Not Me Monday

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

Fall Break

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

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?

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

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

The Candy Corn

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

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

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

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

Gifts To Grow

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

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

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

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

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

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!