I Blog In My Mind

I blog in my mind...is it just me? I've gone from blogging almost daily to once a week. Part of me is wondering how I'm suppose to become the next great blogger with a track record like this [joke]---or---I just really miss writing about what I think/is happening to me.

To break the silence since Thursday---[annoying to some, or one] Papyrus font is making a come back on the blog.

Would you like a run down of my last month? 

Of course you don't, here goes

[insert list long list of complainants]

....included, but not limited to pregnancy nausea, family stomach virus, and several reasons to be on amoxicillin...

[realizes I have too much to be thankful, aborts this list]

I'm so thankful to be 9 weeks pregnant, although it's been nothing of the "death like symptoms" I've previously experienced in pregnancies, any all day nausea while chasing 3 little ones is challenging. I'm hopeful I'm around the corner---for several reasons---including our current family diet.

[included but not limited to]

-me cooking rarely, us eating out a lot

-child recognizable brand boxes of breakfast & snack foods that my children can open and feed themselves that I've kept them from eating their whole life

-personally having an aversion to most meat, veggies, and fruit [unless you include fruit cups in syrup] ieatcarbsonly.com

-me ordering food and then just looking at it

In my case, during the first trimester, I have to eat anything to try to get calories in. It's not always my mental preference for health, but I'm hopeful by the time my midwife starts her visits with me next month I can report I'm eating a steady diet of only spinach. 

Call me Popeye.

Or still be my friend, crunchy mommies.

Don't look in my pantry, re-fridge, or car.

Please, don't judge.

Pretend with me.

Yell at me if I'm eating like this after 12 weeks.

Did I mention I have an aversion to chocolate too?

Y'all know this is serious.

F is for Frog

F is for Frog

I use my tongue wisely.

Proverbs 21:23

James 3:9-10

Proverbs 18:21

Books we read:

A Frog in the Bog by Wilson

Frogs, Toads & Turtles: Take Along Guide by Burns

Frog and Toad Are Friends by Lobel
National Geographic Readers: Frogs! by Carney
From Tadpole to Frog (Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science) by Pfeffer

Suggested Activity Purchases:

Insect Lore Frog Hatchery Kit
Insect Lore Frog Life Cycle Stages 

We got our eggs in the mail, about 7 hatched, and we ended up with about 2 making it pretty far. Our frogs fully grew and were so cute perching on the rocks in their tank. They both ended up dying shortly after unfortuantly. It took months to fully grow, but I think the secret to keeping a few alive was cleaning their water once a week [using spring water only] and feeding them less than more. Overfeeding apparently kills them quickly. Both the kids & I enjoyed watching our frogs develop and grow.


We had another frog visitor one day...

Find Frog crafts on my Pinterest

Thankful Thursday #82

Thankful This Week For...

#141-160

not getting the stomach bug even though all my boys and husband did over the weekend
first world problems. we just don't know how good we have it.
air conditioning when they were feverish
towels and a washer even if i'm not even close to being caught up
a babysitter who dropped off groceries when we couldn't go
that "the black plague" only lasts 24 hours
that it tried to come on me, and Jesus spared me supernaturally
being able to make a dr. appointment immediately
that the Dr. caught that two of my kids had bad ear infections [oh and pink eye!]
amoxicillin [i don't like drugs, be ever so often i'm so grateful they are easily available]
for 70 degree weather for my boys to get fresh air after days of being on lock down
the grace to care for the sick, even while pregnancy nausea myself
tv, even if hours endless of it while the kiddos were bedridden
gatorade and crackers
trashcans and toilets [am i going too far? well i was seriously thankful for them]
oh and Lysol
sunshine coming in all our windows
ice chips
hearing the wind whistle outside when i sleep
my husband cleaning up the aftermath of our sick war zone
a new week ahead

What are you thankful for? I'm making my way thru my 1000 gifts this year. Link up below.

Valentines Getaway in Savannah

Valentines dinner at Chops

adding to my xmas list, our hotel room at Avia, the tub i didn't have time to bathe in, and me using my new camera bag

lunch at The Olde Pink House

the sign was too funny

tree hugger

Some were taken on my iPhone [obvious] and some were taken on my "real" camera. Either way. There was just too much beauty in Savannah to photograph in just two days. Loved it. It was a total surprise and I couldn't have been more spoiled or happy! 29 hours with just...him!

Thankful Thursday #81

Thankful This Week For...

#121-140

valentines [my favorite holiday]
red roses
a box of chocolate
a card
a hot pink dress
a friend who watched my kids for two hours until my sitter got off school
a surprise early dinner at Chops
surprise getaway to Savannah, GA for the evening & day
Avia [hotel]
a babysitter my kids love [and i trust]
6 hours round trip to talk to my husband [without kids screaming in the car]
second dinner upon arriving in savannah [baby was hungry]
sleeping till 10
french toast for breakfast [that i didn't have to make]
eating lunch at The Olde Pink House
bbq sliders with pickles and sweet potato fries
taking pictures all day with charles
banana split blizzard on the way home
not feeling super sick while we were away
seeing my kids faces when we walked in the house

Thankful? Link up below.

Valentines Party

B for Butterfly

B is for Butterfly

God can make me new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 4:22-24

Colossians 3:9-12

Books we read:

Caterpillars, Bugs & Butterflies: Take Along Guide by Boring

My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies by Dr. Seuss

How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects by Heller

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Carle
National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Butterflies by Marsh

Video Suggestion: Eyewitness: Butterfly and Moth (2009)

Suggested Activity Purchases: 

Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Life Cycle Stages Characters

Butterfly Pinterest crafts found here

Thankful Thursday #80

#101-#120

that i'm not deathly ill with this pregnancy, just "normal" nausea
clean boys in towels on my couch
mentor lunch
a "meet the baby" shower for Malachi
a friend who decorates my house for valentines
having people over for the Superbowl
a almost two year old who started asking "why" about everything
three new pieces of furniture built from IKEA in my school room
this 28 minute discussion online about our childhood and the effects on our marriage. amazing!
a babysitter who helps me with laundry, dishes, organizing, and specializes in sanity
english muffins with butter and honey
something i like to drink this first trimester---vitamin water
pink gerber daises
sitting in the car with my girlfriends talking for almost 3 hours after bible study
this song when i'm sad
reading about the babies development [fourth time around, never gets old]
that i don't always smell everything as strongly as i do right now
how excited my boys were when their new wii game came in the mail
fruit cups [a current favorite of mine right now]
hearing Solomon tell Nation that he loves him

What are you thankful for this week?

Link up below.

Bragging On Your Kids

I looked in my rear view mirror today at a boy on the back row. Only 5. I remembered all the times I've been frustrated with him. So frustrated. Years ago even. What was he...4? 3? 2? He's still a child. He was an even small child. I forget. I forgot. They aren't grown adults, they are children. Learning. I looked at him in the mirror today and tried to remind myself to remember. Remember he's a child. A child who is going to be loud, break things, fight with his siblings...none without excuse or consequence, but now, hopefully with a little more foresight---on my part. It's going to happen. He's 5.

I talk a lot about the things he does. Some good. Mostly bad. Maybe some funny. You don't want to be "that" parent who brags. But do I really wanna be "that" parent who only shares the horrid incidents of the day? I think I need to remember, and talk about, more---the moments like above. When a boy. Just 5. Builds. Creates. Reads directions [like even his mother almost 6 times his age can't].

Don't worry, I'll still share our struggles. And by "ours" I mean a first born mom, and a first born son. But I hope I remember to write, photograph, and share more of the amazingness of him. To gossip to my girlfriends about the way he teaches his little crying brother to make a soccer goal when he was benched in his own defeat. The way he brings his newly pregnant mother drinks and snacks "for the baby". The way he talks about The Lord...at only 5.

Sometimes I think we talk bad about our kids to avoid being "that" parent who brags too much, but maybe at the cost of being "that" parent who is like "that" wife, who only talks negative about her husband. We laugh at her stories. But we also soon recognize the fall of their marriage. A wife who builds her husband up [even if he's fallen] is a good thing, we know. But what of a mom who builds up in speech her [also fallen] son? A wise habit we should all get in the habit of.

Nation--- you amaze me.

J is for Jewel

J is for Jewel

Jesus is more valuable than anything else.

Philipians 3:8

Matthew 16:26

Books We Read:

Smithsonian Handbooks: Gemstones by Hall

Little Jewel Bird by Conley

A Cache of Jewels by Heller

Jewel crafts found on my Pinterest here

We took a trip to the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, GA to see their Rock & Gem collection.

[photos currently lost]

Thankful Thursday #79

Thankful This Week For...

#81 brothers who snuggle close
#82 anything "i" [iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac]
#83 my husbands long hours---with an end in sight
#84 for new bible study with old friends
#85 a compliment from my baby sitter
#86 random warm weather for my boys to play in
#87 3 healthy boys
#88 friends who stand outside coffee houses that close to talk even later
#89 29 hours away at a retreat with my 14 homeschool mom friends
#90 staying up late [while i can still handle it]
#91 "long" drives in the car
#92 the way my youngest snuggles his pillow pet
#93 a break thru for a relative
#94 an article that encouraged me
#95 that my husband jumped out of a plane---and landed safely
#96 a basement to hide all my junk in
#97 boys with long shaggy hair
#98 my children's little sweet friends
#99 watching my 3 year old beat my husband at wii [over and over and over]
#100 getting to 100 things to be thankful for this year

What are you thankful for this week? Link up below.

Making my way through my first 1000 gift list on Thursdays this year---