News :)

Just to add to the chaos that is our life, we get to add the expectation of a new arrival to our family.  We're quite thrilled!  Baby #4 is due mid-January.  We went for an ultrasound a couple weeks ago and thankfully saw a little heart beat away.  Beating quite rapidly, too, which generally means a girl.  We'll see what sort of little one God gives us, we'll be thrilled with any sort of baby we get, while praying for a healthy one.

Springtime sunshine

Bright sunshine, blue skies.

Walking with friends.

Stopping to climb trees, roll down the hill in the spring grass.
(How would my kids survive without friends?  who would teach them how to climb trees?)

Sharing snacks and hugs as we say goodbye.

Kids napping after the exertion.

Pretty much the perfect way to spend a day.

yogurt cheese, anyone?

This is a bit of a convoluted story.  Sorry.  :)

I wanted to make sugar cookies.  Hubby's really only likes sugar cookies if they are frosted and he really likes cream cheese frosting the best.  I had no cream cheese.  I had just seen a recipe for making yogurt cheese that turns out the consistency of cream cheese, yet with the benefits of the probiotics.  So, I began.  I was sold.

You start with regular, plain yogurt.  This is the tutorial I used. And here is the final result.

So, instead of taking 20 minutes to run to the store for a brick of cream cheese, I waited for 3 hours while the whey dripped out of my yogurt to make yogurt cheese.......so that I could make frosting.  Yes, slightly backwards thinking, I admit.

You know what, though?  I couldn't even tell that the frosting for my deliciously sugary sugar cookies was made with yogurt.  (Hubby said he could, but he came back for more cookies, so it must not have been too bad.)  And, we all got some healthy stuff in our gut for my venture.  Too fun!

Now, to use this whey that I have sitting here, begging for some grains to sprout.......

And this is what I'm going to make for Bible study in the morning to use up the rest of that yummy yogurt cheese.  Goodness, I love fruit.

On the mend

The lovely flu is what it was.  Each of the big girls had fevers off an on for 4-5 days.  Not Fun!  Fortunately, the youngest had it for a day and moved right on.  The plus side to all of this?  We got lots of snuggles!  One great thing about breastfeeding a toddler is that you don't have to worry about them so much when they are sick.  Since E still nurses, the bulk of the day of fever was spent curled up on me nursing off and on when she wanted.  It is so very cozy and so very reassuring to feel like I can do something tangible when she is sick. Poor thing!

We are still recovering.  Amazing how much it takes out of you. 

We have done a couple fun projects around here that I will be showing ASAP!

We've been HIT!

AHH!  The bug has attacked!  It is official.  When getting kids down for nap today, two of the three (one home from school because of puking yesterday) had fevers.  The other is literally dripping with snot.  Pretty picture, no?  E had the fever two days ago, but seemed like she felt good most of the day, just extra snuggly and asking to nurse a LOT.  But it was ok.  She was over it in a day.  Hopefully that will be the case with the other two now. 

I have several projects that I'm aching to share with you all.  That will have to wait.  Until we're all done dripping snot. 

peace.  out.

MIA?

so, did anyone miss me?  :)  Life has happened, I'm afraid.  Just life, nothing exciting.

Let's see.  Baby E turned 2.  She's still a tiny little pipsqueak at about 22.5 pounds.   Much smaller than either of the other girls.  She's chattering and we're attempting to decipher.  She thinks she's pretty big stuff, though, and does her best to keep up with her sisters.

K thinks that she is ready to start Kindergarten.  Mommy is SO not ready, but that is another story for another day.  She's still a bit of a space-case, but very bright and sweet. 

First grade is going wonderfully for B.  She is a reading champ and soaks in just about every single bit of information that she comes across.  This has been her first year in girl scouts and she's really enjoying that.  Daddy helped her sell GS Cookies last month and Mommy is looking forward to them arriving.....mmmmm, thin mints....

I'm full hog into school right now.  In the next couple weeks I will be applying for two different nursing programs, both of which have a fall start.  We'll see where God wants me/us.  I have found it to be an incredible mixed blessing to have that decision out of my hands.  None of it is up to me, yet I continue to worry about it.  Crazy how we do that, no?

Hubby is in school, too.  Two semesters left - yahoo!!!!  He's also working as a warehouse manager for a chemical company, trying to keep busy.....because 3 kids and a crazy busy wife isn't enough.  :)

We're in the midst of trying to update a bedroom for the oldest and the youngest.  This involves painting furniture (2 beds and a dresser) and much junk disposal.  Unfortunately, the painting is the easier task.

Other than that, life is the same: busy, challenging, rewarding, crazy fun, and we are realizing how incredibly blessed we are.   You wonder why?  Look at this:

Sweet......Seven

My Beautiful B, I sure do love you!  I'm so incredibly proud of the sweet, young lady you are becoming.  Bright and caring and intelligent and curious and *mostly* happy and content.  :)  I love being your mommy and seeing you learn and grown and blossom.  I'm so impressed at how well you are reading and it melts my heart to hear you reading to your sisters every night before bed. 

They are so incredibly blessed to have you as their big sister.  Thank you for being so patient and kind with baby E.  She loves you so much and enjoys snuggling with you. 

You are a loved child of God, my darling daughter, and I am so grateful to have you in my live.  You are a joy and delight!  Happy 7th Birthday, baby girl!

New pictures!!

I always love seeing new pictures of everyone's families. It is one of my most favorite things to do.

My very talented sister, Mary, took some new family pictures at my cousin's house. They turned out GREAT!

The girls got a little antsy after some family "posing," so we let them run around and climb and swing and play.

My sister brought one of her older daughters who was able to help keep kids under control while we were otherwise occupied, which was fabulously helpful. How many photographers can boast an assistant who is cousin to those in the pictures? ;)












































It was so funny trying to catch personality from each of the girls. The oldest is a ham and totally cooperative. The middle cooperates but has a wonderful "picture" smile (that she gets from her Daddy.) The youngest is.....well, the youngest. She does what she wants. Mary did a great job, though, and I can't wait to get these up on our wall.


Of all of them, though, this last one of my three precious girls is my favorite. Makes me feel so very blessed to have this sweet little people in my life.

the girls

Well, it's true.

I'm the mom to a 6 year old. It's true. I'm finding it rather hard to believe.

It's true that I allow my 15 month old to watch television. She doing it right now.












It's true that she'll be content for maybe 3 minutes. So I had better type quickly.

It's true that I ride the bus to and from my classes to save money on gas.

It's true that I actually enjoy riding said bus. I use the time to read or study or close my eyes or *gasp* knit. I love it! My favorite is to knit while listening to a book on my mp3 player. Fabulous!

It's true that I currently have A's in each of the classes I'm taking--microbiology, 2nd semester Anatomy & Physiology and an Art class.

It's true that I've amended my schooling plan to include a major in Art. This is only so that I can hopefully enroll in a photography class or two. I will then drop the Art major.

It's true that my 3 1/2 year old hasn't nursed for at least 3 weeks.

It's true that this makes me a bit sad.

It's also true that it makes me very grateful for having another baby still nursing.

It's true that my 15 month old will sign "all done", "milk" and please. She also nods and/or shakes her head vehemently to get her point across.

It's true that my hubby and I had our first uninterrupted night of sleep in more than a year this weekend.

This was only true because we convinced the grandparents to keep the girls overnight on Friday.

It was lovely. This is very, very true.

It's true that the youngest has lost interest in the video and has now gone in to wake up her big sisters who are napping. She has also found the camera cord and thrown it in the garbage. She is now stuck between the couch and the end table.

Time to go. This is most certainly true.