A March Weekend

Saturday, Duke participated in his Spark's Float-A-Boat. He did a great job on his boat. It took a bit to get the hang of how to move it most efficiently, and then he was a speedy boat racer! The words on the boat say, Shine For Jesus. He really wanted a light on his boat, and he and Dad finally figured out how to put one on!

I spent most of the day at a Republican Convention. I enjoyed it. Dot and her friend watched Darling, while the rest of the crew cheered Duke on at the Float-A-Boat.

Sunday, Dunk and I did Mighty Church. In the afternoon Darling went to her first birthday party.

After we got back, I took the kids sledding in town. They had a great hill!! I went down a few times and then walked with PH. I forgot my camera for pictures, but PH got some! :-) The kids sledded an hour and a half! After the events of the weekend, I was so looking forward to bedtime.

Monday, Dunk spoke at a singles group almost 2 hours (with the traffic) from here. He did a great job and was well received. He spoke on personality styles, and their most common marriage/best friend combinations. It was at a Northwestern book store coffee shop. I liked the atmostphere. PTL for Christian book stores. Dot came with us, and she and I drooled over the books for a few minutes before the rest of the group arrived.

It is so nice to have a quieter week and weekend coming up. I've got to pay bills, bake bread, and wash out my refridgerator while it is low on groceries. :-)

We had homemade spaghetti sauce on our spaghetti tonight. Mmmmm... is that good! I think it was actually a year and a half ago that I cooked and froze the sauce. We were so busy that winter with remodeling, that I didn't take the time to get it out and cook much of it. Then after Darling arrived, I couldn't eat it with nursing. This winter it has been perfect! :-) I don't put up alot. Just corn every so often, and spaghetti sauce. Mostly we just eat out of the garden. I'm looking forward to sinking my toes in that warm dirt. Today was so warm, I was feeling spring fever. I wanted to call a 'spring day' so bad, but we need to get caught up a bit, and I will really not want to do school when we hit May!

Darling Goes to a Birthday Party

Sunday, Darling went to her first girlfriend birthday party! She had a great time.

The Birthday Girl!

Looking up at a birthday balloon.

Watching the birthday girl open her presents.

How much can I help?

A posterior view of the birthday girl's ruffly tutu! :-)

This weekend Dot had a friend over and she gave Dot a curly doo!

Doesn't she look Gorgeous!

Thanks, Friend!

Outside!!

Darling doesn't get to be outside too often, so she was thrilled to go out in the snow with big brother Drum.

She slipped and Drum comforted her head.

Later all the boys joined her.

A little rose among the camo leaves. :-)

A Busy Week!

What a crazy week! The kids loved it. Last Sunday Dunk and the five older kids went skiing with the B's. The weather was fantastic, and they had a blast. They came home late and slept in.
The next couple of days we did school, and Drum worked on his ES test on-line. His second time he passed it!! Were thrilled. Now he is ground-team certified and can go on missions with CAP. He also passed a test on Monday which means he gets promoted tonight. He's so excited.
Thursday, Dunk & the 4 boys went ice-fishing with a work friend. They caught a few fish, and had a ton of boy fun. They met early and ate breakfast at McD's. Even Dessert was up and so excited to go!! That evening ballet and speech were cancelled, so we had a fantastic evening watching a movie, National Treasure, and being together. We get so busy, it is fun when something cancels.
Friday, everyone caught up on school, and I got out of the house for the first time that week!! Dunk, Darling, and I went to get my folks from the airport. Then we went to Don Poblo's. Food was so good. The lady at the tortilla station made little cutout tortillas for Darling. So cute!! She loved them. She did so well at the restaurant. PTL. After 3 hours in the car, I thought she'd blow her top. We had a 45 min wait, where she walked around and watched the tortilla lady. I think that helped for when she had to sit again. All the people in the restaurant were facinating to her! :-) (why didn't I take a picture? It was sitting in my purse!) We had a nice time visiting.
Saturday, Dime, Deer, and Duke had basketball. Then Dunk took Drum & Dime to their volleyball CAP event. Then later I brought Dot and her friend to join them for a CAP Lock-In. Then Darling, Dessert, Deer, and I went to my folks for a few hours. We had a great time and I SKUNKED MY DAD at cribbage. (sorry, Dad :-) We came home and I made Dot's 2 pies for Sunday. (we both forgot, or she could have made them earlier)
Early that morning the troups rolled in to bed. They had a fantastic time at the Lock-In. Even Duke and Dunk got to try out the simulator. Deer got up and headed to church with her grandparents, I made chili for Dot's mission event, then rolled her out of bed to get ready. She helped serve at a chili feed for a fundraiser for the house they will work on during her missions trip this summer. It went well, and then she & I and Darling came straight home to hit the hay again!! It felt so good to nap!!
It was a busy, but fun week! Whew! Now on to the next......

Social Security

This is going around via e-mail. Very Interesting Facts.

Remember this when it comes time for you to retire! Your Social Security

Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn't know this. It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what's what .and it doesn't matter whether you are Democrat of Republican. Facts are Facts!!!Our Social Security

1) Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program.
2) He promised: That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,
3) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the program,
4) That the money the participants elected to put into the program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year.
5) That the money the participants put into the Independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program.
6) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are Now receiving a Social Security check every month -- And then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of The money we paid to the Federal government to "put Away" -- you may be interested in the following:

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the Independent "Trust Fund" and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically Controlled House and Senate.


Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax Deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving Annuity payments to immigrants? AND MY FAVORITE:
A: That's right-- Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, Even though they never paid a dime into it!

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

Organized Office

Here's the promised 'after' pictures of my dh's office:

His finished product.


My side of the office.


Working together. We are not that often both in there at the same time, but we can now! Dunk still has some work to do on the bulletin boards. Great Job, Honey!! :-)

A Bed for Darling

Darling has a BIG BED!!
Well, a toddler big bed. :-) Isn't she sweet! Here she is taking her first nap in it.

A Baby!!, A Rash, & a little this and that

She had her baby!! I was so excited Saturday to be called to go the the birth. I was helping a fantastic midwife in the area with a local birth. Everything went so well. She had a sweet little boy. It was so fun to be involved in the arrival of a new little person. He just looked and looked at his family. I just love homebirths! The other children were downstairs with friends of the family's. They came upstairs and it was so exciting for them. I really, really wanted a homebirth with Darling. I am so grateful that hospitals are available when we need them, but it is really an special experience to have a baby at home.

Deer got her new flute! We enjoyed getting to play flute together, vs. sharing my flute. :-) She is progressing beautifully with her lessons. She has a fantastic teacher, which I think makes such a huge difference.

Darling had quite a rash on her torso, and it was starting to go down her limbs. I thought it was just dry skin patches, but despite baby oil, lotion, antibiotic ointment, it wasn't getting better just steadily worse and worse. When I took off her clothes, she looked awful!! As a last ditch effort before taking her in, I tried hydrocortizone cream. I think it burned a bit, as there was so much rash. We played with ice packs in her jammies until she felt better. She slept better that night, and her rash was so much better in the morning. It is almost 100% gone now! I was giving her a rubdown with it 2x per day. Now I'm down to 1x per day and will probably start skipping days. I can't believe how dramatic a recovery it was!!

Little news:
Dot applied for her passport for her mission's trip this summer,
Drum passed his CAP test last night,
Deer started a new project (a latch-hook rug kit we had around),
Duke is reading better,
I'm getting tired of school (How long til summer break!!),
Cousin E (9) showed Dot who showed the rest of us how to do Google Earth (that is the coolest!!),
a friend of Dot's is loaning some books to the girls (I've enjoyed them as well!) so Deer has been doing a ton of reading,
Dessert has been trying to learn how to play cribbage (he wants to play, but I told him he needs to know more math, so he just keeps watching to try and figure it out) ,
Dime joined CAP so now I have 2 uniforms to iron and sew patches on (my thumb is finally healing after the 1/2 inch poke I gave it sewing patches),
I started doing some exercise on the rebounder (which means I have less time for the computer since I try getting up and doing that vs. getting up and checking the computer - which I'm doing right now - which will mean I might not do my exercise)
Oh well..... :-) Spring's COMING!!! (Do you hear me, Spring!)

Happy Birthday Darling!!

Our little Darling turned 1!! We had her open presents on the table so that everyone could see. :-) I think the duckies were her favorite presents. She would hardly let anyone touch them. It feels so unbelievable that she was just being born a year ago. She has been such a little joy and blessing in our family. We love you, Darling!!

Bread Baking

On Wed nights Darling & I clean up from the hustle of getting everyone supper and out the door and then we BAKE BREAD! :-) Nummy. I usually end up finishing late because it takes awhile to clean up, but it is worth baking in a clean kitchen. This is Darling 'helping'. This night I let her taste the flour, etc. She had a blast and it was well worth the clean up. :-) I really should have taken pictures of the finished product, but I didn't think of it at 10:30. :-)

I Know

I know, I know I haven't blogged in forever. Do you know how busy one can be just with daily life!! Plus my dh is working on his side of the office and it is a mine field to try and get through the hallways much less to the computer. I really should take a picture of the before and after, if there is an after. :-) Don't worry, he has another week before I start putting it all in a tub and putting it out in the pole barn.
I should mention my kids survived and thoroughly enjoyed their first speech meet of the season. It is such a great opportunity. The second is only a few weeks away.
Gotta run. Baby waking up. Life continuing at full speed...

"Sentinel" - A Book Review

"Sentinel - City of Destiny" by Landel Bilbrey was written by a Dad who wanted to impress upon his sons what the journey will be like to be a man of Godly character. He wanted to encourage them in their journey to manhood to make the best choices along the way. He also drew all the detailed pen and ink illustrations in the book.
Two Terrenean brothers, Jerol and Jadan, take their vow of submission (Gehorsam - like baptism), and prepare themselves for their crossing. Each must choose a traveling buddy. Jerol chooses Prayer, a mighty eagle-like creature. Jadan chooses Sin, an enourmous pig-like creature. They also bring their own Logos scroll (Bible) from which they receive encouragement and some direction.
They now must travel from their home town Gelandesprung across Callow (Land of Childhood) and over the mountains into Brava (Land of Adulthood). Their final destination is the grand city: Sentinel (City of Destiny).
Along the way they are to find 4 keys which they will need to unlock the mighty doors of Sentinel. The four keys of Mettle are Vision, Courage, Integrity, and Service. I really enjoyed the process by which they found the keys. They found them after a struggle that they successfully passed. Actually, Jerol was the only one to find keys. Jadan consistently found himself in trouble with choices that he made.
They both visit unique places and people in their jouney that cleverly mirror a real-life struggle. One incident I particularly enjoyed was the meeting with a Huckster who owned a beautiful fetter. On demand, this fetter produces eggs made of pure silver. The trick is that the fetter must be fed the same weight of food as the eggs she lays, shortly after she lays the eggs. If he fails to feed her, she will grow and grow. Huckster needs someone to watch this fetter for him. Jerol wisely determines to bypass this unique opportunity, but Jadan meets with a Huckster later and eagerly agrees to keep his fetter. He thinks the bird won't be more trouble than his pig and likes the idea of having money for things he needs. Soon Jadan is demanding more and more eggs. The bird requires more and more silver feed. Jadan gets busy with his new purchases and forgets to feed his fetter. Pretty soon the fetter is bigger than he is. Only by joining others in the outskirts of Coveton in a community called Dire Straights, and by following a strict working schedule is Jadan able to get his fetter, named Debt, back to bird size. Now he eagerly searches for Huckster so that he may return the wretched but beautiful fetter to her owner.
At the end of the journey, in the city of Sentinel, Jadan receives the Mark of the Blade and a place at the King's table.
This book would get its most long-lasting benefit as a read-aloud, but it still would be a great boy's book. I like that it has a map of the countryside, a list of the terms and their meanings, and very helpful questions - called Reflections of the Blade - at the end of the book.
After reading this book, I would recommend starting with Chapter 2. Chapter 1 is a glimpse into the future of Jerol during his last battle into the city of Sentinel. My boys had trouble understanding what was going on. I needed to fill in what the story was about - I had read a chapter ahead. I decided to finish the book first on my own. Having done so I decided they would enjoy the book better with that chapter in its chronological position in the book.
It is great to have an adventurous book for boys that also gives unique visuals into the results of decisions they make. This book is written for boys, but the adventures they face are appropriate for boys, girls, and the adults doing a read-aloud. :-)
This book is available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Walmart, etc. Read more about the journey God has had for Landel Bilbrey at his blog: Faith Runners - Warriors of Worship. For an awesome idea for parents visit his Bridge Maker website.

Hear Me Roar!!!

I am a woman, hear me Roar!!! Well, I feel great because I got the door problem on the van figured out. I called the car fix-it place. They said the guy left early who could reset the automatic van doors. I told them I knew it was only something with a reset button or something. They said the guy just pulls out the fuse and then puts it back in to reset it.
Good grief!
I knew where the fuse box was because I watched where he did it last time. I told him, "Well, I'm going to go out there and pull every fuse out and push it back in!" The guy said, "Ok."
So I did. It killed my fingers 'til I figured out to go and get a pliers. It was the 14th one I took out - the one just before the light blue one. (In case I forget. Sometimes I do have beauty before brains. Or else I'm getting old.) I feel like calling that man back! But he probably wouldn't appreciate my sense of independence. :-)

Sunday Update

This picture is taken from our patio and looks up to Gma & Gpa's house. The flower garden is under snow. The fire pit has been steadily used by Dime. :-) He'll spend 2-3 hours outside hauling scraps from the woods to make a nice warm fire.

Once school started it has been a race!! I'm not sure who's winning, but I sure am exhausted. It has been nice this weekend to catch up with some rest, this and that, and not feel like I'm on a treadmill with the speed turned up. (Although I sure could use some exercise of that sort.)

My Baby Darling got her First Tooth!! Just in time for her birthday. She's been waking up several times during nap time because of it bugging her. I'll be glad when those bottom two are in.

Duke has new glasses!! What a project. His second pair broke and when we tried to get them fixed, nope, too broke. New frames were the same price as a brand new pair, his prescription was too old to just order them, gotta bring him in for a new eye exam (he gets so car sick, he hates to go anywhere!), bring him in, need the glasses ASAP so find a store that has the material to make them that weekend, travel to the store, find out the memory metal frames are more expensive, wait 2 1/2 hours in the mall for them to finish, and finally drive home happy!! :-) Darling loved the play place at the mall.

Drum had an exciting Saturday. He got to go on a CAP fieldtrip. They got to be in 3 different simulators. He had a blast! Then he got to spend the night at his good friend's house. So much boy fun!! He's been talking non-stop since he got home. :-)

Darling got a new nickname from Daddy - Button-Eyes. She has such sweet button-eyes. :-)

A friend of Dot's spent the weekend with us. She and Dot made muffins and nibble sticks, went sledding, and played games. She was so sweet to play with the boys while Dot studied homework.

Here is a picture of Duke's remote control car from his Uncle for C-mas. He enjoyed it so much that he purchased another one, and Deer & Dessert used their money to get one for themselves. They have had a blast! In this picture: Dessert= Red, Duke= White, Deer= Silver. (notice I used colors not car names. Yes, I am a woman!)

A before and after picture of Dot's hair. She needed a trim, but was nervous about my cutting it. So, I took a picture of what it looked like so she could see. The visual worked and she let me do a little trim with a picture afterwards to check out my job. :-) Technology

Perky Penguins

Thanks to Jeannie for the idea for the olive penguins. They were a cute and fun to make. Mine seem a little like they are wearing helmets and holding spears in this picture. They also look like they ate as many Christmas goodies as I did this year. :-)

Night Time Routine

Mom: Good Night, Dessert. I love you.
Dessert: Good Night. I love you, too. xoxo
10 minutes. Dad & Mom start reading and some conversation with complete sentences and thoughts.
Boys: We forgot to brush our teeth.
Duke: I can't find my toothbrush. Darling took it again!!
Get up, find toothbrush, listen to brushing of teeth
Boys: Good Night. Love you. xo
5 minutes. D & M start reading and some conversation...
Hear lots of jumping, giggling, etc. from boys room. Get up!
Mom: If you don't be quiet and go to sleep, I'm going to .....
4 minutes. D & M turn off lights
Dessert: Mom, I can't fall asleep.
Mom: Lay still and count to 100.
Dessert: I can't count to 100.
Mom: Count to 10, 10 times.
2 minutes.
Dessert: I counted, but I still can't fall asleep.
Mom: You need to lay still.
Dessert: My head hurts.
Mom: It hurts because you are so tired and you need to go to sleep.
Dessert: I can't fall asleep.
Mom: You need to lay still and then you will fall asleep. Go to bed.
Dessert: I'm afraid. Duke has a scarry story on.
Mom: It is not a scarry story. Just lay still and you will fall asleep before you hear the story.
Dessert: I can't lay still.
Mom under breath: (I know, because then you might fall asleep!)
Get up, tuck Dessert in bed. Give him kiss so he dreams of Mom loving him not ....
60 seconds. Hear feet.
Dad: Get in bed or I'm going to ......!
Dessert whimpers as he leaves the room.
60 seconds. Quiet reigns.

Our night time routine with occasional varriations. :-)

Christmas Season Happenings

Drum had a great time making these goodies with another family. This Mom did this activity with 4 BOYS. WOW! I was impressed. He had so much fun.


Deer played the flute and was in the Christmas program at our church.


She did a beautiful job. We are so grateful to her favorite teacher, Andrea. She has just loved lessons and is looking forward to getting back to them after the Christmas season.

It has been so busy and so fun to get down to the business of making cookies and finishing the shopping. We made gingerbread men, roll-out cookies, candy-kiss cookies (which we always make with hugs), Russian tea cakes, melting moments, Keebler bars, peanut-roll bars, fudge, million dollar bars, and fancy pretzel sticks. Our friends, JoAnn & Lorissa, came to help with the roll-outs.














The pretzel sticks turned out so cool!! We scooped carmel, white chocolate, or milk chocolate on them. Then we rolled them in nuts, mini choc. chips, cherry chips, crushed candy, toffee, andes mints, or sprinkles. Then we drizzled milk choc. and white choc. over the tops. We flipped them when dry to do the other side. So beautiful looking and I especially like the carmel, nut ones. They make the pretzel less crunchy and more chewy.


Here is Darling, entertaining herself while Mom is busy. :-)





We went caroling with friends at the nursing home after lunch out on Sunday. The kids had so much fun and I know they blessed the residents.


We celebrated our family's Christmas that night. Dessert opened his present from us and stated,


"I don't like this! Why would you get me this?!"


It was moon sand. He wanted Spiderman action figures but I knew his Grandma had one for him, and not wanting him to only get spiderman things for C-mas, we got him Moon Sand. Needless to say, we returned it. We had a great evening relaxing with each other.

Monday we finished up some baking, etc. and then went to Dunk's folks up the hill. We had a fun evening. For the first time we had Gma & Gpa open their gifts from the kids first. It was nice because the kids got to see them open their gifts and enjoy what they brought. I'm sure we'll do that again.


Uncle "Santa" and Aunt Sandy Claus joined us in the evening. I won't show the pictures of Darling freaking out about sitting in Santa's lap. She loved the teddy bear he brought her, though and carried it around all evening. Anyone see Duke's Texas toothpick strapped on the belt in the picture? He wanted a "BIG" knife for C-mas and Papa answered his prayers for one. :-) He even got to cut Gma K's birthday cake with it the day after C-mas. If I get a picture e-mailed, I'll be sure to post it. :-)



Christmas Day we did stockings in the morning and then went to my folks for a full day with the cousins. Uncle P brought snowmobiles!!!!!! The boys were soooooo excited and spent tons of time on them. The rest of us just ate, rested, ate, played, ate, visited, ate. :-) The next day we celebrated my Mom's birthday with KFC and ice-cream cake. It was great to stretch out the holidays and get more time with the relatives we don't see often enough. I wish I took more pictures of the fun times. Here is Cousin L and Dessert playing another game of UNO!!! Here are my two C-mas princesses. Dessert finally got his Spiderman action figure.
The cousins got matching hunting jackets and hunting books.
Deer & her cousin got books they enjoyed going over and over. Papa rocked the little ones.

Contentment! Bah, Humbug!!

This is an updated paper I wrote when my kids were little. :-) It was a good reminder to myself, so I thought I'd share it.

As we enter into the Christmas Season, we will be hearing and reading alot about contentment. We are told and we tell our children to be content with what they have. A very scriptural concept.
Contentment is fantastic, but doesn't God also talk about knowing how to abound (Phil. 4:12), letting our requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6), and filling our cups to overflowing. Don't fathers today model God our Heavenly Father? Doesn't the Bible say fathers like to give good gifts to their children and so much more does God!
There have been numerous stories told about children and adults who prayed for a non-essential item and received it. I do believe they were thankful for what they already had, but it is not a sin to desire something extra nice or just for fun.
Our kids have alot said about don't do this, don't do that, etc. Is this a time for another Don't? Don't be discontent. Don't want "you name it".
I think it's time to focus on the positive aspects of giving and receiving at Christmas time. We need to have positive , practical ways of encouraging giving at Christmas time and the gimme, gimme attitude will fade in the experience and joy of giving to others.
Here are a few starters:
* Have the child think of another child who has less than he has. (Angel tree, etc.) Once chosen, give him a list of jobs he can do to earn extra money. Encourage creativity in finding other ways of earning money to buy the child a gift. If at all possible, let him meet the child he gets to get a present for.
* Encourage your children to make their own Christmas lists of who they would like to give a present to. This has really helped our family focus on others at Christmas time. It also helps the kids to appreciate the work that went into remembering others and the time and money someone else invested in them.
* Talk often of the Christ child and what He gave us. Make ornaments for the tree telling of the gifts He gives us: Salvation, forgiveness, heaven, joy, family, friends, etc.
* Volunteer at Salvation Army or another center when they serve a meal. When I was growing up, our family did this a couple years. It was an eye opener to see children so poor and happy. It was fun to feel like I could actually "do something" for someone who needed it. When I went back home, I definitely felt more content and grateful for what I had.
* Visit the nursing Home and sing Christmas carols. This reminds us and our children how much our good health is a blessing and how short our time on earth is. The contentment one feels after such a trip is priceless.
I think anticipation and excitement are great blessings. When you anticipate this Christmas Season, may it be with the discontentment that comes from still wanting to finds ways to bless others and the contentment that comes as the result of seeing those goals become reality.
Merry Christmas!! :-)