January

Trying to live and do normal things with this child is an adventure.

My kids are totally into the Beach Boys just like me - I am proud.

Trying to start the habit of putting everything away as soon as I'm done with it.

(as I type that, Gabriel is beside me saying Heh, heh, good one mom.)

Started only allowing myself to eat breakfast in the morning if I read my Bible at the same time. I figure if I have 5

minutes to put food in my mouth I can read a Bible verse too.

There is dryall dust all over the hallway stairs and I am thrilled about it - Every night when 

they go home I go downstairs and just look around and smile. It is so fun to have someone

else working on our house too.

Lucian LOVES his big brother, he attacks him (literally) as soon as he gets home from school. I love it.

The kids are also REALLY into Tintin books. Their dad loves it.

Feeling fall

There are some things about fall that are just so nice. The cool air on your skin, just a little bit

of bite in the air. The fresh smell of leaves, the crackle when you walk on them. For some reason 

those things make me feel like I'm on a vacation - I think it's because some of my best memories of 

childhood are the great trips our family took - we usually did it in the fall to beat the crowds and we 

could because we homeschooled. Anyways, now when I feel that cool air it just takes me back to 

good times.

I decided that it was time for a new wreath on the door - after perusing pintrest for ideas I came up 

with  this

Things I used - 

Straw wreath  that I wrapped with a spool of  twine from  Ac Moore

Multi - colored felted balls from Ac Moore - used 2 different 40% off coupons

White floral flower things and a few orange daisyish flowers - AC moore

Lots of acorns picked up by the kids and I on our hike last Sunday.

Glued it all together and voila` a new fall wreath.

Central America Trip II

After getting shuttled to the border by my brother and a long van ride compliments

of Rich's brother, this is what we were greeted with -

Arlen's have built such a nice welcoming house. It was so comfortable to stay in - room for all of us to be

together without feeling too crowded. I really did nothing, except take care of Lucian and help with

food every now and then.

The guys worked on building a handrail and boring stuff like that -

Keturah showing us how to harvest the almonds from their almond tree. Slightly labor intensive.

The girls, naturally, found a bird to protect and keep from the dog

 One morning Keturah took me to the market - wow! wouldn't it be amazing to have that abundance of

fruits and veggies available year round!

It was mango season when we were visiting, so she served us mangoes several times. They were so

yummy! Gabriel especially chowed down on them. She made this really good drink for us to enjoy

while lounging on the front porch. Mangoes and pineapple... mmmhhhh.

They have to take this ferry whenever they want to go somewhere away from town -

 Soon our few days in Guatemala were over and we were on our way to Belize again, this time to our

own little island paradise - Tobacco Caye.

part III to come.

Central America Trip I

Way back in April we took our big little family on a trip to Central America. I wasn't too worried

about how traveling with 4 kids 8 and under would go - it seemed like it would be fun. It was.

Once we got there.  Now the dragging kids around in an airport, working desperately to keep the

10 month old from screaming inflight and basically surviving on NO sleep (  I didn't hardly realize that

I could function on less than the little I get at home, but whaddya know - it is possible) I'll pass on all

that again. Next international flight is not going to happen till the youngest is quite a bit older. No more

stressful airplane rides for me. The older 2 were great and Nadia didn't even do too bad for a 3 yr.old.

Once we made it to Belize and we had Uncle Dorvan to pal around with - everything was good. At least

for everyone except Lucian. He's a homebody, so this traveling thing was just not so hot for him. I also

realized once we got home that he was pushing a tooth the whole trip. Night time was not our friend.

We stayed at this lovely hotel called The Aguada - they had a nice pool and it was just

a relaxing kind of place.  The kids were telling us they want to move to Belize - I mean,

mom, we don't even have to wear seatbelts here!

They had a restaurant that we ate breakfast at the next morning  - good OJ, the real stuff. We sat

around and talked with my brother Dorvan till about noon when he took us to meet Rich's brother Arlen

at the Guatemalen border.

 

 Part II coming soon

Hmmm... flowers.

In the spirit of spring and that planting bug that always hits me and then dies with my plants 

in the middle of the hot summer -  a post about flowers and some pics of the lovely bouquet

of tulips given to us for our anniversary from my family.

Martha Stewart always gets me going with her beautiful pictures of perfect blooms and  the "easy" 

 care. This year we're trying a few tomato plants and some herbs. Hopefully they will thrive. I don't 

have a place for an actual garden yet, so they have to be in containers. I'm also interested in getting

some Ranunculus bulbs.  I think this is my favorite flower period. 

Are they not gorgeous? and how awesome would that be to have them growing in your backyard to 

bring in the house whenever you like. If anybody around here has grown these please comment and 

give me tips. From my research it looks like I would have to dig them up and store them inside so they 

don't freeze out during the winter, but they seem like they are a pretty easy bulb to keep alive. We 

shall see. Happy planting to everyone.