We won't be doing that again for awhile

Normally by this date on the calendar I would have consumed several Shamrock shakes from McD's. However, due to my latest (successful) endeavors at eating better and losing some pounds I have not had the craving to consume the "treat" that inevitably gives me a bloated, achy tummy. The cool, minty enjoyment only lasts so long and then I'm left with the, "why did I do that?" feeling. Still, I figured that was no reason to not treat the kids. Not wanting to break the bank, I asked Pete if he'd grill burgers at home and then we'd all go get Shamrock shakes. So last night after supper we loaded the kids into the van and teased them that we were going to the "spinach farm" for dessert and asked them what kind of toppings they would like on their spinach. As we were getting out of the van at McDonald's, Ella asked, "do we have to share?" I just laughed because our kids never get their own pop or shake or blizzard- we always make them share so I told them that everyone was getting their own. Pete gave me a funny look at that point and I should have known better than to give my children who are not used to that much sugar all at once their own shake, but I didn't. Getting to the point- back home we rushed through the shower routine because it was past bedtime. Pete washes little girls and hands them off to me to pajama. As I took care of Charlotte, fresh out of the shower, she puked all over herself and her rug. Back to the shower she went, carried by a mama feeling quite guilty for letting a 2 year old consume so muchfat and sugar. Daddy cleaned the room while the girls all waited, shivering, to get to their drawers for pj's and undies. I took all the non-washable lovies and babies out of beds and moved all toys away from potentially being showered with puke should anyone on an upper bunk decide she couldn't contain her dinner. Thankfully, the puking was a one time event and everyone seems fine this morning. Needless to say, they will probably be sharing shakes for many years to come!

I didn't think I could....

....love him anymore than I already do. But I do. In Africa God showed me my husband's strength in a whole new way. I was sad, overwhelmed, anxious, and exhausted. He was tender, patient, and kind. As I watched him interact with a son we just met, I was in awe of him. The Lord has blessed me with a man who ever longs to lead His family in the Word, who builds his wife up in spite of all of her imperfections and shortcomings. In His grace, God gave me a man who shows me Christ everyday.

Day Trip

Last Friday Pete took the day off work and we went to Michigan for the day to visit with my family, see some friends who just had another baby and see the "butterflies blooming" and other sights at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. Just thought I'd share some pictures of the day.




Sir Peter, the brave knight, slays a dragon to protect Lady Katherine and Lady Madeline.

















All of the kids except for Ella loved playing in the sand. Daddy so kindly held the shoes as he tried to figure out how to make one of these in our back yard. Yes we have a sand box, but this was a beautiful , natural looking sand play area.







The reason we came, to see the butterflies!







DaVinci's horse












We ended the day with supper at Cracker Barrel with my grandparents and Dan and Racine. Ella just loved great grandpa and great grandma. And as usual the kids couldn't get enough of Uncle Dan! Racine basically has no chance of getting near her husband when my kids (especially Kate and Maddie!) are around :)

Yesterday I took the kids on a clearance dishes buying adventure- they were thrilled. Okay, not really. But we are all very excited about our new dishes. We were down to 9 plates (4 from our original set and 5 plain white) which makes it very tricky for a family of 6 to have company without using paper plates.

Now if I had my way I'd have some really cool pottery type dishes. But lets be realistic here. I have small children. I am trying to train these small children to load and unload the dishwasher. So I chose Corelle. I always thought of Corelle as being the church kitchen dishes- slightly cheesy. But practicality wins again- am I getting old or what? They are very durable. They are thin so they stack SO nicely and I can fit tons of them in the dishwasher! Now here's the good part- the pattern that I chose, "Saffi" was just discontinued last week so they were HALF off!! That's why yesterday I had to drag all four of my kids to the outlet mall an hour away to get these dishes before they disappeared from the store. I now have enough dishes to serve 20 people from matching plates! One of the ladies in the store told me that in 17 years she has only broken 2 dishes!! So I'm sure these dishes will outlive my love for them.

Tropical Vacation

The Kalahari indoor waterpark resort in the Wisconsin Dells was our home away from home this past Monday through Wednesday. My parents met us there and the kids really enjoyed sharing this time with Grandpa and Grandma- and we really enjoyed their company and the help! We had a blast going on water slides, floating on the lazy river, eating, and sleeping. We definitely want to go back (we want to talk my sister and her husband into going next year) and we highly recommend the Kalahari to anyone in need of a REALLY fun getaway. We had a suite with a full kitchen so we prepared most of our own meals. The rooms were really nice- including a bathroom with a big shower (not the kind with a low ceiling that makes you feel like you're going to suffocate like a lot of hotels have) and seemingly very clean (one of my gripes about even some of the "nicer" hotels is they are often grungy). Another perk of homeschooling is that we were able to do this during the week when the resort was not very busy and the room rates were reduced significantly! Now it's back to real life- and winter! For a few days I got to forget about how cold it is outside.


Once she got used to the slides, Maddie couldn't get enough!





In spite of the fact that Kate has, in the last couple of months, developed a fear of the bath tub, she had no fear of the water at the park (a bit scary for mama)!




Peter loved all the slides and the wave pool, but spent a lot of time shivering and begging to go back to the hot tub, his favorite place.







Daddy relaxing with the babies





Grandpa imitating Ella's adorable nose scrunch




Yes, she ate the whole chocolate dipped cone of blue moon ice cream- she's a girl after her mama's heart!



And here's proof that my mom and I actually did go on this trip

Thursday I got going on the laundry bright and early. I got 3 loads done (if I atleast do 3 loads a day it remains a tolerable task although with this system I am never "caught up." Of course, even if you do get "caught up" with a big family you've got a basket full after everyone gets in their pj's!) and it sat for the rest of the day. Then my wonderful little workers sat and folded laundry and listened to Jonathan Park after the babies went to bed. It was a great time of working together while enjoying the exciting adventures of this Creation audio drama by Vision Forum.

Exploration Station

Yesterday we met some friends at a "museum" called Exploration Station. It's really more of an interactive play center. Everything is hands on, there are lots of costumes- the kids got to pretend to be everything from a dentist to a pilot to a shopper in a grocery store. It was a wonderful place to go to have some relief from cabin fever! Then we went to McDonald's for lunch. It always makes me laugh that the cleaning hands, getting situated at the table before the meal and then the potty visit/diaper changing after the meal takes longer than the actual meal! We don't usually buy happy meals, but this was a special day so I surprised them by saying yes when they asked if they could. As usual, the dumb, cheap toy entertained them for the afternoon as I took advantage of the fact that we were already out and dragged them to a few stores. Then they played with those silly things for the whole hour ride home and then again all morning today. I think next year for Christmas we should just get them all a happy meal toy!









My fabulous finds were Converse for Peter and Kate. I love those shoes, but since I'm old and have back and knee issues I can't really wear them anymore. I was thrilled to find pinkish red ones for Kate for $12 and camo ones for Peter for $5!!! And they are the real thing! I also got Kate a black velour skirt for next winter for $2. Love it when I go to Marshall's and find great deals!









Now we're just enjoying a Saturday morning at home. Getting laundry done and a little cleaning. Pete is off to do the grocery shopping for the next two weeks with Peter. Yes, my husband does most of the grocery shopping! It was hard for me to give up the control in that area, but he's gotten really good at it and calls me if he's not sure about something. We've just found that for this phase of our lives it works better for him to do it. It takes some muscle to get two weeks worth of groceries and diapers and he definitely has more of that than I do! So I'm thankful that he is so willing to take on the huge task of Walmart and Sam's on a Saturday!!







They spent a very long time in this pretend airplane. My friend, Charity and I are thinking it would be great to have one of these at home!

As soon as Peter sat in the dentist chair a little boy, very eager to play dentist, laid the apron thing over Peter and grabbed a tool. I was laughing so hard because I knew Peter was wondering what just happened and I was wondering if the "dentist" was going to be sticking that thing right in Peter's mouth!

As soon as he had a chance to break free he threw that apron off!

As usual, Maddie was thrilled to have her picture taken.