Teething Cookies

Josiah LOVES reaching for our food and constantly wants bites – of everything!  So, I picked up some of those teething cookies this week.  HE LOVES them!  He sucks, chews, and gnaws on them until they are a completely mushy mess!  They keep him busy and quiet for a lllloooonnnggg time!  I love them too! 

Last Day with Kelsey

We had a great time with Kelsey….. we ended it by going to the park and coloring!  These are two of my kids FAVORITE activities!  They could swing and swing and swing ALL DAY, so it was nice to have someone else to help push them!  Grace is LEARNING how to pump herself, but she hasn’t got the hang of it yet. 

     

                                  

                                      

                 

Who is the one teaching?                 

                              

Oh… by the way, I LOVE how the Lord surprised me with a special gift today!  I have wanted swings for my kids at home, but all we have is one on a tree in the front yard for Siah.  But today our neighbor asked if we would like to HAVE (for FREE) his play set!!!!!! His kids have out grown it and they just want to get rid of it!! PRAISE GOD!!!  He and Danny are going to move it to our yard on Thursday… they will move a section of fence and slide it here!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!! I will post pictures when we get it!!! THANK YOU, LORD!!!!

At the science center

I had to be the Natzi mom when we were at the science center last week with Kelsey!  I hate to be “THAT” mother, but the little kids area was overrun with junior high kids and upper elementary kids.  They were running around and knocking over my kids and playing with the exhibits in ways that they were not intended.  I asked several of them to leave, but they kept coming and coming!  FRUSTRATING!  So… I went to the front desk and let them deal with it.  I was so relieved that they did handle it instead of ignoring a complaining mom!  THANK YOU! These big kids had the rest of the center to explore while this was basically the only area made for my kids!  I will be glad when field trip season is over so the zoo and science center are not packed with unruly school kids! 

We managed to have a GREAT time once we got the bullies out of there!  There was plenty of room to move, explore and have fun!

                              

                                     

                  

                 

                 

                 

                 

               

                                  

Room Makeover

While Danny was in Chicago, Kelsey, the girls and I redecorated the girls’ room!  We painted the walls a pale yellow and decorated with a Ladybug theme.  It was a lot of fun and Danny was surprised.  His favorite part? Having one less room to paint! 

We love how the walls are no longer black and dirty, but everything looks new and shiny!  It is great to have their room put together… it makes it feel more homey!

                                   

                                   

                                   

With our Ka Ka

   
                              

                 

Josiah's Buddy

We have had four babies born into our Life Group at church this year! Three of them were born within a month of each other with Josiah being the first. It has been fun to see them all grow and follow what Josiah is doing.


Here is the Big Boy with his buddy, Luke:

Haul at Walgreens

I have never been good at the Drug Store Game… there are SO MANY details and I always would mess up the transactions. We only have Walgreens here in Iowa, which isn’t the easiest to work with. They have Rapid Rewards and sales prices with coupons and Walgreens coupons… it is A LOT TO KEEP STRAIGHT! BUT I have decided that I am going to try it weekly from now until the end of the summer to see how I can do with it. I will NOT be making LARGE transactions, but I will try little ones and see how it goes.


Here is what I got today at Walgreens:

In my first transaction I got a 20 count of Finish Gel Packs, 3 Scotch Tapes, and 5 Royal Sugar Free Gelatins.

My cost… ONLY 81 CENTS!! Yup! That is right… just 81 cents! I am VERY proud of that!!!! YAHOOO!

Here is what I came out of the store with… 2 20 Count Boxes of Finish Gel Packs, 3 Scotch Tapes, 5 Royal SF Gelatins, 1 Jet Dry, 3 Small Boxes of Cereal, and 2 boxes of Lemonade.

My cost altogether was 5.58 and I used 14 coupons!

Bath man!

Here is our little Bath Man..  he LOVES taking his bath in the sink like he did at Grampa and Nanna’s House!  He loves to splash, talk, chew on the sink, and dump water on mommy.  We will soon have to take him into the big bath tub… the girls keep asking when he will join them.  Oh, Boy!  That will be interesting!

I am NOT SUPERMOM

You can tell a lot about a person by reading their blog… their likes and dislikes…their hobbies… the things that they value.  Well, I have come to realize that many people look at this blog with the GORGEOUS pictures of my kiddos and think that I have it all together, but BOY ARE THEY FOOLED!!  I AM NOT SUPERMOM!  There.  I said it!  I am NOT Supermom!  It is so freeing to say it out loud!  I say it to myself all the time and I am ok with that!   I am not perfect…. my house is messy… my children defiantly disobey me in public… we have days that we spend in our PJs… I don’t take a shower everyday…. I have ten+ pregnancy pounds that I would like to lose…. I don’t make all of my own baby food… I can get upset with my husband…. I have yelled at my kids….  my house really needs to be dusted… I get to the end of the day and realize that I haven’t read my Bible…. my son has days that he just cries and cries even though I have tried every tactic I know… I do have a pair of MOM jeans (I wear them to paint in!!!)… there are days that I just want to lock myself in the closet and hide…. I struggle with sin…  I buy things without coupons…  I have dirty dishes in the sink… oh, the list could go on and on. 

BUT… I am thankful that I KNOW who I am in Christ:  I am a new creation…. I am a daughter of the King…. I am loved with an everlasting Love… I was knit together by my Creator… I am beautiful in His eyes….  through Jesus I am justified… I am chosen… I am part of His family… I can do all things with His strength…  I can never be separated from His Love… oh, the list could go on and on!

So.. as you read these posts, I hope you see a family who loves Jesus and has been changed because of Him.  Our edges are REALLY rough, but He is still working on us!  We aren’t perfect, but that is ok… He is changing us little by little…

                                       

Boys are different than girls!

Friends, family, and strangers have told me over and over that boys are different than girls.... yup, I knew that -- physically any way. But what could be so different?  I had boys and girls in school and there were differences, but what differences could there be with babies?

Well, I am starting to see some of those things!  One of them....  My girls were chatter boxes right from the start.  They experimented with sounds from little on up, but Josiah is very different: he makes noises and cries.  There is little talking with this little man.  He tries Ma Ma and Da Da, but that is it..... My girls practically were talking at 7 months!  He is cute, none-the-less and we will keep him.

His newest noise is blowing bubbles.  HE LOVES IT -- especially when I am feeding him peas or green beans or any other MESSY food!  It is really funny and the more his sisters laugh, the more he does it!

So... here he is:

Our Little Man is 7 months old!