Spider

I had not planned on doing two posts today... but I got to looking at the pictures and Smaug is sleeping peacefully (he usually wakes up about now... 3pm) and so...


J fixed our lamp that the kids broke!

TW built a zoo out of Lego's :)

I went to the chiropractor (or "cry-o-pacter" as TW says) and found the kids had been playing.  I know it's hard to see, but Big Brother is out in the field with Smaug... he sure does love that kid!

And then these three took over the wagon and rolled around the cul-de-sac with it... I love it when they re-discover an old toy!

Smaug walks like this on concrete... I guess his knees are too sensitive! :)

Oops... fell out the door :)

One nap, I heard a noise, and this is what I found... TW had left his paints in a Mr. E accessible spot :( The bathtub was PURPLE after washing this one off, and his sheets have a pinkish tinge... oh well!

I almost touched this spider one morning right before J got back.  I didn't know what to do, and I wasn't touching the thing, so I sprayed it with copious amounts of unscented ant spray (which stank)... it crawled behind a box and I didn't see it again... J found it this week, dead (thankfully)... his comment "Whoa, that's a big spider"... I didn't have the gumption to take a picture when it was alive, but I got it this time!

The boys are working on Mr. E's birthday gift... we'll start the girls' next!

Even Smaug has been "helping"!

Cute, huh?

Even cuter... nice pig tails :)

I had my skin allergy testing this past week... turns out, I'm not allergic to anything but cats... I do have non-allergic rhinitis though, which gives me all the upper head symptoms of allergies but is not treatable with anti histamines (sigh)... basically, the best way to not suffer, is to avoid the offending items (usually smells, temperature changes, humidity, and hormones)!  Granted, being off my meds reminded me that I also have dermographia, which means my body produces excess histamine, so basically I just itch, all over, and turn bright red wherever I scratch, so now I'm waiting on the Claritine to kick back in so I don't scratch and look like I've been attacked by a cat!

So, allergies to airborne things are not creating my increased asthma symptoms... now what?  I'm thinking of sending off for a food allergy testing kit... I'm willing to accept donations to fund this venture :)

We got a new garbage can (not the one pictured, I returned it because I didn't like the lid)... it's our first new can since we got married, and I only got it because our trash is out in the open now and I wanted a lid!  J carried Smaug into the house in the can  :)

In Other News:  Smaug has moved into The Boy Room... I teared up just a bit :(

Chores, Chores, Chores

Hello Friends!

Are you ready for another Gabby Mom review?  If not, oh well, you get it anyway :)

This last month or so, I have had a chance to review a big 'ole bundle of articles, stories, tips etc. called Chores: Many Hands Make Light the Work!  When the packet showed up in my inbox (you can get the bundle as an e-print or a real (tree) print!), I was really excited, looking forward to more ways to be organized, neat, and tidy.  And, at such a great time too... we were just moved into the new house, and there were boxes and kids and stuff everywhere.   I read through most of the articles while marching along on my treadmill and found more than just organization and cleaning tips!

The bundle is broken up into 11 sections, some are written, some are audio... some things I already knew about, like homemade cleaners but I really enjoyed seeing that there are others who have similar ideals as I do (even if I don't always have the follow through).  One section stood out to me in particular; probably because it involves me, right now.  And that is involving my kids in our household chores.  I have a lot of trouble with this, because I am in that annoying group of people that says "if you want something done right (and quickly), do it yourself"!  In one article I am reminded of two things by Mrs. Flem, the writer of the section on chores being fun (!)... these are that our children should be taught (paraphrased) 1) the name of Jesus and God's word and 2) learning to be servants by having chores (or "doings" as I learned from another article, and I love, it's taken from Proverbs 20:11 (KJV)... even a child is known by his doings...).

So, I have been working on giving all my kids (not just TW, who has had a few doings already) jobs!

Everyone makes their own bed (unless someone, kindly, does it for them... TW and Berry often do someone else's bed)!

One day, Mr. E will smile for a picture :)

The girls are generally in charge of "folding" the napkins and putting away the kids silverware

And, Smaug was helping Pretty Girl put away the wipes one morning... granted, he did pull them out too :)

I'm sure, as the kids get bigger, the fun-ness of helping Mama (for the smaller guys, TW is already over his sweeping duty) will wear off and I'll have to be more creative in making this entertaining.  But, for now, I'm glad we have found ways that even a 2 year old (or three) can learn about being a servant :)

SOOO, if you are interested in a copy of the Chores Bundle, head on over to the products portion of Eternal Encouragement!  I got my copy for free so I could review it honestly as a Gabby Mom... but the price to pay in money may just be worth the rewards you will (hopefully) be able to reap in your own household!

P.S.  You could win a free copy of this bundle by entering here!!!  Good luck!!!

Welcome Home!

I thought that there were very few pictures on the camera, so I put off my post... I was wrong :)

2 weeks ago, Daddy came home (after a 2 week work trip to Maine), we were sooo excited to see him!

We were early to the airport, so we had time to go potty, look at an art display and check out the gift shop :)

Morgan had his 6 year check up (he's great), and needed some medicines refilled, while we waited, the boys played under the chairs... fortunately one lady in our seating area was a mom of triplets (!), and the lady whose feet you see loved the kids!

We had to take Daddy to the zoo so we could ride the train!  We finally found the flamingoes!

And the splash park!

J took this picture with his phone, pretty cool, eh?

  This was in the butterfly house!

Hi :)

Poor guy, water, sun, animals, tuckered him out, we did.

TW made this one afternoon (with dominoes), I was super impressed!

The car seats needed a good cleaning!  And we had to take them out of the van anyway, so that J could pick up his brand new, bigger TV!  Now, we are hoping that when all the little kids crowd around the screen, we'll still be able to see the top of Clifford's head :)

Nana:  I was talking to you on the phone waiting for J, who was in Best Buy :)

We discovered these geese at the Wal-Mart!

And these are the wild turkeys that live in our field!

So, Daddy started to get sick almost immediately upon returning home.  We guessed it was some water borne critter, who some how snuck into him in Maine.  The first doctors visit, 5 days after his return, he was sent home with some Imodium.  The second doctors visit, another 5 days later, and worse, he was sent home with antibiotics... and that was after two bags of fluids.  J tried so hard to stay hydrated, but everything he took in came back out one way or another... after not being able to eat for almost 2 weeks, his body needed a kick start to begin recovering!  It turns out (well, we haven't heard back on the giardia results), that he had campylobacteriosis... which is basically (as far as I understand it) a form of food poisoning.  He most likely got it right before he left Maine, or the day he got home -it wasn't me, we ate out :)  So, after being re-hydrated in a way that couldn't immediately be spit out by his body, he felt much better... and is steadily improving, and gaining back some of the 20+ pounds he lost!  On the day he got the IV fluids, we drove him to base and played while he was in with the doc... TW slipped on some rocks and got this gnarly scratch!

J spent a lot of time on the couch... but he was still productive :)

Yesterday, we took a road trip to St. Augustine... this is near the oldest house in the US!  We had no idea what a cool town this is, we have dubbed in our new Colonial Williamsburg, and are already planning our next trip!

When we got home, J began to clean up some of the garage... then, this rolled in!  We have had quite a few awesome thunder storms lately.. which made it easy for us to lay low for Daddy (though you wouldn't know that by the way he kept going with the kids)!

The kids have head colds right now, so I've been letting them sleep in.  I was vacuuming the tops of the cabinets this morning, Smaug was up with me... he found the baggies and was quite content to pull them out of the box one at a time ;)

Later, he pulled himself up to standing, all by himself (huh)!!!

The kids found some standing water...

And... I had planned on giving you a tour of our new abode when things were cleaned up... they haven't been clean since the day J got home, so here you are, crud and all...

I am standing at the garage door in the laundry room/school room... btw SAB, we have the same laundry room doors you had in your house in VA Beach and thanks to you, I knew exactly where to put the pots, pans, and crock pot :)

Here is the living room/dining room... J decided to try out the cross bow this afternoon...

... the toy room...

... the kids half of the house...

... the view of the kitchen from the pass through window... everything is smaller than Pensacola, but bigger than Ames... I'm already ready for more kitchen space... my pantry is pitiful, and most of our canned goods are in the garage... I actually think I might have had more cupboard space in Ames, oh well, it's temporary :)

Here is the view from our driveway... the thing that made this house doable :)

And there is my (J's) arrow, in the "watch out for alligators" water, according to Google Earth, a whopping 200 yards away... sigh...

In Other News:  TW has officially passed and finished 1st grade :)

Six Years Old!!!

Yesterday, TW officially turned 6!!!

On Wednesday, helped make his cake :)

On the big day, we went to the zoo... our first stop, the rhinos!

Group shot!!!

Another one!!!

It's sort of hard to see, but there is a baby monkey in here with the bigger monkey.  The triplets saw this scenario and both girls immediately began screaming "Mama, Mama, baby eat, baby eat!  Look Mama, baby eat"... very observant girls :)

After seeing the gorillas, these three showed me how gorillas walk!

Last group shot!

I gave in on my no-toy-buying-for-a-while-rule so that the birthday boy could get a stuffed flamingo (his favorite animal)... the other guys got serviceable water bottles!

And, the best gift ever (to me anyway), Daddy got to call :)  And then there was cake... can you tell TW decorated?  

TW posed for this shot by the metal elephant... he stayed still for about 3 seconds, and the camera caught it, even if it's a tad blurry!

After celebrating my first son's 6th birthday, it seems fitting to throw in a little blurb about an upcoming Facebook party hosted by the Gabby Mom's parent, Eternal Encouragement!  You can link up to the party using this very pretty button, or just go here!  I hope to make the first half of the party, I make no promises once the littles are up from nap :)