Wordless WednesdayThursday

Now THERE'S an Idea

Andrew got tired of oranges squirting
him in the eye when he tried to peel them.
Nerf goggles took care of that problem.

The Christmas Story

I loved this last year
and I still
love it this year!

Click here
to see/hear
Orison recite
the Christmas story.

It's SO amazing!

A Tamp Out

Nope--
Not quitting smoking.
No putting out fires.

A "tamp out"
is four-year-old speak for
a camp out.

In the living room,
with the only light
that of the Christmas tree.

Linnea, Andrew, Christopher, and Elijah
have had a couple of these this season.


Sleeping bags, a movie,
Dad sleeping on the couch...

It's so simple,
it's free,
and it's magical.

On Being a Quitter

I am often torn about how much to participate in outside our home.

I am often chastised for spending so much time with my family.

A friend once told me, "Hey, the world needs you, too."

I am a stronger person now--if she were to tell me that now, I would say in response, "not as much as my family does."

But I wasn't that strong then.

And I probably said something like, "Yeah, I know..."

But you know that feeling when someone is able to put into words what you've been feeling for a long time, but just couldn't put into words yourself?
I love that feeling--it's such a relief. Like, "Yes--someone finally gets it!"

I had that feeling when I read this post on Amy Roberts' blog.
She gets it.

A Beautiful Post on Adoption

You may know that I love reading
Wife to the Rockstar's blog.

This post is especially lovely.
I cannot even imagine...

This Guy

This guy is growing up so fast!

His speech is greatly improving,
along with his vocabulary, of course!

He is a dear, sweet boy.
And he's ours...

"Cheeeeese" Sandwiches

Actually,
they were
peanut butter sandwiches.
But the smiles were
quite cheese-y.

(Incidentally, Christopher had been outside
sledding. Hence, the rosy cheeks!)

Stuck a Feather In His Hat

A friend of ours
cleaned a wild turkey for us recently.

The feathers were a BIG hit
with the little boys.

Bipper wanted one to stick
in his fancy-schmancy
$5 Wal-Mart cowboy hat.

And the stick horse?
His constant companion...

Christmas Wonder

Ruby loves the Christmas tree!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

These are my favorite
Christmas cookies.

A bit tedious,
but oh, so yummy...

(I "sampled" so many last night
as I was baking them
that I decided to do a
3 mile walk today.)

You're Not a Stalker

It was Vanessa's comment on
my last post that reminded me:
I have always thought
Molly Piper's post
You're Not a Stalker
is SO right on!

Click on over and
read for yourself!

Walk Away the Pounds

While I'm pregnant,
it's more about
Staving Off Some Pounds
than
losing pounds.

One of the ways I do this, is using one of
Leslie Sansone's videos
called Walk Away the Pounds.

I really like it.
It is a good "get up and go" for my day.

I find that with other videos, I need to modify everything
so much for my pregnant belly that it hardly
resembles what the people on the screen are doing.

I usually do Leslie's 2 mile walk,
but occasionally (if I wake up late, or just plain don't feel like it)
I do the one mile.

'Cause let's face it:
at this stage in the game,
I have a pretty good reason to
not feel like it.
And a pretty good reason to just bite the bullet
and do it anyway.

So far, I've gained about 14 pounds.
Not too bad for me!
I'm in the best shape while I'm pregnant.
It's harder for me to stay vigilant about working out
once the baby is born.

So for now,
I'll just keep
Staving Off Some Pounds.

Belly Up

I've been thinking lately that
"belly up" to the sink
means different things at
different stages of pregnancy.

I think what I'm trying to say is
I need longer arms.

Or someone else to wash all the dishes.

I like the second idea better...

Just Like Ma

I never feel as much like Ma Ingalls
as when I bring frozen clothes in from the clothesline.
Remember in "The Long Winter"?
That picture of her with clothes as stiff as boards?

And, well, there are a few similarities between
Me and Ma.

She was a farm wife. I'm a farm wife.
She made her own laundry soap. I make my own laundry soap.
She was a school teacher "back East". I have my own school here.
They had their good old bulldog, Jack. We have our dogs.
Charles could encircle her waist with his hands.
Dennis can encircle my waist with his........arms.

See? Just like Ma.

A Room Farm With a View

When Dennis climbed the silo and captured
this picture,
he also took these.

And now you have the view from the top of our silo.
You've waited a long time for that, haven't you?

Correction

I have changed the way I use my
homemade dishwasher detergent.

Instead of the 2 T.,
I've only been using 1 T.
and I like that a lot better.

Perhaps it has to do with our water
(hardness level, etc.)
but there was a sort of film left on the dishes
using 2 T.

I put up with it, well,
because dishwasher detergent costs $$$$$.

So I tried less
and less is more!!

Just thought I'd let you know!