Life with the DeLoach's

Not Me Monday

2012-01-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

My daughter does NOT love to dress herself. Unfortunately she does NOT care if the outfit matches or not.

Moma Said

2012-01-10T12:17:00.001-08:00

Mama said there'll be days like this,
There'll be days like this mama said
(Mama said mama said)

Mama said there'll be days like this,

There'll be days like this Mama Said

(Mama said mama said)

Mama said there'll be days like this,
There'll be days like this mama said

(Mama said mama said)

Hey! Don't you worry,
Mama said, mama said
Hey! Don't you worry now.
Mama said, mama said.

Not Me Monday

2012-01-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

When packing up my Christmas stuff I did NOT find random toys as "ornaments" on the tree.

Christmas Card

2011-12-23T12:18:00.001-08:00

I absolutely LOVE to receive and send Christmas cards. However each year I am not able to send out as many as I would like due to cost. So if you didn't receive one from The DeLoach household, please know you are still loved!

Merry Christmas from the DeLoach's!

Not Me Monday

2011-12-19T09:54:00.001-08:00

I did NOT let my kids decorate their Christmas shaped cookies however they pleased. It did NOT pain me for the cookies to not look like snowmen or Christmas trees afterwards. Just a sugar overload.

Yes, I realize Isabel is in a spider / Halloween shirt to decorate Christmas cookies. I battle dirty laundry daily and on that day, dirty laundry won.

Gingerbread Nativity

2011-12-16T12:51:00.001-08:00

Seems like everywhere we go people are asking the kids what Santa is going to bring them and even what their elf's name is. I know lots of you are into the whole elf thing, but just so you know if you ask my kids who their elf is they will look at you with blank stares. This momma doesn't do the elf on the shelf.

We do have a fun activity each day that we do together as a family. Go here if you missed that post.

Last year we made a Gingerbread house to put as the centerpiece of our dinning room table. This year I wanted something more Christ focused in our decorations. This is what I found. The Gingerbread Nativity.

We read from the Bible the story of Christ's birth. Then made our own Nativity.

It was such a fun craft that we have actually made several. We made one with my sister, one with our church family, and one with a neighbor. Such a great way to share the birth of Christ with kids.

Not Me Monday

2011-12-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

I do NOT love wrapping presents more than buying them. I also do NOT love to purchase wrapping paper.

Discovery Clubs

2011-12-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

Serving isn't easy sometimes. Especially with 4 kids in tow. A question I often ask myself is how I can serve and NOT have to hire a babysitter? For us, Discovery Clubs was one answer. One day a week Ben and I along with all four of our kids drive down the street to Robinson Elementary where we get to interact with a special group of kids. It's not always easy to get there and it requires Ben coming from one direction with 2 kids and me coming from another direction with the other 2 kids. Many days I have to take a deep breath before I enter the room, but once I see the smiling faces of those 2nd grade girls it's all worth it. It's not about me and what is easy for me. It's about spending time with these children and loving them as we show them the love of Christ. We get to sing, have snack, teach from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pray, meet in small groups and most importantly share Christ with these kids. We are also thankful to be doing this with 6 other people from our church (absolutely LOVE serving along side these ladies each week.)

As a little side note, I will say I am NOT a fan of the yellow vest we are required to wear. However, I do obey the rules and wear it.

The guys teach the 2nd grade boys and the women teach the 2nd grade girls. It's actually a perfect setting to take my boys to since they are 1st and 2nd grade. Even though Isabel is 4, she fits right in with the girls. Cannon, well, he watches from the stroller and does a great job at being the perfect baby.

In the schools that Discovery Clubs are offered they begin with the 2nd grade and if there are enough volunteers they add others grades up to 4th. There just aren't enough volunteers to offer more at Robinson right now. We meet once a week right after school lets out. Now don't think that Discovery Clubs are just offered to inner city schools. They are all over Birmingham. Remember, it's not just the inner city kids that need Christ. The school where Carter went to Kindergarten, Mt. Laurel, is in a very "well to do" area and they have a club that meets on Thursday afternoons.

I would say it's only a one hour a week commitment, but by the time you arrive at the school - spend time with the kids - then wait till they have all gone home, it's about a 2 hour a week commitment. Of course if your doing the teaching part it requires some prep time as well.

If you are interested in serving with Discovery Clubs I would be more than happy to get you connected, just let me know. You can go here to see all the schools that offer Discovery Clubs as an after school program.

Countdown to Christmas

2011-12-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

I found lots of different ways to count down to the day of Christmas.
Here's how the DeLoach's are counting.

I am a sucker for using something that I already have at the house.
I painted some larger Popsicle sticks green and some smaller ones yellow.

Then cut out some folding cards and placed a number on top. I got the number printable here.

I then hot glued some of my green sticks together (made a group of 3, 4, and 5). Then glued my yellow ones together to make a star.

Final product - a tree.

Add a little ribbon to the cards and place them on the branches. Ta da - Christmas Tree countdown! Each day when they open the card there is a fun surprise.

It may be as simple as family game night or their favorite so far - tent in living room and dinner inside.

How do you count down the days till Christmas?

Art

2011-12-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that we let each of the kids pick an activity or sport they wanted to do. Caden decided he didn't want to do a sport just yet, but he did want to take art. Since September Caden has been going once a week to art. He is absolutely in love with the painting and drawing. I have to say he is coming home with some pretty impressive stuff. Now just where do I put it all? Until I can figure something else out, right now his art goes on his bulletin board in the classroom.

Since Isabel doesn't get to go to the co-op we let her take art as well. Same teacher, but she goes while her big brothers are at school. Their teacher is amazing!

She even came home with a new decoration for her door.

Not Me Monday

2011-12-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

I did NOT go get the pipe cleaners out to make a craft and find that they had all been turned into snakes.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from....

My 3 Indians
And My Little Turkey

Not Me Monday

2011-11-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

I did NOT wake up yesterday morning with the outside of my nose being sore to the touch. I did not apply more makeup to cover the redness. I did NOT ask a friend (who's a doctor) if my sinuses (which have been giving me grief) could actually cause the outside of my nose to be sore. I did NOT have my husband ask me repeatly all....day....long why my nose was so red. At the end of the day, while our family was eating dinner, my husband did NOT look at me with a puzzled look and tell me that I had to have hit my nose on something. Then he did NOT burst into laughter as he told me that he just remembered something. He did NOT at that very moment remember this.....that in the middle of the night Sat. night while we were sleeping, he had rolled over in bed and when he did his forehead hit my nose! He woke up when it happened, I did not. I have NOT been in pain all day because of it.

In Ground Trampoline

2011-11-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

In June 2010 when we were packing our boxes to move, we asked ourselves the question. Do we move the trampoline & the swing set/play yard too? We decided to even though our current backyard has holes, trees, stumps and is a gradual down slope. So the question was where do you put a trampoline & swing set??? We still haven't figured out the swing set / play yard (it's in pieces on the back patio) - the trampoline however now sits in our backyard. Literally.

After many measurements & drawings on paper we came up with a plan. Then over the course of a few weeks Ben, my dad and the boys dug a 3 foot hole in the back yard.

Then we laid the trampoline on top of the hole and attached the poles for the net.

It's the perfect fit for our backyard!

Bet you won't guess where I got the idea? Yup, Pinterest :)

Burlap Turkey

2011-11-16T06:03:00.000-08:00

My new door decor obsession involves burlap so you may see lots of it in the months to come. Not that I'm an expert on how to make these burlap designs, but here's what I do if your interested.

When I purchased my burlap from Hobby Lobby they only had a few colors left so I took what they had and have just made it work. My first step is to decide exactly what I want - in this case a turkey for Thanksgiving / November. So I cut my burlap into a round / oval shape. Then I painted the whole thing brown. If you notice the white lines on the edges, I took a piece of chalk and drew exactly where I needed to cut, so I didn't just take scissors and start cutting aimlessly. That would be way to risky as I can't draw or cut a straight line without guidance.

I like the "frayed" look on my burlap so after it was painted & cut into my shape of preference I went along the edges and pulled just a little to fray all my sides. It is easier to do before it's painted, but I wanted to make sure I had the shape I wanted before I started fraying.
I then drew in chalk the exact design.

Picked out my paint colors

And got to painting.

Decided to dress him up a little with some polka dots, because everything is cuter with some dots.

I then hot glued some hemp cord - something I had left over from when we made some bracelets - to the top to hook on my door hanger. Seems to work great.

Since the Turkey was wider than he was tall he kept wanting to bend in the middle when he was on the door. So I got out the handy dandy hot glue gun once again and hot glued an extra blind blade to the back for support.

Then sprayed it down in this for sealing & protecting.

Happy November!!

Not Me Monday

2011-11-14T08:07:00.001-08:00

I did NOT leave my baby home with my husband while I ran some errands. When I returned I did NOT find the baby in the middle of the living room floor in front of the t.v. watching an episode of Phineas & Ferb - by the time I got the camera out to snap a picture, Cannon had NOT fallen asleep.

Amazon Mom

2011-11-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

Ben and I were blessed by friends and family with 3 months worth of diapers for Cannon. When it came time to buy diapers again I decided this time around to order them online. There were too many late night runs to Wal-Mart for diapers with the other 3 kiddos. There are several popular websites for diapers, but I decided to go with Amazon since I visit the site frequently & 90% of what I buy online comes from them anyway.

I had a friend tell me about their Amazon Mom program so I quickly checked it out. It is wondermus! You sign up totally free for Amazon Mom and their Subscribe & Save Delivery Program. Not only do you get 20% off diapers with your membership you get prime shipping (free 2 day shipping on everything NOT just your diaper order) up to a year. Thing is it's not just for moms or just for purchasing diapers. Best way to see all the details is to just go here.

When this box of size 3 pampers cruisers (186 diapers total) comes to my door each month I get supper excited. Because I know it's regular 47.19 on Amazon. Then I get a discount of $7.08 for being a free amazon mom member and another discount of $7.08 for being a subscribe & save delivery member (which means you tell them how often you want your diapers delivered & they send them automatically). Best part is you can cancel or change the delivery frequency anytime. So my big box of diapers is only $33.03.

Why does that bring such a huge smile on my face? Because I know Wal-mart has the same big box of diapers for $47.19 online (free shipping if order is more than $45). And Diapers.com has the same item for $44.99 (if you sign up for the take 5 program - free shipping included). I get supper giddy knowing I'm getting a deal :)

5 Months

2011-11-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Don't get many upset faces from this little bundle.

Doesn't take a paci, but does love his "lovey". Where does he want it? Right next to his face for sleeping.

I'm sure we'll hear arguments when we're older than 5 months, but today big brothers are letting him in the "living room tent" and everyone's happy.

He can pull his toy & make his own music on the bouncer. And he wants you to clap every time!

The days of baby food have begun. Loves some carrots & sweet potatoes.

Always has those feet crossed. Love me some baby toes!

Not Me Monday

2011-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

I did NOT have to ask my kids to forgive me for the way I reacted after I found this had happened when they knocked my favorite pitcher off the counter.

October 31st

2011-11-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Every year I always ask myself the question of do we or don't we go trick or treating on Halloween? Last year I read this article here. After reading it we decided we were in a new neighborhood and we would just stay home and hand out candy and meet our neighbors who came to us. Great plan! Then we had two, count them with me....1...2 trick or treaters. Oh well. This year we had the fall festival with our church family on Sunday afternoon, which was magnificent. But Halloween was on Monday. So what do we do Monday night? Even though I'm not a huge fan of Halloween with Jack-O-lanterns, ghosts and goblins. I'm not against dressing the kids up as long as it's not anything gory or scarey to go knock on doors and get candy. So we made it a family fun night (with a few friends & grandparents joining in on the fun).

Even though Caden dressed up as a bat at the festival, his actual costume of the year was Dry, Dry Bones from Mario Kart Wii. The turtle shell just wasn't complete by festival time. Ben took on the challenge and made it all himself. I bet you can't guess from what? Yup, cardboard and duck tape. The mouth is duck tape on top of a ball frame, turtle shell is cardboard stuck together with duck tape and the shirt is duck tape turtle bones. We can't survive in this house without duck tape.

Even though Grandaddy is a big Alabama fan, he couldn't resist his picture being made with Aubie.

We went to a neighborhood that ended up not a lot of people were trick or treating in. Kids benefited from it though because when you don't have many trick or treaters then the ones that do come by get more candy. These three didn't mind at all.

We were with some friends who told us where the "candy man" lived, so we paid him a visit as well. He had a nice little set up and definitely earned his name.

Even this little lion got something from the candy man.

After the trunk was full we headed home.

Unfortunately now I have this to resist every time I pass through the kitchen!

It was a fun night spent together with family & friends. So even though it's a few days after....Happy Halloween from the DeLoach's :)

Fall Festival

2011-11-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have not posted about our church and really hope to do that one day soon. I want to spend focused time on telling you about how we worship as a church family and focused time without distractions is not something I find a lot of. Most of my blog post are written while holding a baby or turning around to answer a question from a 4, 7 or 8 yr old. So today this will have to do. As I rock the baby's bouncer with my foot :)

Our church - The Church @ South East Lake had a "fall festival" in East Lake Park this past Sunday afternoon. I put fall festival in "" only because we didn't know what else to call it. We have $ from our tithe's and offering, but we didn't want to spend it if we didn't absolutely have to. Most of our games were more field day type games. Three legged race, flag football, corn hole (which we borrowed) and ultimate Frisbee.

We also had a table to make bracelets (where we were able to share the gospel story using the color beads) as well as tables for face painting & nail painting.

Some were too little to play the games or get nails painted so they just sat in a bucket and watched :)

Our focus of this festival was to create a family type atmosphere and get to know some of our neighbors better. We also invited all the kids from our Discovery Club group that some of us are a part of on Tuesday afternoons @ Robinson Elementary. More information on Discovery Clubs to come in a later post. We had a wonderful turn out and got to meet lots of the parents of the kids we work with. One of the main goals of having the festival in the first place.

We did provide (some of which was donated) hot dogs, chips, cookies, water and a goodie bag full of candy for everyone. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with our church family as well as our neighbors. It was a costume optional festival, but my kids were not about to miss an opportunity to dress up.

Meet Cannon the Lion.

Carter a.k.a. Thor
Caden a bat and Parrish a knight.

and my favorite costume of the night....Izzy as Aubie!

Not Me Monday

2011-10-24T10:02:00.001-07:00

I did NOT look for my car keys for 30 min. and NOT find that I had left them in the door...

Fall Break

2011-10-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago the kids had a fall break from the co-op and Ben needed to get some work accomplished. So the kids and I decided to take a trip to my parents. It was a week packed full of fun.

Here's my favorite picture from the week. Every time we visit, it's a must that Gigi reads a bed time story and this time Cannon even got invited.

Favorite Chicken

2011-10-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

My kids are getting better about being picky eaters, we'll sorta. This is something that they all absolutely love so I thought I would share. I wasn't sure what to call it, but around our house we call it favorite chicken.

Take a can of chicken.

Add these spices (I can't tell you how much, I just shake, but I do add more chili powder than the others).

Cook on the stove top until you get this.

Add a little of this on top.

And ta-da, you have favorite chicken!

Where is Cannon?

2011-10-19T14:20:00.001-07:00

Kids were all in the living room with Ben - big boys on the couch - Izzy in the floor - Cannon in the swing. As I finished putting yet another load of clothes in the washer I came into the living room to get Cannon to feed him. My heart jumped a beat when I looked & he wasn't in the swing! Can you find him?

Not Me Monday

2011-10-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

I do not have a love / hate relationship with these....

The Candy Corn

2011-10-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

For awhile now the limited amount of time I spend "playing" on the computer has gone from reading Facebook updates to browsing Pinterest. I find myself having to look just one more time before I turn in for the night. Think addicted may be the term. For those of you who aren't currently a Pinterest viewer, the website lets you organize and share all the things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, organize their favorite recipes, and get different craft ideas. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, you can go here to request an invite.

I love to have different seasonal decorations on the backdoor & found several ideas for fall. Using burlap to make different door decorations is becoming a popular thing. After browsing many different ideas I decided to make a trip to Hobby Lobby and try something myself.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Love the weather, colors, decorations, holidays....however I'm not that big into Halloween. We let the kids dress up and maybe go to a few neighbors homes to trick or treat, but I don't decorate with ghosts & goblins. However I do love the candy of Halloween, the candy corn. So I decided to make that the October door decor.

I thought it turned out pretty cute, however the hubby & two big boys decided it looked more like a bullet hanging on the door. Oh well, it's staying till November. I'm hoping to have a turkey to hang by then...we'll see if it gets finished in time.

4 Months

2011-10-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

4 Months and 17 1/2 lbs.

Loves to chew on his hands
Watch his brothers & sister play

Lots of time spent in the car seat, but he doesn't seem to mind

Started laughing real tummy laughs

Had our first taste of rice cereal, not his favorite, but he didn't turn it down.

Apple Orchard

2011-10-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we got to go on our first official field trip of the year. The Steele Orchard in Cullman.

The kids got to pick their very own apple from the tree.

Hear stories about Johnny Appleseed.

They even got to plant their very own apple seed in a cup of dirt and bring it home. Now if I can just keep the seeds taken care of till next year. Lots of pampering goes into the seeds before they can be planted into the ground.

We even got to hear from a beekeeper. Something we all learned was that they have to bring bees into the orchard to pollinate all the trees.

Even this little guy enjoyed himself :)

Not Me Monday

2011-10-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

I do not use my husband's pullup bar to hang my laundry.

Gifts To Grow

2011-10-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

Having three boys and one girl I have come to find out that it does matter what brand of diaper I use. I have found that Pampers diapers work the best with the boys. Pretty much used whatever brand I pleased with Izzy. I know everyone has their likes and dislikes, but I prefer the Pamper. I had been out of the diaper buyin for awhile when Cannon came along and now we're back in the diaper changing business.

I knew about the gifts to grow program when the other kids were in diapers, but never really kept up with my points. I have been on top of the game this time. On every package of Pampers diapers (and wipes - but honestly I prefer Huggies wipes) there is a little sticker with a code on it.

You go to the gifts to grow website, sign in and enter your codes. Then as your points add up you can go here and pick a reward. I think the rewards could be a little better, but hey if I am going to buy the diapers anyway I may as well be able to get a treat too. I haven't cashed in any points yet, but I'll be sure and share when I do. Right now I'm just rack'en 'em up.

Clicky Shoes

2011-10-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

Awhile back we ask each child if and what they would like to do for an activity/sport. Carter quickly answered with karate. Isabel was pretty quick in her answer as well with dance. The child moves to anything with a beat. She was adamant that she was taking ballet. I just wasn't sure that ballet was going to be the dancing that she anticipated.

I did a little research and found the perfect place & class. Miss. Kelley's. The class I found is 1 hour each week - 30 min. ballet and 30 min. tap. However if you ask Izzy she will tell you she does ballet with quite shoes first then the clicky ones. Loves the clicky ones!

Even though her class is in the afternoon most Thursday's this is what we wear all....day...long.

What I'm already doing

2011-10-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that we live in East Lake. This is an area of town that is filled with poverty. When we first moved here, for me, it was more out of obedience to God's word - James 1:27 & Luke 6:46. Now I am not only here out of obedience, but I have a desire to be here, I am really developing a love for the people.

In the beginning I wasn't sure how to minister to my neighbors as I had so many other things in my life to get in order (home schooling 3 little ones, new baby on the way, boxes to unpack, starting a new adventure with a house church...the list went on).

A year later (can you believe we have been here a year!) I am starting to see how I can really share God's word with my neighbors. Ben and I talk a lot about taking something we are already doing and invite others into that. Example. Ben and some other guys from our church workout & pray together every MWF. That is something they are already doing, so now when they met someone from the neighborhood they can ask them to join in. They aren't meeting new people then trying to figure out a context that they can minister to them in. That context is already there - working out three days a week.

So I thought, ok what do I do on a daily basis? Laundry, dishes, taking kids to and fro, home schooling...then a light bulb went off! I teach my kids at home. Education is something that is lacking in this community. The public schools nearby, we'll lets just say they aren't getting the top scores. So after talking to my neighbor across the street I found out she has one little boy who isn't school age yet. He's 4. The exact age of my Isabel. So why not teach her little boy when I teach Isabel. So that's exactly what I do.....something I was already doing anyway.

Every Thursday he comes over for a couple of hours and we have school. We were blessed to have the opportunity for are two older boys to attend a co-op on Tues & Thurs which meant I just have Isabel & Cannon at home. God knew what he was doing when those spots just "happen" to open up at the co-op. Really don't think I would have been able to teach 1 more with all 4 of mine at home. Especially with doing pre-k, 1st & 2nd grade. Doing all three every day can get a little overwhelming some days.

I know it's only one day a week, which isn't much, but it's what I can handle. Amazing thing is, it has also opened up doors for his mom & I to have a relationship as well.

3 Months

2011-10-01T17:50:00.001-07:00

I may be a little late on posting, but I did take the pictures on the day he turned 3 months (Sept 6th).

Love those cheeks!

Favorite place to nap.

Favorite activity - talking to siblings.

and chewing on his hands.

The Mail truck

2011-10-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

My parents live in Florence, AL only about 2 hours from our door. The kids and I made a weekend trip to celebrate the boys birthdays, mine & my sisters birthday, my parents anniversary, my mom retiring from teaching school, and my dad retiring from delivering mail. Told you it was a time of celebrating. I also had on my agenda to get this picture.

I have a picture of each of my kids in his mail truck and couldn't let Cannon be left out.

Brings back memories of our very first picture with the mail truck.

Notice Carter is wearing a mailman's outfit too. His 2nd Halloween.

Birthday Recap

2011-10-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

End of August first of September is a busy time with lots of celebrations around our house. I emphasis the word busy again since this is Oct. 1st and I'm just now getting around to putting it on the blog.

Caden turned 7 and his dessert of choice was a stack of donuts.

Carter turned 8 a week later and wanted a strawberry pie with crust on top.

Over Labor Day weekend, we had an actual party with grandparents and a few close friends. Each year the boys get to agree on a theme and this year without any disagreement it was Phineas & Ferb. If you have never seen it go watch an episode. Ben & I even think it's super cute. Plus it's on Netflix - big plus since we don't do cable.

As always my sister came down and we made the cake. Each year we get smarter by going simpler. We already had Phineas & Ferb characters that were surfing so we went with blue waves all over....so simple. We also made each of the boys their own Perry the Platypus (P & F's pet).

Pretty simple here too. It's a Twinkie with part of a circus peanut for the legs & beak then a sugar wafer for the tail. The wiggle eyes are the only part not edible.

Perry is one of Ben & Grandaddy's favorites so they dressed the part.

Ok, so Perry is Izzy's favorite too!

Even though we couldn't find a Perry shirt for Cannon B, he had a great time entertaining.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday boys!

Not Me Monday

2011-09-19T07:38:00.001-07:00

We did NOT have to make a trip to the ER yesterday.

Two fractured bones in the right wrist, compliments of the monkey bars @ the park.

Not Me Monday

2011-09-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

I do NOT put my 3 month old in his bathtub on the counter while I get things done in the kitchen.

Anniversary

2011-09-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today, Friday, Sept. 2, 2011, Ben and I celebrate 11 years of marriage. I decided to show the kids some pictures so I dug through the closet and dusted off the wedding album. However I quickly put it away when the comment was made "Daddy looks the same, but WOW, Mom, you were so young"!

Always hard to top our 3rd anniversary when we welcomed our first born, Carter Alexander into the world. So now Sept. 2nd is more of a birthday celebration at our house and that's ok with me. Ben and I still find time to celebrate, it just may be December ;)
Happy 8th Birthday Carter!

Co-Op

2011-08-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

I have absolutely been amazed at how much I have loved homeschooling the kids. In a classroom setting being able to invest in them daily, teaching them Biblical truths, getting to see them grasp different ideas, being able to take as many field trips as I want to get that hands on experience....oh how the list continues.

Our first year into homeschooling I would say was a success, but doing the school thing at home wasn't the only change we had going on. I found out I was pregnant with our 4th, we were in the process of moving to a totally new side of town to live out the gospel (hopefully I'll get a blog post up about this very soon), Ben was trying to start a business all while we were figuring out how to start a house church (again lots going on, but it's a blog post all on it own). We had our good days and we also had the bad.

As our first year of homeschooling came to an end and our 4th child was due to arrive soon, I fell to my knees and prayed. Asking God to lead us. Do we home school again? Do we send our kids to the public schools (which are NOT great in the area we live & do ministry), do we go the private school route? As we prayed God was placing people in our paths and opening doors that now looking back I can see how it all unfolded. Our God is an Awesome God!

We are homeschooling again, but the boys get the wonderful opportunity to go to a co-op two days a week. So on Tuesdays and Thursdays they head off to school.

Even though I am taking this time with Isabel to focus on her and her 4 yr old school work she is also loving the fact that when I need to tend to Cannon she gets the couch to herself, movie pick of her choice and the WHOLE bag of Veggie Straws!

The Princess & her Knights

2011-08-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

The kids got invited to a Knights & Princess birthday party and everyone was asked to dress the part. I knew we would have no issue with finding something for Isabel to wear, her dress up drawer is packed full of tutu's and princess dresses. So on to the boys dress up box. To my surprise there was nothing there for knights. Only cowboys & pirates. That just simply wouldn't work. Since I only had a few days before the party I made a stop by Party City. They had two knight outfits, perfect, we're ready for the party....so I thought. Got them home and the one size fits all - didn't fit so great. Two knights with sleeves that were quarter length and pants that were sportin the "high water" term needed to be returned to the store and quickly!

So what now? I turned to my husband and together we came up with a plan. That plan involved duck tape and lots of it. Quick trip to Target for some gray shirts & tape and we were ready to get crafty.

I give you two boys size knight shirts

He may be small, but you can't forget the young knight.

The swords were purchased at the store, but the shields are the handy work of the hubby. He found some scrap wood in the storage building and whipped out his handy dandy jigsaw. Once they were cut out all we had to do was add a little spray paint and of course more duck tape and wa-la....shields!

I couldn't have asked for a better pose from these kiddos when I said ok knights & princess - quick - action shot!

I think Ben & I had as much fun making the outfits as the kids did slaying the dragon & playing their parts at the party.

Sport of Choice

2011-08-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ben and I decided that we would let the kids pick one thing each that they wanted to do - thing being a sport or extra activity. Carter decided very quickly what his sport would be. Karate. His timing couldn't have been better because around that same time I found a great karate deal with Living Socials. We get to try out 8 classes and he got the outfit for half the normal cost. We go twice a week and have been going for 3 wks now. I think Carter has found a sport he loves, for now anyway.

2 Months

2011-08-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

This precious bundle is now 14.9 lbs and 24 1/2 in. long.

Going from 3 kids to 4 kids has been a challenge for this momma, but not really sure why because seriously Cannon is the best baby ever! He is happy 95 % of the time!

First Day Of School

2011-08-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

The day started off with breakfast of choice - pancakes.

Then a posed picture to make mom happy.

The school room is ready and the calendar is up, but first we had to have some fun.

We had a little treasure hunt around the house for new school supplies.

Then I gave them these...

yes, that is 3 toothpicks. They each "picked" one and then had to "pick" something about their siblings that they liked. Makes this momma's heart smile to hear them say such sweet things about each other.

Cooling Off

2011-08-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

It has been such a hot summer, there were many days spent here. Grandparents pool!

Izzy decided that she needed some shade, but still wanted to be close to the water.

Caden found a friend....but he tried to jump away ;)

Carter played like he had a pet horse

And Cannon, well he just sat under the umbrella with a fan blowing his way.

Backpack

2011-08-04T22:16:00.001-07:00

With my first child I carried around a baby bag that had all the essential items, plus much, much more. Why I thought I needed so much stuff I don't really know. Babies require quite a few items when your out & about, but not as much as I would pack. I wised up and am happy to introduce to you what I carry with baby #4.

This backpack has everything I need, plus it's "manly" enough that Carter likes to help out by carrying it around.

Not Me Monday

2011-07-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

I did NOT try several different kinds of pacifiers to get my newborn to take one. Didn't work. Cannon doesn't like the pacifier.

Blueberry-White Chocolate Cookies

2011-07-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just your normal cookies? No way! These are some of the best around.

We have a friend who is a fabulous cook. She actually has a blog where she post recipes called, Lets Eat. So far this is the only recipe that I have tried to make myself, but the results were almost as good as hers so I thought I would share.

The recipe makes 36 if you scoop it using a 2-Tbsp. scoop. The best thing is that you can bake a batch and have everything cleaned up in 30 minutes.

Blueberry-White Chocolate Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 bag white chocolate morsels
1 (6-oz.) bag dried blueberries

1. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until creamy. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add in vanilla.
2. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Add in white chocolate morsels and blueberries. Drop by 2-Tbsp. scoops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350° for 10 to 11 minutes or until done. (I prefer softer cookies.) Cool on pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Little Momma

2011-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

I really wasn't sure how this little girl would adjust to not being the baby of the family once Cannon arrived. I had thoughts that she would just love being the big sister and helping out with the new baby, but I also had thoughts that she would have absolutely nothing to do with the new baby due to some jealous feelings. I think she is kind of a mix of the two.

90% of the time she now has a baby doll on her hip. She changes her dolls clothes & diapers several times a day, she feeds it, burps it, loves it, pushes it around in the stroller and so on...

All these things for her baby doll. Cannon, not so much. She loves him don't get me wrong, she'll talk to him & love on him, but doesn't pay him as much as attention as I thought she might. She actually uses his cries & whines. When Cannon cries she doesn't run to him to see what is wrong, she runs to get her baby doll b/c it means her baby is hungry.
She is quite the little momma - to her baby.

I'm sure things will change once Cannon is a little older. When Cannon was only 2 wks Izzy was helping me put lotion on him and she dropped the lotion bottle on him & not only did he cry, he got a scratch and I'm pretty sure it terrified Izzy that she hurt him. We have reassured her it was ok, but to that sweet little 4yr old she's afraid it may happen again.

1 Month

2011-07-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

I had been preparing myself to deal with postpartum after the arrival of Cannon. I just wasn't sure how my body would react after having a 4th child. Or living life with four. To my surprise I have been fine, until today. Cannon is exactly one month old. However, I wouldn't call it postpartum, just life moving faster than I want. Only have 11 more months and he'll be one! I know it's silly, but to this momma it kinda makes me sad. I do kinda laugh at myself and remind myself of the line in the movie When Harry Met Sally.

Sally: AND, I'm gonna be forty.
Harry: When?
Sally: Someday.
Harry: In eight years.

But accepting reality and....

Loving that we have a healthy, precious, bundle of joy, Cannon, our one month old. And trying to soak every moment up that I can.

4th of July

2011-07-05T14:42:00.001-07:00

This year to celebrate the 4th of July we backed the cars out of the carport and pressure washed it clean. Made a few trips to the store, there is always something I forget no matter how many times I go over the list. Got bunches of burgers & dogs and fired up the grill. Then we had our small group as well as some neighbors over for some food & fun.

This little guy wasn't going to let us have fun without him, he stayed awake most of the day.

All the kids had a blast playing football, bubbles, and drawing with sidewalk chalk until....

the downpour! We didn't have an umbrella big enough, so Ben grabbed some plastic to take the neighborhood kids home. Wish I had taken a video instead :)

After playing in the rain for a bit, little missy decided she needed to change clothes and add her rain boots to her wardrobe.

What do you do when the rain starts falling? You break out some board games.

Wish I had a picture of all four kids together, but I'll take what I can get. It was a great time of fellowship. Then to top it off some close friends of ours came over for dinner & we were able to load up 7 kids and 4 adults and go watch the fireworks - Thunder on the Mountain. Good times I tell ya, good times.

Sleep fighter

2011-07-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

I really thought baby #4 would be "go with the flow". We have good days, but we also have the not so good. Cannon LOVES to be held and sometimes that is the only thing that will stop the crying. Why does he cry so much the big kids ask? Well, he fights sleep. Boy does he fight sleep! Good thing is he only fights it during the day - he's a great night time sleeper, most of the time anyway. During the days of his fighting sleep with all the loud crying it means this momma is holding and rocking and bouncing and rocking and.....you get the picture. All that means momma is tending to a baby and not getting to interact with the other three like they are used to. Not to worry though, they have found some pretty creative ways to entertain themselves.

Then after a day where momma has tried and tried to get the baby to sleep with no success, dad comes home and this happens.

Drive In

2011-07-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

We are a family that loves movies. However, I don't like paying the price for the theater so we are big fans of Netflix. We also take advantage in the summer of the free movies every week at the Rave. Thing is both Neflix & summer free movies are all older movies. This summer there have been some new releases that the kids just couldn't wait to see. Like Mr. Popper's Penguins, which we went to see. Then Cars 2 came out. Instead of heading back to the theater we took a different approach and went to the drive-in. Much cheaper and I think more fun.

In honor of the movie I packed everyone a bag of popcorn in their very own Cars bag.

We quickly got our chairs set up and just had to wait a short time for the sun to set & movie to start.

Yes, at almost a month old, Cannon has now been to two movies.

The closer drive-in to us is the one in Argo, which only has one screen. Harpersville has two. That means double feature for us :) The two older boys made it through Cars 2, but Izzy & Cannon fell asleep. The next movie was Green Lantern. We made the decision to stick around even though it was starting at 10:30. Some of us stayed awake till the end, but some of us didn't make it (like those of us who get up several times a night to feed a baby).

Oobleck

2011-06-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

My mom has been a great asset in supplying my homeschooling classroom with wonderful workbooks, reading books and manipulatives as well as educational advice. As of this past May she is now a retired school teacher. Which means those past few weeks of school she was cleaning out and packing boxes of things to bring to me :)

She came down for a visit and brought this. A box of Borax. Never heard of it? Neither had I. What do you do with this??? Besides laundry?

You make Oobleck.

1/2 c glue
1/2 c water
food coloring
stir
1/2 c water
1 t Borax
stir
mix together

It's kinda like silly putty and you can make it any color you wish. Something new, something fun and something the kids could help make. Win!

We also added in a little science lesson, placed a raw egg in a cup added some vinegar and waited for it to turn into a rubber egg. Pretty cool stuff!

Not Me Monday

2011-06-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

I did NOT buy the smelly soap so I would know when my kids walked in the room that they had washed their hands. Never know where their hands have been and they can't keep those little paws off new little brother.

First Outing

2011-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Amazing at the difference in how this momma has acted with her first child verses her fourth. With Carter I was particular about who held him, how they held them, making sure everyone who even walked in the same room as we were washed their hands and so on.... Even though Carter was only a month old when we moved from Kentucky back to Alabama I'm not sure I had him out of the house before we hit the road to move back. Cannon however had his first offical outing at 2 wks old. This is not counting doctor visits of course.

So where did we go? To the movies :) Yes, I'm the crazy momma that took her newborn to the movies. However, I did take some help along, my mom a.k.a. Gigi was here for a short visit. I've mentioned before that Caden LOVES Penguins. So this was a must see and I was told he just couldn't wait any longer.
If your wondering if it was a good movie, I absolutely loved it! As did the kids.
Cannon did wonderful. It was a matinee so there weren't a lot of people there. He did wake up one time, but once he ate he was back asleep. A nice cool dark theater, perfect for a first outing in the middle of summer.

Father's Day

2011-06-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Carter saw this shirt and had to have it for Ben. We tried for four hand prints, but Cannon just wouldn't open that newborn hand up, so we had to go with the footprint.

Love this crew!

First Two Weeks

2011-06-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

The "big kids" stayed with grandparents while Ben & I were at the hospital welcoming Cannon. After coming by the hospital for a couple of visits they took a little vacation of their own. Orange Beach! They also went and stayed several days at my parents house in Florence where I think they were on the go non-stop! So thankful for our families :) The kids had a blast and momma and daddy got to get some rest and a little bit of an adjustment time.

Now that we are all reunited again, this is how I usually find everyone when Cannon is awake (and even when he's not). They just can't love on him enough.

Before our new arrival all three kids were talking about how they wanted to feed the new baby. Especially Izzy, she has been practicing on all her baby dolls. Once Cannon arrived they were a little disappointed when they found out I was going to nurse, which by the way was a fun conversation with oh so many questions :) After I got several sad little faces I went on a hunt for bottles that I had kept from Isabel. Cannon got to have his first bottle feeding by his three big siblings. It's just one bottle so we all had to take a turn - Cannon wasn't a big fan, but he was a great sport!

Cannon Benjamin DeLoach

2011-06-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 6th at 3:13 pm we welcomed our 4th child into this world. A boy! I am now the proud mom of 3 boys and 1 girl.

I am not big fan on the fancy, frilly outfits that some choose to put their newborns in for a coming home outfit. However, I did want each of my children to have something special. My mom has made each of the kids their very own coming home outfit.

Pslam 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

We do have one hurdle we are dealing with right now. Jaundice. When we left the hospital last Wed. his Bilirubin count was 10. Had our first car ride which unfortunately was to the doctor's office on Friday and his count was up to 17. We now have to be "under the light" unless he is eating. A home health nurse comes daily and checks his weight, temperature, and takes his blood to get a current bilirubin count. Yesterday, Sunday 12th, it was down just a little to 14.4. Praying for our little guy that when the nurse calls this afternoon it will be lower than that and we can get rid of the "light bed".

Spelling of the name

2011-06-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

So I should have been more specific in my post about boy names. We both liked the name Canon/Cannon, but Ben liked the spelling Canon and after I really thought about it I really liked the two n's in the middle - Cannon. Something we never really talked about till his arrival. I had made a hospital door decor that would display both a boy or girl name. As soon as I found out it was a boy, I had it hanging on the door. That's when Ben noticed the spelling of the name. Neither Ben or I was willing to "give in" on our way of spelling so we had to come up with another way to decide. On a sheet of paper I wrote the names Canon and Cannon 5 times each. We cut each out and folded appropriately then placed in a bag. Around that same time we had some friends visiting us in the hospital, so we had their kids each draw out a piece of paper. Five names were drawn in all and four of the five were the Cannon spelling. At least we agreed on the name. :)

Door Decor

2011-06-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Not sure when or where the start of the hospital door decor began, but with all three DeLoach babies I felt the need to display something outside my hospital door after the baby's arrival. On all three occasions in the past I called my step mother-in-law as soon as the baby arrived and she had something cute on the door asap! This time however I'm going a different route. I had a friend who made her own door decor that she took with her to the hospital. What a great idea! I love to get crafty! She made an adorable shag wreath.

I wanted to go with something a little different, but something simple at the same time. I came up with this.....Welcome Picture Frame

First thing I did was pick out a few pieces of scrapbook paper that were for the most part gender neutral.

Then I found an old frame that I had around the house.

Since we don't know boy or girl and I wanted to have the baby's name displayed I got both pink & blue paper to display the name.

There are not many projects that I start and don't have this little guy nearby.

I made several pinwheels from the gender neutral scrapbook paper and hot glued them onto the frame. Also added the solid brown background & some matching ribbon at the top. Hopefully the way I attached the ribbon it will hang with no problem on the hospital door.

Then I cut out a few squares again from my pile of scrapbooking paper, attached them to a small brown ribbon, added some letter stickers and secured it to the frame.

I have both boy and girl names that we have picked out made and ready to add to the frame, but you'll have to come back to find out if it's the blue or pink that's displayed :)

Look A Like

2011-05-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

A common phrase that our middle son hears often is "you look just like your daddy." I didn't think much about it, since he really does look like Ben. The dark hair and dark eyes are something he does not get from his momma.

This phrase has never seemed to bother Caden until recently. I honestly think he is just tired of hearing it. The other night Ben and I were sitting on the couch and Caden got right in Ben's face and asked the question, "why does everyone think I look like you?" Then he proceeded that question with, but you don't have a freckle on your ear & I do, I don't have scruffies (stubble) on my face & you do. But the best of all was when Caden said, I don't have wrinkles on my face & you do! We had to explain that looking like someone doesn't mean every little detail is the same. He seemed to be ok with looking like his daddy after that.

Field Day

2011-05-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Overall I believe our first year homeschooling was a success. Lots of ups and downs and honestly I probably learned more about myself than anything this year. I have LOVED being able to teach my children and just spend time with them without rushing out the door everyday and the stress that can have on a momma & children. I remember the year before well - as I tried to get one to kindergarten and the other two plus myself to preschool/work on time. I know it is truly a blessing that I am able to stay home and teach my children. Big shout out here to my hubby who works very hard to allow that to happen!

One of the ways we celebrated the end of the year was by setting up a field day with some other home school friends.
We made t-shirts.

And played lots and lots of games! Thanks to one of the mom's sister, who has a masters in Physical Ed. She planned a day full of games for the kids.

The kids had an absolute blast!

Not Me Monday

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I do NOT think it is absolutely wonderful that my kids love to play outside with just dirt and sticks.

On A Saturday

2011-05-21T18:50:00.001-07:00

On My Fridge

On My Couch

On My Nightstand

On My To Do List

Not Me Monday

2011-05-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have NOT changed my thought on "I think we're having a girl" to "I'm pretty sure it's a boy" At 35 wks for some reason I am really feeling boy. Hints why I'm a little frazzled we don't have a finalized boy name picked out yet.

Baby Names

2011-05-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Time is approaching faster and faster it seems to the due date of baby DeLoach #4. No, I still have NOT looked in the envelope nor has my husband caved and told me boy or girl. I am getting things ready as much as possible, but I'm also trying not to be too crazy with my nesting. I made a to do list several weeks back that I would love to have completed by my wonderful husband before June, but due to the tornadoes, all his focus has had to go to cutting trees for neighbors. My list has been put on hold. I'm trying to put things into perspective and be ok with my list not being completed. This has been a challenge for me as it has shown my selfish sin full force.

One thing Ben and I have tried to finalize is what to name the baby. Since I don't know the gender we had to come up with one of each.

The girl name was easy. We wanted an "I" name to go with Isabel and honestly there aren't many choices. We quickly decided on Ivy. All of our children have family middle names and when thinking of something to go along with Ivy, we came up with my grandmother's name of Varie. So Ivy Varie DeLoach, check, we surprisingly both fully agree.

What about a boy's name? Still not 100%. We are going with the "C" name to go along with Carter & Caden. Didn't really realize that both boys were "Ca" names until trying to think of something else to go with them. Now we have really limited ourselves to agreeing with a boy name that starts with "Ca". That threw a lot of boy names we were considering at first out the window. Like Connor, Colt, Colby, some of Ben's favorites that I didn't like to begin with - not too upset those got thrown out. Back to thinking of just "Ca" names we narrowed it down to two - Cash and Camp. I love BOTH of them. Ben I think was settling for both. So we kept researching and I stumbled upon Cannon. Not too crazy about that way of spelling, but Canon was one we both would consider. Which means - A canon (from the Latin canonicus, itself derived from the Greek , kanonikós, "relating to a rule", "regulary") is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule (canon). Also, Canon law is the body of laws and regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. However, IF, and I put that in capital letters because Canon is not written down as the final name, but I'm thinking since we do have - Carter man, Caden bug, and Izzy boo - Canon may become Canon ball (even though that spelling is cannon). Not sure I'm too crazy or even ok with that nickname.

Here's my challenge....if you have a suggestion of a boy's name that starts with a "Ca", please send it my way - still open to options.

Little Chaos

2011-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since the last post, so let me briefly recap the past few days (week)....
Most everyone knows of the storms that hit Alabama last Wed. April 27th. Ben and I woke up early that morning, around 5 a.m., to the winds, thunder and rain that was quickly followed by the power going out. Ben had a speaking engagement that morning around 7 a.m. so as he headed out the door for that I gathered the kids and a bag of clothes. We headed to Gardendale where my father-in-law lives who has a basement. That night around 6 p.m. as everyone except Ben's step sister was sitting in the living room we watched on t.v. the tornado heading straight for Tuscaloosa, AL. Thing is Tuscaloosa's Hobby Lobby is where Ben's step-sister was at that very moment. The house got a little chaotic as Ben's step-mom was trying to reach her daughter. Thankfully she, along with all her co-workers, were fine. The store and their vehicles a different story. Only God gets that glory.

The next day Ben and I came back home to East Lake to a dark house, but a house that had NO damage. The afternoon storm had just missed EL, the morning storm however had done enough damage that we are still cleaning up today.

Our neighbors (and I don't just mean the ones right next door) had several trees on houses, in yards and on streets. Not to mention all the debris everywhere. We were out of power for 4 days total and lost most food in the fridge/freezer, but just a small thing compared to what others are facing. So yes, we have been busy with helping neighbors, but it's been such a blessing to be able to meet these neighbors that otherwise we probably would not have met. The Lord is really using this tragedy for HIS glory here in East Lake and I am thankful to be a small part of that. Our prayer is these relationships will go beyond cutting up trees.

Oh and one more little thing happened this week

Yeah, that's not a new van, it's a rental. At 34 wks this prego momma & her three little ones had a wreck last Friday. Bummer! Thankfully it really wasn't that bad and no one was hurt.

Not Me Monday

2011-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

When out and about and the day is shown on my face I do NOT use my lipstick as blush when I need a little color to the checks.

Thunder

2011-04-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Why Louisville and why this particular week? Three words. Thunder Over Louisville. It's the largest fireworks show in North America. Thunder is the kickoff to the two weeks of celebrations for the Kentucky Derby. Some people love Thunder while others stay far away from the crowds (estimated attendance is half a million people). They shoot the fireworks off the 2nd street bridge as well as two barges - one on each side of the bridge. Sure you can watch the fireworks on TV or from inside a building, BUT you have to FEEL the fireworks. They actually pound your chest & vibrate under your feet. Absolutely one of my favorite 28 min. shows ever!

This year we decided to bring the kids so that meant I had to do a little more research on where to stay & what to do. Most years are colder than they are warmer. To get a great seat for the show you have to get there early. I was NOT going to sit for hours outside in the cold with three little ones. Even though there is an air show that starts at 3:00, there was just NO WAY.

Here is how our thunder experience turned out. After checking several downtown hotels, which were outrageously expensive, I found the perfect deal for our family with the Louisville Science Center then booked a cheaper hotel about 15 min. away. We are members at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, which got us member status at LSC. The Thunderblast Package as they called it, got us a guaranteed parking spot (Ben said that was his favorite part) as well as the perfect viewing spot under the interstate in the science center parking lot.

Yes it was a little breezy down there, but the great thing was we didn't have to stay there the whole time. We had wrist bands that allowed us access to the Science Center inside where it was nice and warm. We arrived around 1:00 to check-in and then starting at 2:00 they had different science experiments and crafts inside the center and outside down at the parking lot. The kids got to do things like make their own origami hats.

Make their own helicopters and then "fly" them off the balcony.

Plus, since we have never been to this science center every exhibit was new to us. The third floor was full of just how the human body works. Caden said his favorite was this particular bone exhibit. It showed just what bones you are using when you workout.

There was also plenty of different exhibits to have a hands on building experience.

I wasn't able to take pictures of our entire day, but we also got to see experiments like a mentos/coke explosion, elephant toothpaste, exploding hydrogen balloons, and how fireworks get their colors. We also had a wonderful meal provided right before we sat down to view the fireworks. So we came to be entertained by fireworks and we got to be entertained while we waited! I didn't even try to take a picture myself of the fireworks, we were too busy, however I will provide you with this from the thunder website.

Doesn't do it justice, but maybe you can get just a glimpse of why I love thunder. Even after having a great parking spot, a great view of the show, and being able to stay inside most of the day, we still had to face the fact that we would have to drive back to the hotel with all the other thousands of people. Or did we? NOPE. I signed us up for the late viewing of the IMAX movie Sharks. To this momma it was a long day, but the perfect thunder experience. My favorite part....the inside bathrooms ;) No porta-potty germs for us!

Spring Break

2011-04-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

Over the past school year I have added to my "pro list" for homeschooling. Again something I never thought I would have. The most recent addition is the fact that I can pick when we have breaks. Specifically Spring Break. Ben and I lived in Louisville, KY for 3 years while he attended Southern Seminary. Ben and I have some great memories of L'ville so this year we decided to take the kids for a visit. Carter was actually born there, but we moved back to AL when he was about a month old.

The main reason for our visit (and why I loved the fact that I could pick our break week) I'll explain in another blog post, but here are today's adventures.
First thing was the Louisville Slugger Museum. Ben's dad had told the kids to make sure they saw the big bat. So from the moment we left Birmingham on Thursday morning to the moment we woke up this morning, they wanted to go see the bat. I know it's not a great picture of the kids, but I had to post this particular picture for Grandaddy. The kids wanted to make sure he saw the picture of them & the big bat.

Next on our to do list today was the Louisville Zoo. We drove in the parking lot as the rain started to fall. Change of plans. Even though it was an hour and 1/2 drive, we decided to head to Newport, KY to the Newport Aquarium.

This is why we drove yet another hour and half. Yes, penguins. They have penguins at the Louisville Zoo, but.....

you can't PET the penguins there!

If you know Caden, you know his LOVE for these animals. It was so worth the drive!

This Aquarium is one of the best around. The kids had a blast and yeah mom & dad had some fun too!

We ended the day by driving into Cincinnati, OH to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. Buca di Beppo, which is located in L'ville, but also Cincinnati which was about 10 minutes from the aquarium. Buca has one table in the kitchen of the restaurant and then all the rest in the main eating area. Over three years Ben and I were not able to get reservations to eat at the kitchen table, but tonight our family of 5 had the privilege of eating at the coveted kitchen table at Buca. Wonderful day, now to go get some rest for our big day tomorrow!

U Pick

2011-04-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Last fall we took a field trip to Sunshine Farms to visit the pumpkin patch. As we were driving home Carter said he read a sign that said you could pick strawberries in April and he wanted to come back. Ok son, sure thing, however that thought never ran across my mind again.

About two weeks ago we were changing our school calendar from March to April. First thing out of Carter's mouth was....MOM! It's April! We can go pick strawberries!!! I couldn't disappoint, so today we took another field trip.

Only directions - grab your bucket and go. And go they did!

The strawberries were a plenty. The hard part, just which ones do you pick?

I have never had such melt in your mouth strawberries. Can't get fresher than right off the vine and not to mention the warmth from the sun. Oh....they were so good!

Three buckets full later we were on our way home :) Thanks for the reminder Carter. It was a great day.

How to help

2011-04-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

I honestly don't feel like I have done a lot in the community since moving to East Lake. Of course it has only been 7 months and I am prego with my 4th while I home school my other 3. However, I want to be ministering where and when I can - without neglecting my wife & motherly duties. I know there is a lot of responsibility I have right now with supporting my husband and discipling our children, but I pray for ways that I can minister to those in our community as well. Something that goes along with discipling our children, is seeing how we minister to others.
Ben teaches once a week at the LoveLady Center not far from our home. I am not able to go with him each week, but I do try and go when I can. There is one lady who I met awhile back who was pregnant at the time and just going through a tough time in her life. Just needing some guidance. Ben and I sat down with her and talked with her about some of her "issues" and then proceeded to connect her with the Lovelady Center, where she now lives with her baby. Ben was able to meet with her today and found out that she isn't able to afford to pay to do laundry. So today that is my ministry to her.

It may be a little thing and a chore I do daily, but it's how this mom is ministering to another mom in need. That simple.

Not Me Monday

2011-04-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

You will NOT find me carrying around a cup full of crushed ice at all times nowadays. I just can't seem to get enough!

*Side Note - Sonic sells their ice in bags for $2 ;)

Memory

2011-04-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned before that our family is a lover of games. Since that post we have added to our collection, but an all time favorite we pull out of the closet is Memory. Ben and I aren't the biggest sports fans, but my sister however is - hints the SEC matching game. A gift she gave the boys years ago.

Even though the name of the game is Memory, my boys have named it something else. Dirty Feet. It took us awhile to figure out why in the world they would say they wanted to play dirty feet and return from the closet with this particular game. Then we discovered this....

Notice anything? Yes, that's a dirty foot on the Mississippi State Bulldog. Since there are two that match, the boys gave it the name "dirty feet game", which we still call it today.

Carter asked for a game called, Loopz for Christmas. Yet another memory game, just a little more high tech with music involved. It hasn't replaced the SEC dirty feet game, but does have more action. The boys love to play matching games and I honestly think it's because most of the time they both beat mom & dad - and no we don't let them win (all the time).

I've talked about the boys loving the memory games and Isabel does want to play sometimes. However last time while we were playing Loopz, she was more into entertaining. She grabbed her a footstool and flashlight & sang us some tunes. :)

Not Me Monday

2011-04-04T14:07:00.001-07:00

I DO NOT get giddy when I sit down with my Publix sales ad for the week and all my coupons. I love to see how much I can save!
I also DO NOT have a special cutter so I can cut out all my coupons quicker.

Hospitality

2011-03-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

What is hospitality? Wikipedia says - the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers...

I've always thought I was a hospitable person. I really do enjoy having people in my home. I don't mind the cleaning or the fixing of snacks or even a full course meal. Since moving into our East Lake home last Oct. Ben and I made the decision that Monday nights would be our hospitality night. Each week we invite people into our home either from the neighborhood or from our faith family who are interested in serving or moving to East Lake. We also take time about with others hosting small group in our home on Thurs. nights as well as a few weekend mornings hosting small groups from Brook Hills. This past Sunday morning, we hosted (including lunch) 16 adults and 22 children. I have to say it turned out great! Little chaotic, but great!

Through this I have learned something about myself. I really do enjoy having people in our home, BUT.... on my terms. I set when people come over therefore I enjoy every minute of the process. Living in this community sometimes when there is a knock at my door, it's unexpected, I didn't plan or invite for that knock to be. Ben works with several people from the neighborhood and brings them into our home sometimes with only a 5 minute notice to his wife. I don't get upset or start to panic (we'll ok sometimes or most of the time I do - let's be honest here). However, the 5 minute "warning" is something I'm getting used to and if Ben can give more of a heads up he will. Thing is much of the "poverty culture" is spur of the moment. There is no planning that takes place. I am a planner - a month in advance planner. All these situations have really made me realize something about myself. I see my pride. My selfishness. My day is now interrupted. Past few times it's right at dinner time when we'll have a surprise guest. Therefore I'm scrounging to put something together for us to all eat. Not something anyone requires or even asks for, but as the wife/homeowner I feel it's my responsibility. They are in my home, it's dinner time and I want to serve. Even though I want to be hospitable it's NOT my attitude. I try to hide it, but sometimes I don't think I do a very good job at hiding the frustration.

I also have a very nice, big, well functioning kitchen that I said I "needed" when we bought the house. My wonderful husband worked with me and I got this.

It really has been wonderful to have when cooking for lots of people or just having the room to hold lots of people to stand around and socialize. Thing is I have offered the use of my kitchen to others in the neighborhood. Trying to be hospitable. Thinking it would be on my terms when they use it. Hasn't been the case. Yes, I have said no when they call & ask if they can cook in my kitchen, but I can't say no every time. One afternoon after hours of cooking, I was getting tired, we were having great conversation, but my mind went here....I have dinner to put on the table, baths to give, house to clean up, and kids to get in the bed and "you" are still in my kitchen cooking at 7:00pm (you got here at 2:00!). Why can't "you" go to "your" own apt. with "your" stove. Right after that this entered my mind.... in "your" apt. where there is no conversation, prob. no one to listen to what "you" have to say, and no love shown "your" way. Something I was also trying to provide, even though it was getting harder for me as the hours went by.

So at 9 p.m. when we're finally done for the day and my kitchen sink looks like this

My hospitality attitude, well it just down right stinks.
So I pray. Pray that I realize my pride, my selfishness. Pray I realize my blessings and how I am to show the love of Christ, to everyone, even when my sinfulness shows it's ugly face.

Painting

2011-03-29T14:53:00.001-07:00

It doesn't happen very often, but Ben and I try to take each child and have one on one time with each. We absolutely treasure these moments. A couple of weekends ago, even though it wasn't one on one Ben took both boys camping and Isabel and I did our thing. I have heard stories about the camping trip, but I don't have pictures. I'm sure it was a wonderful time as they have already asked when they can go back.

What I do know is what Isabel and I's time consisted of. She loves to shop - even if it's at Publix. One of her favorite stores is Hobby Lobby, so off we went. They had canvas on sale this particular week so I had to buy one, ok several. In my spare time (I laugh as I typed that) I love to paint on canvas. In our kitchen I have 3 KJD originals.

While we were going up and down the aisles of paint, paint brushes and every other crafty thing imaginable Isabel said she wanted to paint a picture like mommies. We made our purchase and headed home - after stopping off for some yummy dinner first. There may have been an ice cream stop too :)

If you know Izzy her favorite color is pink, so what else to paint, but a pink flamingo. I drew her a picture and she went to town. I call it a mommie and me painting, because even though she did all the green & pink - I did go back and add a few blue polka dots.

It was a wonderful girly canvas painting weekend!

Not Me Monday

2011-03-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have NOT started "nesting". I have NOT cleaned out every clothes drawer in our bedroom and both kids bedrooms and organized ALL the clothes. I also did NOT clean out and organize all kitchen cabinets. NOT all in the same day. I also do NOT plan on organizing all the kids books before the day is over. NOT this pregnant mom who is now 29 wks and counting.

Not Me Monday

2011-03-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

To keep finances in line Ben and I made our monthly budget together, but I am the one who keeps it all in order. I am NOT so OCD that I have to balance to the penny every week.

Hometown Visit

2011-03-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Ben and a few friends took some neighborhood guys camping. After we packed them up and sent them on their way, the kids and I took a little trip of our own. We headed to my hometown, Florence, AL to visit my parents a.k.a. Gigi & PopPop.

One place that we always seem to find ourselves during our visits is Trowbridge's. They have the best hot dogs & ice cream around!

We also got to visit with my grandparents (great grandparents) a.k.a. Meme & Gran Gran.

The kids always know that Gran Gran has a "ticket" in his pocket for them so they can go spend it at the Dollar Tree. Which they want to do immediately after receiving the money.

Florence is where Ben and I met - The University Of North Alabama. They are one of the few colleges that have live mascots on campus. The UNA Lions. What kid can resist going to see real lions? Although, I think the kids like playing on the lion statues just as much seeing the real lions.

To top off the weekend, since my dad had work on Saturday, he let the boys shoot cans with the BB gun. What a great ending to a great weekend!

The bad guy

2011-03-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

The boys were playing in the backyard and making a fort/castle with bricks & sticks. They decided they needed a few more toys, but didn't want to come all the way back inside. So what was the obvious thing for big brothers to do, ask/tell their sister to go inside to get what they wanted. They had all their good action figures - batman, iron man, spider man, etc. So they told Izzy to go get a bad guy. This is who she brought back.

If you aren't sure of just who this bad guy is, he is Swiper the Fox. The "bad guy" from Dora the Explorer. Not really who the boys had in mind, but to Izzy that's the meanest guy around. Love it!

Date Night

2011-03-14T20:07:00.001-07:00

Being married to a minister is a 24 hour, 7 day a week job. If he gets a call at 9 pm that needs his attention then he may have to put our family on hold for a moment. If we have plans to all head to the zoo on dad's "off day", but a member of our faith family dies and Ben needs to be there for the family or to participate in the funeral service then plans change accordingly. Two examples just from this past week.
Even though ministry can be demanding, family is really important to Ben and I and therefore we make specific times to spend together. One of the specific things Ben and I do as a couple is at least once a month we have a date night. We try for the same weekend each month, but again that has to be flexible. Some months he picks, some I pick, but most we decide together. This particular weekend I picked and Ben just went along with it. We found a new wonderful little dessert place at Brookwood Village called YOLO. Wonderful Gelato and cupcakes!

I'm all about themes and things going together, but this date didn't even come close to that and that was ok - this time :) So after the nice uppity dessert place these were a little more fitting to where we were headed next.

PBR - Professional Bulling Riding competition at the BJCC! I love to watch bull riding on tv and therefore when I found out it was coming to town I jumped on it.

The goal, stay on for 8 seconds. Most didn't, but what fun watching them try. Then getting to chear them on if they did.

What was the most entertaining you ask? I think Ben would even agree, the bulls! If they didn't want to come out of the gate they would just lay down. If the bulls decided they didn't want to go back inside the gate after the 8 seconds, they would prance around the ring. That's when the cowboy would come after the bull on his horse to lasso him in.

Even though great entertainment (to me anyway) it was a little slow at times. Made me realize why I like watching it on tv, I have a remote. It also made me really want to attend a Rodeo. May have do a little more convincing of getting Ben to attend that one with me.

Not Me Monday

2011-03-14T15:49:00.001-07:00

I do not keep post-it notes in my purse for the sole purpose of covering the sensor on the automatic toilets. My 3 yr old tells me it can be scary when that potty flushes before your ready.

Free Books

2011-03-11T20:09:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love books - kids books. I wish I had that love for other books as well, but I don't. Those who know me know I don't "enjoy sitting down with a good book" as I so often hear people refer to it, but I do enjoying reading to the kids. I am always flipping through a Scholastic magazine and circling a bunch of different books to order or find myself browsing through a book store in the kids section. I do love the library, but I also don't like to give the books back - I want them on my shelf so we can read them over and over again. My flaw of always wanting to purchase the books has a disadvantage being the cost factor. Which brings me to this find. I had known about this program for awhile, but didn't qualify where we lived before. Now we do ;) Dolly Parton has a program to encourage reading called Dolly Parton's Imagination Library USA that is partnered with the Junior League of Birmingham. You go online to sign-up for your free books according to your kids age then every month you receive your free book. Simple as that. The boys are too old, but Isabel absolutely loves when Mr. Terry (everyone knows there mailman by name...right?) brings her a new book to read. This was our book for March.

Not Me Monday

2011-03-05T12:55:00.001-08:00

We did NOT have a totally lazy rainy day Saturday! The kids did NOT love the fact that momma let them get toys out and then get something else out, before putting the first thing up. Then momma did NOT totally regret that decision come bed time.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

2011-03-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday today I wanted to share this poem from a friend of mine's blog. She did a wonderful job!

How the Grinch Stole Toomer's Corner

Inspired by recent news on the campus of Auburn University, I wrote this story, adapted from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss:

Every Who down in Auburn liked Toomer's a lot...

But the Grinch, who lived just north of Auburn, did NOT!

The Grinch hated Auburn! The whole football season!

Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, his houndstooth shoes were too tight.
But I think the most likely reason of all
May have been that his brain was two sizes too small.

But,
Whatever the reason,
His brain or his shoes,
He stood there on Toomer's Corner, hating the Whos,
Staring down with a sour, Grinchy frown
At the happy festivities there in their town.
Every Who down in Auburn was celebrating now...
An Iron Bowl win. SEC Championship-bound.

"They roll all these trees!" he snarled with a sneer.
"And their Auburn spirit just grows...it always begins here!"
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find some way to stop that spirit from coming!"

For, soon, he knew...

All the Who girls and boys
Would rush Toomer's Corner,
Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! NOISE!

So he loaded some herbicide on his ramshackle truck
And headed for the plains,
Where the Whos were planning roast Duck.

The Toomer's oak trees bore a long-standing mission:
Wearing toilet paper after each victory. A tradition.
A symbol of all that the college holds dear,
A place for rejoicing, a place for good cheer.

But the Grinch slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around Toomer's oaks
With a chemical "present."

"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
"They'll find out soon that no spirit is coming!"
"I'll call Paul Finebaum, that's what I'll do!
"I'll brag on the radio! They'll all cry! BOO-HOO!"

"That's a noise..." grinned the Grinch,
"That I simply MUST hear!"
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he DID hear a sound rising over the plains.
It started in low...then...loud as steam trains:

Every Who down in Auburn, the tall and the small, was singing!
Without any oak trees at all.

He HADN'T stopped the Auburn spirit from coming. It CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same.

And the Grinch, now in custody with nowhere to go, stood puzzling and puzzling:
"How could it be so?"
"It came without toilet paper! It came without oaks!"
"It came without Bammers and Cam Newton jokes!"
And he puzzled for hours, locked up in a cell, serving time for his crime, as far as we can tell.

A federal offense is crossing the line.
We hope he stays there for a mighty long time.
We may never know if the Grinch in this tale
Changes his heart, sensing his epic fail.
Even if he did...short of a miracle from above,
It's prob'ly too late to save those trees that we love.

BUT...

Though the Whos down in Auburn grieve the trees they once knew, the Auburn spirit lives on --

Fearless and true.

--- by Jennifer Farris

Not Me Monday

2011-02-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

I do NOT keep all our movies in alphabetical order.

Cravings

2011-02-25T09:15:00.001-08:00

I have had many different cravings with each pregnancy. It's not just the cravings that change though, I have found that I start liking different things - things that I never liked before.

Carter - Cantaloupe. Yes, Ben had to make 10pm runs to the store for cantaloupe. This was the craving for the whole 9 months. I think I ate mountains of them!

Caden - Honey Roasted Peanuts. Would eat a large container in about 2 days, yes I'll admit it, all by myself. Never liked nuts by themselves or even in things before Caden's pregnancy.

Isabel - Steak. Diet Sunkist. Ice (surprised I didn't break a tooth from all the crunching). Even though I had to take Iron pills with all three, I think my iron level was the lowest with Izzy - just going on the cravings. Found out after she was born that crunching ice is a of symptom of anemia.

Baby #4 - OJ, Coffee, Almonds, and Cranberries. Never in my life have I liked or even tolerated any of these before the pregnancy. My biggest surprise is the OJ. I have to have a small glass as soon as I get up in the mornings and right before I head to bed.

Weird thing - all the cravings are gone as soon as the baby arrives, however my taste for the new items stay.

Working Weekend

2011-02-22T10:41:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was full of work. Storage building construction has begun.

Thanks so much to my dad & grandfather for coming down to help.

Weekend complete, storage building almost complete.

While the guys were working on the building I got this out for the kids.

Kids had no part of it, they wanted to work too. Boys loved nailing nails into the scrap wood that my dad brought down - left over from a carnival, obviously.

My mom, grandmother, & I were working on raking leaves...

then discovered the kids were getting into this....

caught "mud" handed....hand prints ALL over the walls

Not really helping with working in the yard

But having oh so much fun!!

Valentine Treats

2011-02-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from the 3 little DeLoach's!

Book-it

2011-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

I tried to think of different things to use this year in school that would be fun for the kids. One being the Book-it program. Such great memories from my own childhood. You remember, read so many books or so many hours a day and recieve you're very own personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.
Reading is something that is more of a challenge than any other subject for the boys, so to have this incentive works great. Since the first of the school year didn't go as I intended, January was our first month to complete the reading program. Carter was so excited to get his first free pizza ticket!

Not Me Monday

2011-02-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

I did not let the kids loose at craft time today so I could get some cleaning accomplished.

Help the poor

2011-02-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

The handwriting that I use for the boys in school is A Reason For Handwriting.

Every week we work on their handwriting skills & learn a different Bible verse. This week our verse was Proverbs 14:31. To help the poor is to honor God.

Most of my time is consumed with teaching, loving, and taking care of my children during the day. Most of Ben's time during the day is consumed with teaching, loving, and taking care of the needy in our neighborhood. I have had guilty feelings of living here in East Lake, but not being able to put the time into spending with my neighbors like I wanted. However, God has really opened my eyes to how my time right now is to be devoted to disciplining my kids and loving & encouraging my husband. It's taken a few months of struggling with my pride, but I think I'm finally getting there.
I am constantly praying for ways for God to use us as a family to minister in our neighborhood. Especially this week after learning our Proverbs 14:31 verse. So last night we had three people that are in poverty over to our home for dinner. Now these three were not individuals that we didn't know anything about, Ben has been working and meeting with them outside our home for a while now. Not just anyone from our neighborhood is welcome in our home. I say this not to be prideful, but we are very careful & cautious of who walks into our home.
Last night we were able to provide a home cooked meal (I actually cooked a home made meal from scratch, some of you are in disbelief I know) for some young men and a young lady that rarely ever have full stomachs. We had some great conversations, played cards, and finished the night off with some Wii boxing. My prayer is that the time we as a family spent with those in need last night would be a learning experience for our kids as well as honoring to God.

Space Month

2011-02-03T22:51:00.000-08:00

My first thoughts of home schooling my kids were not very optimistic ones, HOWEVER, I am absolutely loving it! My pro list is much longer than the con. I wasn't able to put everything I wanted into the first semester because of sickness with baby #4. The sickness subsided and January started a new semester. I was ready to hit the ground running.

Each month I have a specific theme, but each week looks a little different. January the theme was space/flight. The first book we read was The Glorious Flight from our FIAR. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but we also went on a field trip to the Flight Museum here in Birmingham.

As a last minute field trip we were able to attend a lesson at Samford's Planetarium.

I am all about crafts and up until now we haven't really gotten messy...until now
Hello, paper mache!

What made such a mess and what does it have to do with space/flight?

Space helmets of course! Along with some garbage bag space suits and...

...cereal box space packs.

We ended the month with a family field trip to Huntsville to the Space and Rocket Center.

The boys even got to climb on Mars.

and drive a space ship.

There were many other things that we studied and read about during our space month, but I just wanted to share a few of my favorites.

Homeschool Room

2011-02-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's taken a lot longer than I intended to get our home school room in order. There are still more things I would like to add - like pictures on the wall, but we'll get there.

Love, Love, Love my kidney shape table.

I know what your thinking, but No, we don't have "workshop" as apart of our day. We just don't have much storage space here compared to our garage and attic that we had before. We are working on building a storage building in the backyard. Until then...yes there is a table saw in front of my bookshelf. Don't go call DHR, it's unplugged and the blade is totally covered and secure.

Our classroom just wasn't complete without a classroom pet - Gracie the turtle. A pet we already had, but she has gotten so much bigger from when we brought her home.

Not Me Monday

2011-01-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

I did not drive all the way to the DMV to change the address on my drivers license, with three kids in tow, then wait about 30 minutes in line, to find out when I get to the counter that my current license is NOT in my purse! Then I did not return home and finally figure out that when I had received cash at the bank the week prior that I had left my license in the bank envelope with the cash, which was still on my dresser. I also did not drive without a license for a week. Gotta love pregnancy brain!

The Clip

2011-01-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago as the boys and I were having school in the classroom, Isabel brought me a bucket of buttons that she found on my shelf. She sweetly asked if she could take them in the dinning room and play with them to which I replied, of course. Something that would keep her occupied so the boys and I could focus and finish their school work - score! She played with all the buttons for awhile and then the boys even joined in on the fun. They even found a few things mixed in with all the buttons like some penny's and hair clips.
Then nap time came.
While I was attending to another matter, I went ahead and told Izzy to crawl into her bed and I would be there in just a moment to tuck her in. Not 2 min. went by and I heard "mommy....mommy....MOMMY" to not make her wait any longer I headed into her room. I had no longer gotten both feet in the doorway and she stared crying almost hysterical. I walked to her bedside and she said "I swallowed it". Swallowed it !?! Swallowed what, I asked, to which she replied "the clip". The clip that she had found in the button bucket that had two sparkly "diamonds" on it. She then told me she was trying to get one of the sparkly things out of the clip and the whole thing just went down. Oh the thoughts that went through this momma's mind. As I'm trying NOT to panic, I picked her up and felt her throat. I didn't know, it could have turned & gotten stuck (even if she was still breathing). I stripped her bed of everything thinking maybe she was just mistaken and the clip had fallen in the sheets. This momma was in almost panic mode here people. I was relieved that she was talking, crying, and most of all breathing, but WHAT do I do now? I call Ben, who was of course calm and said we would just watch her, he didn't think an emergency room visit was needed at that point. So that's what we did, waited. I of course googled it and everything I read said just wait 3 to 5 days and if by day 7 you haven't seen it go get an x-ray. That was assuming she was breathing, not vomiting and eating/drinking normally, which she was. So the waiting started. For 5 days the only thing I would let my child eat/drink was fiber one bars and apple juice with I think a McD's meal in there too (that seems to do the trick as well). Finally the night of day 5 we were greeted with the clip again. It wasn't fun finding the clip or all the many times we had to check for the clip before it made it's appearance, but hey that's part of parenthood right. The clip wasn't as big or long as I had remembered, which is a good thing, because the return of the clip wasn't a painful issue. Crazy how your mind will remember things. If your wondering, it was about 2". Being a momma is full of exciting adventures, even if some are a little nerve-racking. Love every moment, good and bad!

The question I've been getting...

2011-01-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

...what do I think we're having? So here are my thoughts.

A Girl. Why, you ask?

Wk 1 thru 13 major sickness - not sick at all with my boys, but a little with Isabel

Body odor - with Isabel my feet stunk something awful - this time it's not my feet, yet anyway, but after every shower my towel is "stank". My thinking is all the extra hormones. Thankfully that "stank" stays on the towel :)

Plus there is just a hope of a girl for the ease of things like -

The fact that I have kept all of my girl clothes, BUT have nothing blue

and finally

We live in a 3 bedroom home. The boys share a room and it would work out great for two girls to share as well.

That's my guess, but we all know that I will be totally happy with a boy or girl. Although, if it is a boy I'm having a little trouble in the name department.

Not Me Monday

2011-01-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

I did NOT give my 3 yr old the Parmesan cheese then leave the room.