darn it," as she said.

Don't these look yummy? They are! I'm really glad the recipe only made 12 cause they were so good my waistline would have expanded. There were just enough for everyone to have one that night and the kids to have one for lunch the next day. I love baking, but my waistline and hips sure DON'T!

Two Yummy Salad Recipes!

This is the tastiest fruit salad EVER!It has bananas, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and strawberries in it-YUMMY! It's perfect for the warm weather and it goes great with this...

Wonton Salad
This is a very simple recipe
1 bag of romaine lettuce
Newman's Lite Sesame and Ginger Dressing
Wontons-cut up into strips and fried
1 can of mandarin oranges
3 cooked chicken breasts-shredded
red and green peppers diced up(we were out of them so they aren't pictured)

I bake the chicken breasts in a little of the dressing at 350 degrees for about an hour. I then let them cool while I fry the wontons in a little oil. When the chicken is cool I shred it then place it into a big bowl. I add the salad, oranges, peppers, and a little bit of dressing( a little goes a long way)and mix it all up. I then put the wontons in and stir gently-so as not to break them too much. Eat and Enjoy!

Fruit Salad
1 can of mandarin oranges
3 bananas cut up
2 cans of pineapple chunks
about 1-2 pounds of strawberries sliced up
1 big box of cook type vanilla pudding
1 small box of cook type tapioca pudding

In a saucepan combine the pineapple juice from both cans of pineapple and add about 1 1/4 cups of water. Then add the puddings and heat on medium heat until well combined and boiling a little. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cooled add all the fruit and mix. Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Hungry Little Monsters!

I have very HUNGRY little monsters and they SO surprised me today! I took them to McDonald's for lunch as a surprise(I know, not a very healthy place, but they love it) and they ended up surprising me. This post is all for me so that I can remember this one crazy lunch! I ordered a 20 piece chicken nuggets and a lrg fry for them all to share. I then ordered myself just a plain small cheeseburger with a small fry and diet coke. Well my lovely Laney claimed she wanted a cheeseburger too, so I got her one but knew she would want the nuggets once they came. Oh well I thought, I'll just put the extra burger in the fridge and it'll get eaten by someone.

Our food was out and I dished it out. Little VULTURES! Here's what happened: Logan and Laney both exclaimed, "we're starving!" Yes, I do feed them, but they don't think I do enough. These two kiddos both had 8, yes that's 8, chicken nuggets and half the large fries each! Noah ate the other 4 and ended up having most of my fries. Then Laney wanted to have half the cheeseburger, and she DID! They also each had sprite to drink and then wanted some of their Easter candy. Me all amazed, said just a little piece, but when I wasn't looking(I was feeding Bella) they each had 2 marshmallow bunnies! HUNGRY HUNGRY LITTLE MONSTERS! They are only 6, 4, and 2! God help me when they are teenagers, at least help my food budget PLEASE!

OUCH!

CAUTION: Yucky foot picture follows this post! Proceed at your own risk.

So, Eric and I have started our training sessions with our program-From Couch to 5K in 9 Weeks, this week. I so was not thinking and was just excited to get started and moving. My dad came over last night to watch the kiddos and off we went down to the Jordan River Parkway. I laced up my running shoes and began the very painful first training session. Mental note: Don't think that you are in any kind of good shape just because you have been riding your bike for exercise. My body, that I have given over to my lovely seven angels for the past 12 years, so wanted to die and give up. The last time I went running was right before I turned 18. Yep folks, that's exactly 15 years ago! AGHH!

Turns out I totally wasn't thinking of my poor feet in my NEW running shoes. Don't ever, ever, NEVER wear NEW running shoes when you haven't ran for 15 years. I was just so excited I didn't even think about it and this was the end result...

Can we just say OUCH! I have never, ever, had a blister this bad, let alone a nasty blood blister. Hoping that today's rest day will help it heal before we take off again tomorrow. Here's hoping. If not, I'll just have to double up on socks and definately wear different shoes!

Peek-A-Boo Bella!

This little munchkin just loves her some good peek-a-boo! She is always playing it whenever, wherever, and with whatever she can. And I have the proof right here! Miss Bella laying on her changing table all ready for me to change her diaper. I had just unsnapped her dress and she yanked her dress up and over her head. She does this ALL the time! I said where's Bella and...
here she is! I am happy to have caught some proof of her obsession. She has such a fun time with this little game. I needed to journal this for the time when I forget this. She does it with blankets(very common for most babies), she hides into the side of her high chair to play, she even buries herself into the carpet or couch to play. Funny and very fun little munchkin we have! Oh, how I love being at home and catching all these fun moments!

Project that I just LOVE!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

I am having so much fun doing projects and finally tackling things that have been on my list ever since we moved into our house-almost 4 years ago! We have this whole wall of windows and they all have blinds on them. Over the past year I have felt so blocked in and the blinds have felt like big chunky gates. If we had all the blinds open it was blinding, but when they are closed it is very dark and dreary. So, the solution...

Get some cute curtains! This way it's not so blinding, but the light is let in to pierce my soul and let the darkness out! I love, love, love SPRING! We even did it in the kitchen, and man has it made our whole main floor seem bigger! I can't wait to tackle more projects. Garden, yard, and half-bath here I come!

Fun Treasure I Found!

I love this little treasure I found at the D.I. It is the cutest little poem and it is a great addition to our dining room. It only cost me 50 cents. Best money I ever paid. I only had to fix the letter "l" on one of the words. I love, love, love it!

FHE fun with a refresh lesson/activity!

We finally started our Family Home Evenings up again. It's been a trial for us to keep it going consistently with everyone's schedule, but I'm determined to make it work. This week's theme was Do As I'm Doing. Thanks to my lovely dad for making me a little anal about how stuff is done and cleaned/straightened I decided to refresh my kids in how stuff is suppose to be done. We started with the song "Do As I'm Doing," then Laney opened us up with our prayer-such a cutie that one. We then discussed who we are suppose to follow, i.e. mom, dad, Jesus, teachers, and yes even brothers and sisters-if they are doing what is right. So the activity went like this... we learned again how to vacuum, make a straight bed, and tie our shoes. The kids had to watch how I did it and then repeat it exactly the same way. I even tricked them with some stuff and questioned way things were done. The kids had a blast and then came the TREAT...

Both Alexis and Kaleigh were assigned this one. They made our lovely family SLIME! Yummy,yummy!
Silly girls!

We learned, loved, laughed, and had some good eats! A very good and productive FHE!

SLIME RECIPE

1 small box of pistachio pudding(dry mix only)

1 c of sliced strawberries

1 lrg can of crushed pineapple

8 oz. cool whip

1/3 bag of mini marshmallows

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until everything is well mixed. Chill for at least 30 minutes and ENJOY!

It's a PARTY- a BLOG PARTY!

Who doesn't want to party! Well this year I decided I'd give it a try. So I joined up to party with a bunch of other bloggers and man are there a lot of you out there! So, I'm a very blessed SAHM of 7 children, but we only have six in our house-we lost our oldest son about 5 years ago, and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my children and my hard workin' man! I love to cook, craft, and take gobs of photos of my kids. Hope you all have fun gettin' to know me and y'all come back again some time! If anyone wants to see what the party is all about just click on the button and it'll take you right to the HUMONGOUS party that is going on. Happy partying!

New Treats and Recipes!

Have you ever had a GIANT chocolate Costco muffin? Aren't they just yummy! Well I just love, love, love these muffins, but they are so big and I have a hard time stopping once I've started eating one that I end up eating the whole thing. This is SO not good for me, but I have stumbled onto a way to make my very own Costco chocolate chip muffins, but I make them normal sized. They are SO YUMMY! I won't be buying Costco's muffins anymore, because not only are they better tasting, but they cost way less. And if any of you know me, I'm all about frugal things and finding ways to make, and get things cheaper.Aren't they beautiful? Tasty too! So here's a really great recipe for making these:

devil's food cake mix

small box of chocolate pudding

3/4 c of sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c of water

1/2 c of oil(I used a little less than this though)

3 eggs

2 c. of chocolate chips(semi-sweet works best)

Mix all the ingred. together except choc. chips. Then add chips. I put liners in my muffin pans and filled them about 3/4 of the way. I baked them at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes and voila!

You have 24 small, but GREAT chocolate muffins! Enjoy!

This is what I made for Sunday night's dessert. Every Sunday we have an extravagant dessert. I made dark chocolate brownies(from a mix-Ghirardeli)with chocolate chips, homemade vanilla ice cream drenched with Old Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce. YUMMMM! I don't like store bought fudge sauce due to I think it is too heavy so I've monkeyed around with making my own over the years and this recipe is the one I like best. It is very light, but oh so chocolaty!

Oh man! Just look at that chocolaty goodness! Here's my recipe for this yummy goodness:
2 c sugar
4 Tbs. flour
2/3 c of cocoa(I use ghirardelli cocoa and choc mix)
2 c milk
4 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients and set aside. Combine milk, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Add the dry ingredients and boil until the sauce has thickened and is smooth-about five minutes. Cool down for about five minutes-it will thicken a little more, and ENJOY!

A Spotlight on me, but really it's all for Christian!

I love this blog because this mom speaks to me and she features other moms on her blog. It's a great way to see how other mothers, mother and live their lives. I simply love this one special weekly feature she does called Real Mommies/Real Challenges. She features moms that live their lives while dealing with different challenges. Well she saw that I am a follower and checked out my blog and asked me if she could feature me in one of her spotlights. To say the least I was flabber gasted and so didn't think I was worthy to be put in this feature. Afterall I am not mothering my children with a disability or some other extreme challenge, but she thought I am a real mommy with a real challenge. So... my spotlight(or as Eric calls it my two minutes of fame, not really, but haha) about my lovely son and family is tomorrow on her cute little blog. Check it out if you want, but check out her blog more to see her other moms that are featured too. Go to http://littletotsbigideas.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-mommies-real-challenges.html This is such a cool, and so unexpected little honor! Thank you Tina! This one is for you my little man, Christian Eric!

Putting The Cart Before the Horse!

This is what Eric calls our new adventure. We are definately "putting the cart before the horse." We have decided to both register for a 5K and we only have about 10 weeks until race day. Neither one of us is in the best shape, but we're gonna get ourselves there or at least die trying, haha! He says he needs something like this to make him get in shape, so I did it folks. We are registered for our first 5K together. Ready, set, GO! June 19th at 6:30 in the morning. Oh man, I better get walking, running, and a training if I want to not die on race day. I use to run with my dad, but that was way before I gave my body over to the 7 kids I've had. Hopefully all the training will get my body back in shape or at least set it on the right track to getting back in shape. Wish us luck and I'll try to get some pictures posted of race day, hey maybe I'll even post before and after of us throughout this process!

Dino Fun!

We are having so much fun with our passes for Thanksgiving Point, thanks again dad, we have visited the Dino Museum twice in less than a week. I took the kids with my dad last Wednesday and Eric surprised us by meeting us there and we all had a blast. My dad has never been and he was amazed at how big the place was. The kids had a blast dragging him around showing him everything. They love it so much they want to go back with him and see one of the 3D movies they play there. We then went back a few days later so the kids could play and hang out with some cousins. Eric's brother is in town and with the kids out of school still we decided to go see more dinos. We had more fun and took some cute pics both times we went so warning there are quite a few:

Laney posing in the cave
Laney and Noah having a "roaring" good time.

Baby Carter-as my kids call their little cuz, having a blast in the cave.
Trying to get a "good" picture of all the cousins, but I just wasn't quick enough to get one of everyone. Still a cute attempt at one.

One of Noah's favorite display of dinosaurs. He goes "raw" everytime he sees this one.

The girls all posing and Alexis very unhappy she can't get on the dino too. A little sibling rivalry going on here that day. This was the outcome of their little drama, Alexis pouting to the side. HILARIOUS, if I don't say myself. Sometimes that girl just puts me into stitches with her attitude and the way she rects to stuff. Gotta love being a mom to a "tween" right, RIGHT?

Easter

We had a very good Easter this year. It was nice and relaxing just lounging around and listening to Conference-at least trying to amid the commotion of 6 kids. I don't remember another Easter when it was also General Conference so I was happy to not leave and go to Church in the morning. The kids actually got to enjoy what the Easter Bunny brought them and not worry about getting ready for church. I like church and all it's just nice to have a quiet, relaxed Sunday. This is also the first year that we didn't get the kids new Easter outfits. I just figured the younger ones have so many hand me down dresses and outfits and Alexis just got a new "springy" skirt and shirt, why buy anything new since we aren't even going to church. So with the $$ we would have spent on outfits Eric and I got the kids a present they all would love. We got them a basketball hoop for outside. It's a pretty dang nice one. It's a Lifetime one and can be adjusted all the way to 10'. They were all thrilled and I made them work for it. I sent them throughout the house on a scavenger hunt to find the present. I sent them upstairs, down in the basement, on the main floor and up and down, up and down, you get the picture. I put clues from one area to the next and they had a blast running around. It all led to the garage where we had it covered with a big bow on it and they all hopped up and down with glee. I just love making their day, especially when it's so easy!

We had a fun dinner with just us and my dad over. The usual ham, potatoes, rolls, green beans and strawberries. I made name cards and the day before the kids helped me make these:

Cute little birdie nests to go on everyone's place. I made the other treat which I only make at Easter. Delicious homemade coconut eggs(Eric calls them my home made almond joys, only way better tasting). They were snarffed up by everyone and we also had easter eclairs too. I don't have any pics of those due to the fact they are gone now. Much enjoyed by the crazy bunch and my dad. It was a fun Easter and we enjoyed our long lazy weekend taking in the spiritual word of our leaders.

Bella is now 10 months!

Our little lovely turned 10 months this last Friday and wow has she changed! She is movin' and a groovin' all over the place. This little bugger just doesn't sit still and she keeps trying to stand and although she hasn't mastered it yet, she keeps on a tryin' falls and all. She is a pure joy and her giggly smile is the cutest thing ever. Oh I could just love on her all day! She has five teeth and four more have reared their painful little heads almost out. Poor girl, she is having one heck of a time with the teething, but she keeps on smilin' just not sleeping much- but what's new with that. She is definately not one for much sleep, unfortunately her momma sure would like some.I love this smiley grin. She is like this most of the day. So cute and really a GORGEOUS girl. I wonder where she came from. Heck, I wonder where all my cute kids came from. Crazy, I'm seven for seven and God help Eric with his four pretty girls. I think he's thinking about storing a gun to keep the boys away from his daughters, haha!
She's always trying to get away with something and then checks to see if I'm looking. We call her our little vacuum, because no matter how many times I vacuum she still finds the tiniest little thing on the carpet and it goes straight into her mouth. She is ALWAYS looking for stuff to put in her mouth. Silly girl and a fast one at that. She is standing with almost no support now and I know it's only gonna be a few weeks before she is cruisin' around my furniture. Why, oh why do they have to grow SO fast? Don't they know I'm not ready yet, sheesh!
So here's a few tidbits about Bella that I want to remember:

She loves to eat-still trying veggies over and over because she has no love for them
Finally got her to take 2 oz. of juice from a bottle- hasn't done it again though
Rocks back and forth up on her knees trying to crawl normally
She can really haul crawling army style
Will stand up with just a little support
Loves, loves, loves Logan
Is drawn to musical toys and music playing
Smacks her lips everytime after nursing and then smiles up at me
She is squealing and sucking in her breath to make noises and get laughs
She knows she's funny and does stuff to get laughs
Loves to crawl over to the kitchen when I'm in there
She loves, loves her bouncing rainforest bouncer-the girl can really bounce!

I love her tons and tons and I am glad to see her growing even if I'm not ready for it. She is a happy baby and she is a joy to have in our family. I can't wait to see what she will do next and how she will do it. All our kids keep surprising me with what and how they do things and Bella has joined them. Oh the joys of motherhood and how I do love it all-the good, the bad and the ugly!

Mother Nature's April Fool's Joke

So, are you sure it is SPRING? Well mother nature sure doesn't think so, but I actually love it! This is what I get to see every morning I wake up and go down our stairs. This gorgeous view and WOW, what a lovely surprise to wake up to-SNOW! I know most of you just want the sun and warmer temps. and I do too, but I love a good storm and my trees covered in snow.I mean c'mon, don't you just love how these trees look. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! Unfortuantely, my husband so DOES NOT agree with me. He hates the snow on the ground and just wants the sun out. At least he does until he remembers how much he hates keeping up with our yard work. Luckily I'll be taking over the upkeep for awhile this summer. I can't wait to get out and rip it all up and re-design our garden and landscape the rest of the yard. I finally can since I'm not pregnant this summer and I'll be done nursing the baby. Yay! I so wanted to get my hands dirty last spring, but couldn't because of stupid, stupid bed rest!
I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our trees! And all that lovely snow! I thoroughly enjoyed mother nature's April Fool's joke this year, how about you?