sick in pictures...

I know so many have been hit with this. What a sneaky little virus. I'm thankful to be over the hump of it in terms of numbers but we keep plugging along in the 'getting better department'. Gabe remains untouched by it all. Praise God for that one!

The kids did so much of this. What an unusual sight around these robust and active parts! I wanted to be here but couldn't. I'd pay for that later. Fortunately, Gabe was able to work from home the day it all caught up with me.  

All but this child got the fever. He never really slowed down even after developing the cough we all have. He kept things sweet (and interesting) covering me with blankets and pillows, making messes around every corner, and terrorizing his siblings unable to reciprocate. He's no dummy...

Gabe is such a trooper, braving the aisles for his beloved. He LOATHES this task but knows when I text him my list, it's desperate, as in... if you come home without this stuff you're drinking and eating water for dinner. Oh, and feeding the kids that too!

I'm not sure who he loves more, me or Pooh.

Wow, it was tricky to pull this off. Now I know why I never make it outside. Mom is needed.

Only a couple side effects from the medicine! Loopy eyes and strange teeth...

While he's dealing with the works now/still, I'm not sure what's sadder.... how sick he is and therefore miserable, or that when I go to get him now from his bed he's sitting like this. Cute but WAH!

This guy got hit the hardest. This was DAYS after his fever passed. He got the cold/cough. When he's down and out I KNOW it's bad. This kid never takes a break.

This really isn't that unsual for these two. They enjoy a good relax, but because this fell during 'sick week' I didn't motivate anyone to get up and go do something productive now. 

Texts, emails, phone calls (Marmee) came in from friends and family asking how we were all faring, often. I had flowers, tea, and honey delivered to my front door. Something about flowers, yellow, amid sickness. I am surely loved by many. 

Sick but showing me his trick of pretending to reach for something then returning to this position. Very proud of it too!

Yah... I wish I could say this was solely because of the state of our recent health, but I'm not so sure my record holds real strong. How does one acquire so many strewn about clothes when I've lived in the same two pajama pants all week? Obviously David Copperfield was here. He's good! 

That's just one of his illusion tricks! Don't let him fool you.

The sink windowsill lined with tricks when desperate. 

Upward started last night and this morning for the kids. Sophia has only been asking about practicing dribbling for weeks now when she then decided she'd be playing after years of a good hardy, NO. Also, her strong interest to watch football when it's on, since that will help her in basketball, sure gives us a chuckle.

Lemuel was up last night hot with fever, again. We'll keep plugging along. Lots of resting by the fire under more blankets. Tea with honey. Lots of books and movies to go around. 101 Dalmations, the movie, is a favorite on Netflix. All of the kids asleep (including myself) sometime between 7:30-8 o'clock. 

I'm thankful I have no where to go, ever. Thankful for a husband already busy to the brim who will gladly run around for me when I can't. True love. And thankful that with each passing day I see a little more improvement. 

January, I still like you. We usually end up sick with something when you come, but you help us take things slow. It's crisp out again and I like you like that.

for fun: tips, tricks, favorites, as of lates...

:: I've been using this recipe (the one in the purple shading towards the bottom) for over a year now. This one for about 6 months now. And a sort of vinegar/water concoction in a spray bottle for kithen and bathroom cleaners. I use it to wash our wood floors too. Lots of hot water in a bucket and a big splash of vinegar.

They work and I don't feel bad having the kids participate in chores involving them. Not to mention, cheap. Dirt cheap.

:: A rice cooker! I have one that looks similar to this one, all white. Mine was passed along to me. Knowing what I know now about one, how it perfectly cooks each indiviual kernel with no clumping or stickiness involved, I'd be more opt to find a way to pay for something of the sort.

:: My mother in law gave these to me one year in my stocking.  I use these with the kids to memorize. I use them on my own. I flip through the heading at the top of each one while feeling a specific need or leading to pray for or pass along a word of encouragement to others.

:: These! I got some of these for my sister-in-law for Christmas. I passed along the idea to my mom for myself. The kids LOVE them. They easily get away with one for the entire day. The prints are fun. No more running out of napkins!

:: Almonds! It's trouble when I don't have these or another nut on hand for my go to snack in the afternoon. And sadly, I pay for it.

:: More water. Dry skin? Dry heels? Nursing? Fatigue? Headaches? More. Always, more.

:: Sulfate Free shampoo/conditioner. I have the means for this from Walmart. It does the trick.

:: The Boxcar Children with the kids. Asher reads ahead a couple chapters, then we regroup and I read aloud to everyone.

:: Raising Kids Who Hunger For God for me. It's been slow going. My time is usally interupted but I'm finding myself able to camp out on a few pages or even just a few paragraphs at a time, for days.

:: Sundays we put the kids to bed at 7! That's early for the older two, but they are allowed to lay in their beds with books or legos until 8 o'clock. We usually aren't completely child-free (Lemuel) but the quiet time (even in just the house) to regroup and plan the week with Gabe before it takes off and gets the best of us has been really fruitful.

If you read this and you blog consider yourself 'tagged' to post 10 of your own!

Randi, Danica, Keila, Brietta- I tag you. Tag 4 more you know.

remember when?

You were asked to be a flower girl? And once I described to you the honor at hand you quickly pieced together from others' weddings this desirable job. Then you floated on air, basically.

Remember when you got your dress, tried it on, twirled all over the place, and asked EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY from then on if you could wear it to church? You were cute and persistent but I stuck to my guns.

Remember when we took Grandma to the flea market (Grandma LOVES the flea market!) and you and I found that curling iron for $1? You found that ring and sparkly Barrett for your hair too, for a grand total of (including the curling iron) $3.

Remember then we 'practiced' with the curling iron and you were beyond excited to show Daddy when we were done?

Then the trip came. And we went to the rehearsal, just you, Lem and I. You were such a blessing and sweet and everything that makes you, you. Then remember we headed back to the boys because it was getting late and we ordered room service?! That was fun. AND good.

Remember how you watched with such anguish in your heart when the bride danced her last dance with her daddy? It broke daddy's heart and mine in half and I cried just thinking of you all grown up. You have such a good daddy. But this, you already knew. I saw it in your eyes.

Sophia, with the name just like your great great great grandmother, you are a blessing to me!

And you were so beautifully special that day in every single way, soaking up someone else's joy and making it your very own. What a gift to have such a fine young lady (Livvy), who loves Jesus, to look up to. And boy do you ever. 

I love you!

2014

We did Christmas. And it was magical. Not exactly because of the favorite traditions we do year in and year out, though those are fun. No, this year it was just different. And I felt it in my soul. I know my kids had moments as such too. The kind you sit back and bask in the realization they're being awakened to something more. I know they will remember our special breakfast this year, the way the tree beckoned us to just come, sit, and be in its midst, the cookies we made, consumed, and sent around to neighbors. The way their daddy took them sledding 'on vacation' in the DARK and hung red Christmas lights in their room. I have pictures of it all. And they're sacred to my heart.

But the tree got torn down. We finally found baby Jesus in the hay to put in the storage bag with the other figurines. The boxes strategically packed away on the shelf as in a giant Tetras game.

You can't see Him. But you know He's there. And He's not just there. He's here. In us. But how? Liam has been asking such great questions as of late. The kind that make me search my own soul and dig a bit deeper, again. Sometimes I feel an ache when I pack Christmas away. I hit the high so high that the slump sets in deep and all that I'm left gazing at are the long cold winter months ahead with kids up to my eye balls.

This year though, I kept being drawn to that stable. So humble, so hard, so real. And completely in His midst. He in theirs. They welcomed Him in, to the deepest parts of their being. And the revelation of His love for them, for the world, didn't hide the hard times or circumstances they were in or that of others, but gave breath and new meaning to the very words life and love. They got to experience Him.

I find the New Year with leading as such. Be ready to intercede, more. Be ready at a moment's notice. Know your scripture, the battle is at hand. Sharpen your weapon and walk in power. Be listening and share. Walk in obedience.

And I'm beyond thankful that when we walk in His midst, when we invite Him in, He gives strength to look beyond ourselves. Effective becomes our name and it's a dangerous place because the powers of darkness lose their ground.

I packed it all away in such peace this year, those boxes. And I marveled in the fact, He loves me. No matter what. He's absolutely crazy about me. And I can walk the path ahead knowing this life giving and love exploding truth makes me effective regardless of what the days ahead may bring.

What a way to start the New Year.

Grammy and Grampy time...

Opening presents from the kids. This one was from Liam. It consisted of lots of odds and ends and gum, pre-UNwrapped!

Gabe got creative with the camera?

To be like Daddy now and play and sing with him!

It's hard not to love this baby!

Hours and hours of fun.

More party time!

We love Grammy and Gampy!

Friday December 13th

Boaz turned 2 on Friday. My Christmas baby (as close to Christmas as we've got!). My first home birth. My third little man. Friday we celebrated just us. I was given an early Christmas present from Asher! Sophia helped me make 7 layer bars. (Keila I don't follow that recipe to measurements and I do another layer of all the good stuff minus the butter and graham cracker bottom.)

I spent what seemed most of the day (or at least during the kids most needy hours) tackling a Winnie the Pooh cake. Dinner was rice in the rice cooker with a little bit of Soy Sauce and Parmesan cheese sprinkled op top! The following day my parents were coming to celebrate Christmas with us. The cake was on the menu for our joint celebration of Jesus and Boaz. Parties are just more special with family! 

But we partied it up simple style our family of 7 and here's proof we had fun doing it! You know... once I had finished the cake and all was right in the world again.

We have a 2 year old in the house again! Time and efforts put in will one day soon pay off! This boy is a gem who is very much still in love with...me!

6 months...

Just before a little someone around here turns two, I can't ignore or fathom the fact that another little someone just before hits the six month milestone. Half a year. Half of a whole year.

Lemuel entered this world just the way my entire pregnancy with him went, freakishly fast. And the boy hasn't slowed down since. Not once. Or rather, time has not slowed down once and at times I feel I'm on the fast track of a time warp that doesn't play fairly. He's reaching for our plates, playing with toys, growing teeth, getting stuck under the furniture and sucking on his toes.

He ditched the pacifier months ago and thinks it's funny when I put it in his mouth. He's an easy, warm and snuggly sleeper in bed with us. He's jolly and easy and predictable.

I love his name. And I can't help but think of this very charge for him, the one that told me while still in the womb that if I had a son his name would be such, each time I pray for the man he will become.

Proverbs 31:1-9
The sayings of King Lemuel- an inspired utterance his mother taught him.
Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!
Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!
Do not spend your strength on women, 
your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, Lemuel-
it is not for kings to drink wine, 
not for rulers to crave beer,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Time can keep making its way through the seasons of my life. My squishy delicious babies weren't made to just be adorable squishy babes. What destiny this little person contains! What a calling to have future men in my home.

Be a good king, Lemuel, in the sight of our God. You have a royal inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

6 months and baby's first Christmas.