Wordless Wednesday 8/29/07

This picture was taken a couple of years ago and I'll call it my Hippy Camo Kids LOL. Well, here are 4 of my 6 children anyway and the 2 older boys are in dire need of a good haircut LOL.

To see other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

7 Reasons Why Meal Planning Is A Great Idea

by The Menu Mom

Planning meals ahead of time is a great idea, since there are many benefits that come along with it. Meal planning affects many different aspects of life, including your time as well as your financial situation. No matter what situation one may be in, planning your meals ahead of time is always a good idea. Meal planning makes it possible for almost any size family to eat healthy meals everyday of the week on a budget. It also gives you more time together as a family while spending less money.

Saves Time

Planning your meals ahead of time will save you a lot of time. When you visit your grocery store, take a list with you that shows everything you need for your weekly meals. This way there will be no return visits to the grocery store for something you forgot, and you won’t waste any time deciding what you are going to have for dinner that night. Forgetting a key ingredient or having to fight in long lines at the grocery store can be very frustrating, but meal planning can completely eliminate that.

Saves Money

Who doesn’t like to save money? And if you can reduce the amount you spend on grocery bills, you can save it up for something really fun – like a special night out or a family vacation. Meal planning saves anyone a significant amount of money, since meal planning is much cheaper than eating fast food. Also, since you will be bringing a shopping list with you to the grocery store, there will be no more impulse buys and wasted food. We’ve all fallen victim to foods that we suddenly have a craving for when we are shopping only to get home and realize that we need other ingredients to turn it into a meal. And having a shopping list will make it easier for you to clip coupons, since you know what you will be purchasing each week. This means even more savings to you and your family.

Meal planning allows you to create a calendar of what you will have for dinner each night. If you create a menu one month at a time, you can ensure that you aren’t having chicken nuggets five nights a week. Have an overall calendar of meals will allow you to shop for foods when they are on sale and buy in bulk whenever possible.

Health

Planning out what you are going to cook for dinner will make it possible to ensure you are cooking a healthy meal every day of the week. While eating out is convenient in our ever busy world, eating fast food or at restaurants is not nearly as healthy as cooking it at home. This is largely due to the fact that you don’t have control over what goes in those meals. By preparing your own meals, you can choose healthy options, like baked chicken, and add any of your favorites for a side like a fresh green salad or steamed vegetables. Most boxed or frozen dinners contain a great amount of fat and sodium, but cooking the meal from scratch can eliminate them. You control the flavor and the fat. You can take steps to reduce the amount of fat by adding seasoning and spices to perk up the flavor.

Prevent Obesity

The rise of fast food chains in the world means that more people are becoming overweight and obese. Obesity can bring on many health issues, including heart or breathing problems. It is important to prevent a child from becoming overweight and teach them the importance of balanced meals. Cooking homemade healthy meals can do this. When you plan out what you are going to make, you can be certain that it will be healthy for the entire family. It allows you to have a better handle on the nutritional content of your meals. You can also tailor it to each family member’s needs. If there is someone who needs to watch their fat consumption, you can cook grill or broil instead of fry. If there is someone that is trying to get more servings of vegetables in their diet, you can help by offering two veggies for side dishes.

Spending More Time With Your Family

Because planning out your meals gives you more time during the day, you can spend it doing something that really matters. Spending time with family should be the first thing on anyone’s priority list, and being able to spend more time with them is a wonderful perk to meal planning. You can use this time to either play with your children outside, or maybe talk with your spouse about their day at work. With the time saved with meal planning, the family can enjoy a walk together after dinner, play yard games such as croquet or bocce ball, or compete in a board game night. No matter how you use the time, it is special and necessary to keep a family running. And when you kids are grown up and look back on their childhood, those will be the times they remember most fondly. Just think about all the home cooked meals that you look back on warmly. No one cooks it like mom does.

Teaching Essential Skills

By including children in the meal planning process, they can learn many skills that will carry with them into adulthood. They can help to plan the meals, and learn about the different nutrition groups. Learning how to assemble a balanced meal is a great skill to have. Measuring different ingredients in the meals teaches children about fractions. Younger kids can just play with the different kitchen utensils, which allows them to explore and learn about the huge world they have yet to explore and learn about. Spouses can get in on the fun, making it possible to bond with one another by cooking a meal for each other. Meals where each person can individually tailor food to their liking, such as making your own pizzas or a taco bar, allow a great opportunity for the whole family to cook and learn together.

Reduces Stress

Our world is hectic. We are being pulled in several different directions each day. Because we live in a fast paced world, it is important to do everything possible to reduce your stress load. We have enough stress with our every day lives without mealtime stressing us out. Planning meals can reduce your stress since you won’t have to worry about everything that goes into making a meal for your family. As long as you bring your list to the store and buy everything on the list, you will be all set. You can choose to either visit the store each week or twice a month, rather than a million times like before. The increased time you have will allow you to relax more often, and even feel great when interacting with your children. If you are enrolled in a food delivery service, having a handy list makes online shopping a breeze. Have it with you when you log in to order food and you won’t have to worry about a thing.

As you can see, there are many benefits to meal planning. From the ever crucial facts of saving money and eating healthier, to reducing stress and spending more time with your family. Meal planning only takes a little extra effort. And once you get the hang of it, it’ll become second nature and make you life so much easier. You’ll be wondering why you hadn’t started meal planning earlier. And will all the time and money you save you can spend on something that really matters – your family!

For more great meal ideas and a FREE Menu Planning Report, CLICK HERE. Watch for a great meal planning offer after you sign up and let me – The Menu Mom – help you take care of dinner tonight!

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article Directory

THIS ARTICLE is Free for reprint only if it remains in its entirety, the Author's Resource Box AND our Article Source Credit Url are included, and ALL links remain intact.

Bibleopoly?

Have you ever heard of the game Bibleopoly before? I was looking at it today and thinking it would be a terrific game to play with my children!

We only have Monopoly Junior and the kids have enjoyed playing it, but Bibleopoly sounds so much better! In the description, I like how it says: win by helping your fellow players! There are not too many games out there that are like this!

If you have this game, please leave me a comment with any good or bad experiences you've had with it. Thanks so much!

Thank you for the Anniversary Wishes!

THANK YOU LADIES!!! I appreciate all of your well wishes so very much!

Well, when he got home last night, I let him do all of his normal things (go to the bathroom--it's a long ride home LOL, get changed, say hello to the kids, sit relax, etc.).

When it was truly clear to me that he didn't have a clue, I said to him "Oh, Happy Anniversary".

He looked at me with a blank stare and then replied with a question: "of our first date?".

To which I replied and said "No, not our first date! Our 21st Wedding Anniversary".

He then looked away momentarily, did the figures in his head, gasped as he threw his hand over his mouth in shock, and then said "Happy Anniversary".

I forgave him--what else was I going to do? Sigh, such is life!

Thanks again Ladies! I appreciate it!

Today is a Special Day!!!

Today is our 21st Wedding Anniversary!

I thank the Lord for these years together, I really do. But, if only my husband remembered, it would be so much nicer!

Ahhhhh, Yes--Getting Back to Normal!

Well, the kids have been home for a little over 48 hours and all is good...

As I sit here to type this, My 12 and 11 year old sons are here in the living room (where I am) and they are using their Dad's old keyboards--on LOUD! Each keyboard is playing a different pre-programmed song--along with each boy adding their keystrokes and sound effects to it as they try to "out play" each other, my toddler is whining/crying because he wants a turn on the keyboard, 2 of the dogs are wrestling/playing just 2 feet away from me, 3 cats have taken turns walking/crawling over me and my keyboard, my daughter just snuck in the front door and ran past me as she is hiding from her younger brother who is still running around outside looking for her, my husband was cooking chicken outside on the grill but just walked in saying the grill ran out of propane and the chicken is only 1/4 of the way cooked, and I just finished giving my toddler a bath because he decided to play in the toilet...am I forgetting anything? Oh yes--I'm so glad the kids are home and things are back to "normal"! :)

They are HOME!!! :)

I am so grateful the kids arrived back home safe and sound--Thank you Lord! They were all safe during the week and all 3 of them said they had a fabulous time! The most difficult thing was all 3 of them needed to take turns as they were telling me about all the things they did during the week--things they ate, awards they won, games they played, songs they sang, swimming in the pool, the condition of the bathrooms they used, etc.

I could not sleep when they were gone! I slept maybe 3 or 4 hours at night and it usually wasn't consecutive either. I'd sleep for an hour or an hour and a half, wake up and be awake for 2 hours, then go back to sleep and so on. Last night was the first night in the last week that I actually slept!!! My stomach was also in knots all week, in addition to the few days prior to them leaving. It's all better now that they're home though!

Ok, now that they are all home, time to unpack their stuff and start on the marathon of laundry that awaits me!

I missed them BEFORE they even left!

Well, 3 of my babies went off to church camp this morning! :( :( :(

It is the first time for my one and only daughter...in fact this is only the 3rd time she has slept somewhere else other than home...once at a friend's house and once at our friend's house when I had our youngest baby, and now...camp...for 5 days and 4 nights!

This is the third year for my 2 middle boys...they really enjoy going, although when they leave, it is always a "bittersweet" feeling. This is most likely their last year too since one boy is moving up and next year will qualify to be in the "youth group" at church, which will mean he'll only be able to attend the "teen week" and no longer the "junior week". And my other boy will more than likely not go since his older brother won't be there (they are 1 year apart and are more like twins than anything!).

So, I'm glad all 3 of them have this opportunity to go, but it is has been tearing me up and just killing me inside! My stomach has been miserable for the last week as I approached this time and now it is doing loopy loops at 100 mph! It is about a 3 hour ride to get there and is in a different state, so those two things don't help make this any easier on me LOL. ;)

It is just myself, my 6 year old, and 17 month old at home (with no car :( ) and my eldest 16 1/2 year old is working full-time hours this summer. I have a lot to do in my house...cleaning, organizing, etc., but this feels so incredibly strange!

Oddly enough, I almost cannot stand the quietness!!!

So, my 6 year old & 17 month old and I got busy right after the kids left and made them some cards with special drawings for each of them and quickly got them in the mailbox for today's mail. Hopefully, the kids will get these pictures/notes by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.

We have this ongoing joke in our home...my 11 and 12 year old have a dog they've had for almost a year. His name is Barney and he is a dachshund/basset hound mix and he is a pain in the "you know what"! Well, lucky me, I'm in charge of this demon dog stupid mutt stubborn thing called "a dog" until they get back. He is the most high-maintenance dog I've ever had and truly is a pain in the neck...most everyone agrees as we verbalize this on a daily basis!

Well, as a joke (because my middle son at camp needs to laugh or else he'll do more crying), I wrote him a "Ransom Note" for his dog, LOL. They'll all get a kick out of it LOL. I've included our pictures, drawings, and Ransom note below for your viewing pleasure! (CLICK ON BELOW PICTURE FOR A CLOSE UP)

Here are our "nice" notes to the kids:

Annual Rocket Launch

Last night was our annual rocket launch at our church. The weather was absolutely perfect, thank you Lord!

The winners are decided by random choice...the person in charge of the rocket launch is very fair about it and makes sure the winners are not the same ones year after year. :) He hides a special color ribbon inside some of the rockets, and when each rocket is launched, the ribbons pop out and if it is the right color, that child has won.

This year they let the girls participate, as this event is usually only for the boys. My daughter won 2nd place and my 2nd youngest son won 3rd place! Here are pictures of my children with their rockets (unfortunately one is very blurry, but I cannot take another picture of him until he returns home from camp!):

Family Games/Activities!

I mentioned before that I have an Article Directory on my work-at-home mom (wahm) website and I just love to read all the articles that get submitted. This particular article jumped out at me because it sounds like so much fun! I hope some of you will enjoy it too. :)

5 Tips to Make Your Life More Fun by Christine Louise Hohlbaum

Are you working too hard? Not spending enough time with friends or family? You probably could use more fun in your life! Here are five fun games to invite more laughter into your day:

1.) The Hat Game

What you need: hat, three or more players

Age group: 2 and above

How you play: Each person takes turns wearing the hat. Whoever wears the hat has to sing a line of his favorite song. See how fast you can play the game!

2.) The Chocolate Game

What you need: timer, goggles or glasses, hat, 2 oven mitts, winter scarf, bar of chocolate, knife, fork, plate, four or more players

Age group: 6 and above

How you play: Each player takes a turn putting all the items on (including the oven mitts!), then trying to cut the bar of chocolate with the knife and fork. Allot about 30 seconds for this on the timer. When the timer rings, it is time to take everything off and hand it to the next person to try.

3.) The Dictionary Game

What you need: dictionary, pens, paper, four or more players

Age group: 6 and above

How you play: Each player takes a turn choosing one word that no one knows. All the other players write down what they think the meaning is or a funny alternative and use it in a sentence. The dictionary master reads everyone’s definitions, and then it comes to a vote. Whoever gets the most votes wins.

4.) Hide the Bunny

What you need: stuffed animal (we use a pink bunny), three or more players

Age group: 18 months and above

How you play: One player hides the bunny somewhere in the room while everyone else closes their eyes. The other players have to search for it. Whoever finds the bunny first gets to hide it next!

5.) Sardines

What you need: at least five players

Age group: 6 and above

How you play: This game is a hide-n-seek spin-off, but everyone wins. Darken the room. One person hides and the others seek. As each person finds the hidden person, he or she stays with the hidden person until the last person finds the entire group. The object is to stay as quiet as possible until the last person joins everyone else.

Laughter truly is the best medicine!

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of DIARY OF A MOTHER and SAHM I Am: TALES OF A STAY-AT-HOME MOM IN EUROPE, is a parenting humorist, motivational speaker and overall curious person who can’t stop asking questions of other people and the Universe. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.diaryofamother.com

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article Directory

***THIS ARTICLE is Free for reprint only if it remains in its entirety, the Author's Resource Box AND our Article Source Credit Url are included, and ALL links remain intact.***

Ribbet…Ribbet…Ribbet

Well, we had so much fun this afternoon! Out in our backyard, we have a small pond...not a pretty landscaped pond, but a very, very natural pond that is not pretty. Well, the baby and I went outside to swing on the swing and then met up with my husband and 2nd youngest son (they were already out in the back). We took a short walk around the pond when all of a sudden my husband showed my son a tiny little frog hidden in some mowed, long grass. Well there it was...a frog here, a frog there, MANY frogs EVERYWHERE!

Well I handed the baby to my husband and my son & I started jumping after the frogs trying to catch them, and I'll tell you, they are FAST!!! When we finally caught one, we'd catch another and attempt to add it to the other hand with the other frog in it and so on. We ended up with 5 or 6 frogs in one hand and it tickled! They jump in your closed fist and when you have several in there, it feels funny LOL.

My son got a plastic bucket for us to put them all in, but without a lid, it was useless as they can climb the sides of the bucket and jump out! Well, my 3rd son also came out to catch some and below you can see all the pictures we have to show you. You'll be surprised to know that all together, we caught 29 of these frogs. After I was done taking pictures of them, we released them back outside where we found them. :)

We researched and researched on the internet and FINALLY discovered what type of treefrogs these are. It was so hard to tell because they closely resemble the Spring Peeper frog, but they do not have the "X" on their backs that is exclusive to the Spring Peeper. They are the Boreal Chorus Frogs. If you want to hear what they sound like, click the below link. I hope you will enjoy our pictures! :) (the last 2 images show all 29 frogs together!!!)

weaselhead.org/sounds/asprwf/cd_boreal_chorus_frog_02.wav

Wordless Wednesday! 6/13/07

I couldn't decide so I did both. These are pictures from last year when my 6th blessing was born. I just love how the baby is looking up at his one & only sister with such adoration! I also love the look on my 2nd youngest as he is just fascinated with his new baby brother! :)

For other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

Our FABULOUS Day!!!

Yesterday we took a long, overdue field trip to the Strong National Museum of Play and had a WONDERFUL time!!! Oh my goodness it was so much fun! We have never been there before and really weren't sure what to expect but it was absolutely awesome!

My mom (who will be moving to North Carolina at the end of this year) had told us quite awhile ago that she wanted to take us there but things/life kept coming up and we never made it out there. Sooo, my niece from North Carolina (who is the same age as my 2nd youngest) was up here visiting for a week and my mom said we HAD to do this field trip when she was here and I'm so glad we did.

My niece is such a character and almost everything she says makes us all laugh LOL. So needless to say, yesterday was even more fun since she went with us. I was also grateful to spend some time with her since she does live so far away and we haven't seen her in almost 6 months. :(

Well it was about a 2 hour ride each way for us and it really wasn't too bad. My youngest (15 1/2 months old) got fussy/stir crazy the last 30 minutes on the way there but still, he didn't act up that much.

I was pleasantly surprised with this museum since it was all INTERACTIVE! They had tons of hands-on activities for kids of all ages to participate in. I could not even begin to describe all of them in this post because there are just too many. Even for my young toddler, they had little "pitstop" like areas within the "big kid" sections that you can play with your little one and they can get out of the stroller to stretch their legs, climb on soft mats, and play with toy balls, cars, and other toys. Let me tell you, that was wonderful since we all know how toddlers can get bored just sitting in the stroller watching everyone else run around and have fun. They also had little "guest rest" rooms scattered around that was like a small living room where you could go to nurse your baby, change a diaper, or just "regroup" for a few minutes with your children. There were several "craft stations" in each exhibit for visitors to stop and make different projects. I thought everything was really well thought out.

We were even permitted to bring in our own bagged lunches and water jugs/bottles and eat within their food court. That definitely helped to save on $$$! It was also nice that they had plenty of rest rooms throughout AND they were clean too!!! ;)

One of my favorite exhibits there was the One History Place where the kids could go back in time to colonial-like days and use real items to pretend to churn butter and then pour the butter into wooden molds, use the old wood stove oven to bake loaves of bread and cookies (they even had a LARGE selection of plastic food items in each exhibit area to make the playing/pretending even more realistic!), then pump water from the well (NOT real water though for obvious reasons) into the barrel to wash the dishes and scrub the clothes, then hang them to dry. It was fantastic!

Then they had a "radio station" so the kids could be d.j.'s and broadcast a news announcement, record their own talk shows, or take requests to play favorite songs. They loved listening to themselves on the speaker system as they used the microphones and pushed different buttons which made sounds like a drumroll or applause from a live audience. I was laughing so hard as I listened to all the funny things the kids came up with!

There was a "news room" where the kids could sit at the desk to report the news, point to the large world map as they forecasted the weather, or be "behind the scenes" as the cameraman turning and moving the tv cameras. It was so much fun to watch them act out as well. There was a "theater stage" area complete with a curtain that opened and closed, plenty of dress-up clothes and props to use for their production, and a "sound area" where they operate the spotlights and sounds/music for the performance! In most of these special areas, there were VCR's where you could insert your own video tape to "record" your child(ren) as they were pretending/playing. I didn't know that though or else I would have made sure I brought one.

There was a giant "reading adventureland" where the kids literally ran around as they visited different climb on/walk through scenes such as Cinderella (complete with dress-up ballgown and pumpkin coach), gingerbread house, Jack and the Beanstalk, and so much more...SO MUCH MORE!

There was a very realistic "post office" where the kids could make their own postcards and/or letters and then mail them as they sort other mail and packages, put them on the conveyor belt to be carried to the truck, or place them in appropriate "p.o. boxes"! There were even keys to use to unlock the p.o. boxes to retrieve your delivered mail...such wonderful detail here! There was a FABULOUS "Wegmans Grocery Store" just for kids!!! WOW! Kids were given a pouch of play paper money to use as they walked in and then they chose a shopping cart to begin shopping. All of the items/products were incredibly realistic looking. They could weigh their fruits and vegetables in the produce section, choose meats from the butcher's block area, pick out breads and pastries from the bakery, and shop up and down different aisles for their groceries. When they were ready to "checkout", they would switch roles as they became the cashier, unloaded the cart and put items on the rolling conveyor belt, and then "scanned" the UPC bar-codes!!! They had real cash registers to "cash out" customers and themselves on. Each order was made complete with a real, printed cash register receipt, which listed their items and shopping total on. It was so neat to watch these kids shop around and push these kid-sized shopping carts!

Ok, in summary, I'll tell you what my favorite exhibit was...it was called the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden and it was phenomenal!!! I've never experienced anything like this before! It was a separate exhibit/admission but priced very reasonably. After watching a brief video on butterfly etiquette (safety lesson), we were lead into this enormous area which was like walking into a tropical world/rain-forest, and immediately, we were surrounded by butterflies!!! We saw butterflies flying through the air all around us as they'd visit plant after plant, clinging to beautiful flowers as they sipped nectar, sitting in plates of fresh fruit as they ate, or perching in a tree to rest. It was INCREDIBLE!!! Guests were permitted to walk around this indoor garden for 20 minutes while accompanied by the "garden host". The host was very knowledgeable and answered the questions we had. It was a gorgeous garden full of plants and small water ponds...I didn't want to leave! The butterflies landed on us and we were in "awe" of their beauty. They have over 800 butterflies and moths from around the world there! There was even what they called a "chrysalis case where they display and identify the different chrysalises found throughout the garden. In that same case were the newly emerged butterflies resting as their wings dried and strengthened. It was such a memorable experience!!! I just cannot even express how exciting this butterfly exhibit was!

The ONLY thing that went wrong was the fact that we forgot to bring our camera to capture our special moments with. :(

So, even after the 2 hour ride home, I felt so blessed to have been able to enjoy this special day with my family. It was truly a day I hope I'll never forget! Thanks Mom--from all of us! :)

Wordless Wednesday! 6/6/07

"May the Force by with you!"

For other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

Christian Life

This is a poem my 11 year old son wrote for an assignment in our church's kids' club. I think he did an awesome job!

Christian Life

To live a Christian life
tell others about Christ

How He died for you
maybe they will follow too

Take some tracts and go around
and hand them out without a doubt

Ask your sister, ask your father
and your mother or your brother

If they can help you, hand some out too

If they can't say ok
maybe another day

Don't let Satan take you away
from your loving Lord in anyway

I wrote this poem for a badge
Now that I am done, boy I'm glad!

Not too much

This was really written quite late Sunday night (5/27) but it says it is 5/28. Oh well. Not too much happening around here today...but that is ok with me! :)

It was a nice day today with some overcast here and there. We weren't sure if it was going to rain or not and sometimes the wind also picked up quite a bit which convinced us even more that it would. However, it never did which is fine with us since hubby had a lot of work to do outside.

Well, the last of all the wood has been split and the log splitter we borrowed from a friend has FINALLY been returned! YAY! Hubby is so glad to see that thing outta here! He said he doesn't want to have to split wood again for a very, very long time and I don't blame him. The kids have been such terrific helpers with the wood too. They mostly helped stack the wood or helped pile it onto the trailer to take into the back yard. They took almost all of it into the back and now have some minor clean up to do in the front yard...mostly the wood chips/shreds from using the splitter. I was able to use most of it to mulch my flower gardens this year which was great because it was FREE! Yippee, free is good! :) I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Hubby had plans to take down a small evergreen tree, which is sort of like a "yew" tree, since it was badly damaged over the winter (1/3 of died and the pine needles are gone from that section), but it is a good thing he looked at it closely before he did anything! After peeking inside of it, he noticed a teeny, tiny nest with a mama chipping sparrow sitting on top of it!!! Isn't that so wonderful? I think hubby knew to check inside since last year there was a nest in the same tree...it may have been chipping sparrows last year and who knows...it just may be the same nest. So, this tree won't be going anywhere until the birds are all grown up and leave the nest. Thank you again Lord for such a wonderful gift for us!!! :)

My daughter and I took a quick run to the Dollar General when the baby took his nap and I finally got a pair of those gardening clogs I've always wanted. I just love clogs! I will try to post a picture of them tomorrow. They are super light and it almost feels like you aren't wearing anything at all. I don't know what they are made out of, but it feels similar to a styrofoam material but I'm sure it isn't made out of that. They are perfect since whenever they get dirty you just rinse them off and let them air dry! I love simple. They are also very comfortable which is a great plus.

After the kids' club classes at church tonight, we took some time out for fun and went to the newly built playground at a local school. It was really nice and the kids just loved it. It's so wonderful to go to a playground that is nice and fresh looking without broken/damaged parts and graffiti all over it! The baby really enjoyed the swing and each of the middle four kids took turns taking him down the slide on their lap. We had so much fun! :)

Oh, I almost forgot! Yesterday I saw the male Ruby Throated Hummingbird do his "mating" dance/courtship display trying to impress a female hummingbird that was watching from my rhododendron. For those of you who may not know what a hummingbird courtship display is, here is a description I found:

"The male dives down towards the resting or feeding female. Like a pendulum he sweeps past her and up to a point 2 to 3 m in the air, then back along the same path in reverse. He repeats this swinging display time and again, all the while uttering squeaky notes. As he dives past the female his wings hum the loudest; as he swings closer to the female his hum becomes more intense and his speed increases."

So it looks like he is flying back and forth in the shape of a capital letter "U". Honestly it is so fascinating to watch!!! I just love the outdoor birds.

Wow, A New Hope!

As I sit here still drinking my morning coffee (being oh so careful to NOT let it get spilled on the computer!!!) I love to visit other blogs and read/learn about different things. Well, I just found this awesome looking organization blog named I'm An Organizing Junkie! and I felt a sense of "hope" come over me as I glanced through it!

You see, once upon a time, (long ago) I used to be a very obsessed organized perfectionist individual who was "on top" of things and managed a very nice, orderly home. Really, I did! I did a fairly good job at keeping an organized home even when having 3 or 4 and even 5 children. However, somewhere between child #5 and #6, something drastic happened and I was completely changed!

Gone were the days of knowing exactly where items were when needed, things that were put away after being used, clothes sorted/purged according to size or season, bills/receipts filed, etc. Rather, sadly enough, I went to the "other side!" :(

Now I'm not proud of this change, in fact, I'm rather disgusted of it, not to mention embarrassed to say the least. Whenever I'd comment on this situation, people would often say "Well, you have 6 kids, what do you expect?" I admit that it has been quite some time since I've expected perfection anywhere in my home but I should at least be somewhat organized still don't you think?

Well, I have been living on this "other side" for quite some time now and I have to admit I wasn't making much any effort to correct this huge change in my life until just recently. Granted there have been some things that came up unexpectedly (another miscarriage which was so devastating and brought an enormous amount of depression with it after the fact, difficulties with my eldest son as he began the transition into teenage hood, taking in a slew of miscellaneous pets from unwanted situations, spending way too much time on the internet trying to "kill" the pain, etc.) but I think I've recently realized that I used these things more or less as an "excuse" and I certainly have NOT managed things appropriately during this time.

So, when I saw this organizing blog today, I decided to click on it and see what it was like and I'm glad I did. It's funny because even two months ago, if I had come across this blog or even the words "organization" or "organizing", I would have run FAR away and FAST!

So, ultimately, I have to give the glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the discernment to even realize this fault in my life AND to have the true desire to want to change and correct it. Visiting this site has given me a bit of hope and I plan to read through some of the entries there and I hope I'll be able to make a good "head start" at correcting this fault in my life and in my home. I'm both glad and grateful that the Lord has begun to change this in me (and I know my family is too!) :)

I know, I know…

I know it has been awhile since I've entered a post here and I really am sorry. It seems like "life" got in the way again and took over. ;)

Hmmm, I don't even know where to begin or where I left off! I think it all began one day when my dear, sweet son accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop I was borrowing from my sister...

I suppose I should have never, ever put my cup of coffee near the laptop to begin with, but that is beside the point. It was a complete accident, and he didn't mean it, but one of my sons pulled a piece of paper that was under my coffee mug (he didn't know my coffee mug was on top of it) and it happened! My other son thought quickly, thank the Lord, and he lifted the laptop right up into the air.

Now, I don't know much about laptops since this was the first one I've ever used, but I removed the ethernet card? (the thing the internet cable jack plugged into) and there was a small amount of coffee on there and I opened the door on the bottom of the laptop (because I thought that is where the battery went) but it wasn't...I think it is the hard drive? and it looked like there was a medium-sized drop of coffee on there too. Oh my goodness, I was so scared!

When I walked over to it (immediately as it happened), I noticed the computer lights were still on, but nothing was on the screen. I called my husband and he immediately looked it up on Google (smart thinking!) and told me to lean it on the side that the coffee got on and I kept it on it's side all day with the fan blowing on it to help dry whatever moisture might have gotten inside.

I was really beside myself!!! It is an older laptop (about 5-7 years old) but it isn't mine...it is my sister's and I always take such good care of things I'm borrowing from others. I was in total shock for the rest of the day!

I was thinking "How will we replace it if it doesn't turn on and work again?", not to mention I have TONS of pictures of my children on it and these pictures are irreplaceable! :( I just began to pray and pray and pray!

I also have ALL of my homeschool reports on there, my website images and site pages, hundreds of links/bookmarks, emails from our business (a few years worth), etc.

Well, after waiting 24 hours, I tried to turn it on but was unsuccessful. :( My heart sank! I started to cry all over again.

To make a long (very long) story short, I called my sister to inform her of what happened and she was surprisingly ok with it. She works for a computer programming or engineering company (I'm really not sure which LOL) and she fixes computers for a living. She told me that when one of their clients (which are businesses not individuals) upgrades to new systems, they more or less just "throw out" their old systems and that is how she got the laptop. She also told me that when she acquired this one, she received not one, but two of the identical kind. So, she said she had another one just sitting there and her plan was to switch hard drives in them to see if we could recover all of my data.

Well, imagine my surprise and my delight to hear her say that! I immediately got a glimpse of hope that I might be able to get my pictures, reports, and data back. I then started to pray that my data would be able to get recovered.

Ok, fast forward...praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! She was able to remove the hard drive and put it in this other laptop and voila...all my stuff was right there like nothing ever happened! I was (and still am) so incredibly grateful that the Lord allowed my stuff to be recovered! :)

She said she didn't see very much coffee residue in the keyboard of the laptop whatsoever and was very encouraged. She said she will begin cleaning it, when she is in the right mood LOL, and see what happens. She also said that sometimes these things just aren't worth the trouble to try to fix. Wow, that just amazes me but I don't come across the systems and parts that she must see come and go in her line of work.

All in all, I am very grateful to have my stuff back! Thank you Lord so very much! :)

Working in the flower garden:)

Praise the Lord--He gave us yet ANOTHER sunny day!!! Wooohoooo, it has just been like the best weather around here lately. Oh how I wish every day of the summer could be like the last few days...not too hot or humid, not too cold, but just about perfect!

Well, after 7 1/2 years of living here and looking at the same yellow daylily year after year, I finally took the plunge and cut it in half/divided it! Oh, I just hope it lives LOL. I've always wanted to do divide this daylily and a couple of hostas that I have, but I've been too afraid to try for fear of killing them. I do not have a green thumb whatsoever and I seem to kill almost every plant I try to grow LOL.

I even got brave enough to prune my LARGE, overgrown Rhododendron. I really hope I did it correctly and that I didn't damage it LOL. I researched it online and read several different articles on how to do it, so I do hope it'll turn out alright.

After church, my daughter and I went to a local floral nursery and bought some flowers! I bought one "flat" each of annuals and periannuals, but oh how I wanted to buy more, more, more! LOL, it really is hard to limit yourself! If it weren't for the money, I would have bought a lot more LOL. I really like to grow flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to. We even got them all planted and boy was I surprised at how long it took!

I want to share a tip that my mother taught me about container gardening. If this tip is not new to you, please forgive me. I'm still new to flower gardening and never thought of this and wanted to pass it along, but some of you more "experienced" gardeners may already know about it. You know those Styrofoam Peanuts that are used for packaging? Well, use those as a "filler" mixed with your potting soil when filling a container. I have two of those plastic swan plant holders that sit in your garden and they are so deep and it would take a lot of soil to fill them up. So, she mixed some of the Styrofoam Peanuts with the soil and it really reduced the amount of soil needed. They still allow the water to drain through too!

You know, I am shocked year after year as to how much a pretty hanging basket costs! Yikes, I mean they are gorgeous and I'd love to have a few of them hanging in my yard, but not at $20-25 each! I wouldn't mind trying to make my own, but I don't believe our summers are long enough to achieve the same length and fullness that these baskets have. A few years ago I did "attempt" to make my first hanging basket and it was just pathetic LOL. My friend came over and took one look at it and burst out laughing. Sigh, maybe someday.

I planted my divided yellow daylily and hostas in my small, front flower garden which gets about 80% shade, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.


The Chipping Sparrows and a few other types of sparrows have returned for the summer, but still no hummingbirds, orioles, or rose-breasted grosbeaks yet. They should be appearing any day now. My feeders, oranges, and grape jelly are out and waiting for them. :)

Busy Saturday

We usually stay at home and clean, clean, clean on Saturdays. Today was much different though. We went to a wedding at church and then to my great nephew's First Communion party.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today too. I was able to spend a few minutes outside to weed a small area of my flower garden. I'm always amazed that year after year, there are so many weeds! I don't mind weeding though...to me, it is actually therapeutic. I love to feel the sun shining down on my body as I listen to the birds in the trees and on the bird feeders which are also in my flower garden. As long as I don't come across any snakes, I don't mind weeding LOL.

The wedding was lovely. It amazes me to see this couple get married so young. The bride is 19 and I believe the groom is 22 or 23. Funny though, when my husband and I got married, I was 19 and he was 24. Somehow, this couple just seemed so much younger. The bride is the only daughter in her family and it was kind of sad to think about as I watched her father walk her down the aisle ever so SLOWLY. She, on the other hand, was walking about 3 steps ahead of him, almost pulling HIM down the aisle LOL. As I watched them, I thought about my one and only daughter and how my husband may be walking HER down the aisle someday. What a bitter-sweet thought!!! The bride and groom are the children of friends of ours from church and I think it is great that they both grew up in this church and today they were married in it. I certainly hope they'll enjoy a long marriage filled with God's blessings! :)

The kids had a great time at my niece's house. There were lots of kids to play with, mostly other boys. My boys enjoyed having other boys to play sports with. My niece also has a paved driveway (which we do not have :( ) so the kids really enjoyed skateboarding, riding bikes, and playing street hockey on it. As I said, the weather was perfect and we all enjoyed the time outdoors!

Before we went home, we hit the mall which was right around the corner from my niece's house. The store where my daughter got her ears pierced at had a sale...buy 2 pairs of earrings, get 1 pair FREE. So, since it has been about 2 or 2 1/2 months since she had her ears pierced, I figured it was time to get her another pair of earrings. LOL, decisions, decisions...it can be such a difficult task for a 9 year old girl to pick out just a few pairs of earrings and leave the rest for another time!