Books, Straws and Icecream Soup

Thankful for....

3. The precious moments I see when my older boys care for and love on their little sister.

4. Watching a family fun game of dodgeball. Love our Family Days!!

5. Straws that make eating/drinking ice cream soup fun!

Gimmie a 2.....2!

Two months. That's how old my little Annabelle is. She is such a good baby. She doesn't cry much unless it is way past feeding time. She is sleeping about 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 hours at night. Thank you Jesus!!

She doesn't like tummy time very much but does have pretty good head control. She absolutely adores her brothers and smiles at them constantly. 

At her 2 month doctor appointment she weighed 10 lbs. 3 oz. (33%) I love how nurses measure for babies height. Lay them down and try to pull their leg straight while parent holds baby's head or they draw a line on paper at the top of their head and the bottom of their feet. At her 4 week check up she measured 23 inches and just yesterday she measured 22 inches. How could she shrink an inch? 

Annabelle loves to take a bath in the sink. She usually gets a bath every morning.

She is such an easy going, laid back baby. She is awake most of the morning and then again in the late afternoon. 

I have loved the last month; watching her change and and seeing her experience all new things.  

It's the little things....Thankful Thursday

I thank God every day for my family, my friends, and the love that He has for me. But is that enough?   What about the little things, the things that are taken for granted. Do we thank Him for those? I am hoping to post weekly a continuing list of things that I am thankful for. From the big things to the little things and everything in between.

1. Pacifiers. They can be a life saver to calm a hungry baby in the car and save everyone else's ear drums and sanity.

2. Chocolate. Stay at home, homeschooling mom of 4 children. Enough said.

What are you thankful for?

Laundry - Real Life Wednesday

It's the one chore that I have a love/hate relationship with. Laundry. I hate doing it but I love having clean clothes. Along with the rest of my family. But do you have any idea how much laundry there is to do in a family of 6?? Do you really? There is a TON!

I wish that I could say that I was one of those stay at home moms who did a load of laundry every day. Nope. I tried that and I either forgot about it in the washer and had to wash it again. Or I forgot about it in the dryer and it got all wrinkled.

I typically do laundry twice a week. I usually try to wash, dry and fold all the laundry in one day. I know that sounds crazy but it works for me, most of the time.

So I bet your curious how much laundry there is with a family of 6?? Here's a few glimpses in my laundry world.

This is what my hallway looks like on laundry day. 

I make my own laundry detergent using these 3 products and  refill my Purex bottle in the background.

All the laundry done.
(I think there was still a load in the washer and dryer, but it's all off the floor!)

All the laundry folded, waiting to be put away. 

I'm linking up with katef from Picklebums.com for Real Life Wednesday

No Tech Tuesday

Have yever felt that there's just too much technology around? Kids today have so many gadgets to entertain them. Their imagination gets surpressed and they can miss out on being a kid.  I remember playing a lot when I was little. I either played outside or I played with toys in my room. We had a Nintendo and a computer, but I don't remember having to play it everyday. We did not have cable at our house, just basic TV. And the stuff on TV today really isn't worth watching in my opinion. 

Today was the first of what I'm hoping will be a weekly thing. No Tech Tuesday. Meaning no TV, no PS3 and no computers.  I am happy to report that all the children made it through today. Even Mommy made it through. Only had to say no a few times before they found something else to do. They weren't really happy at first but then they got over it. 

So here's what happenes today:

Phillip and Mommy reading Fly Guy.

Patrick drawing.

Annabelle being a cutie pie.

Trevor and Phillip playing boats in the bathtub. 

Trevor holding Annabelle

Playing Monopoly Champion.

Taking a walk before dinner.

This certainly isn't everything we did today but just a few highlights. 

Phillip's Big Break

I just realized that I never published this post from last summer.


What was supposed to be a lazy pajama day at home turned into quite an adventure. I was working on my sister-in-law's birthday present while the boys played in their room. Then all of a sudden, Phillip was screaming! I went in their room to find Phillip laying on the bed holding his leg, crying in pain. The first words out of Trevor and Patrick's mouths were, " Mom, we heard a crack." Oh boy!

I quickly checked Phillip who was laying very still and not wanting to be touched. I called Steven and told him what happened and that I was taking Phillip to the Emergency Room. Next, I called my mom and asked if I could leave the older boys with her while I took Phillip. I tried very hard to hold my composure in front of the boys, who were crying and very upset. I told them, "Stop crying! It's not helping the situation."

Putting a diaper on Phillip and getting him into the car was very difficult. He was begging me not to touch him or pick him up. I remember pulling in my parents' driveway, the boys getting out, and then leaving right away. I cried most of the way to the ER, between calling church members, my in-laws and Steven.

When we arrived at the ER in Apex, Phillip held onto the passenger seat so tight, refusing to be picked up and carried. Once he was put onto a bed and he was left alone and could watch cartoons, he seemed ok. Steven met us at the ER and later his parents came too.

Froggy and his blue blanket make everything much better.

Once the x-ray confirmed that his right femur was broken, it was a waiting game to find out what would happen next. We did stay at the ER for several hours. Finally, we got the word that he would be needing surgery and would be transferred to Western Wake Children's Hospital. My emotions were such a roller coaster that day. I cried every time Phillip whined. Watching them put his leg in a traction for transport was impossible to do without crying. He is my baby and I couldn't to anything to help him.  

 He was transported to Western Wake Children's Hospital by ambulance. I rode too, but had to sit up front due to their policy. I was able to view him on a monitor. The nurses told me that he did great and slept most of the way.

 The nurse gave him another shot of morphine before they began to move him out of the ambulance and into the hospital. Once we were in our new room, the doctors had confirmed that he was having an allergic reaction to the morphine. He had developed a rash over most of his torso.

Last picture, before he was taken back for surgery. The orthopedic doctor had told us there were possibly 2 options for treating Phillip. The first was a hip-spica cast. The second was to put pins into his leg. Unfortunately, he was underweight to have the second option. They explained to us what the cast would look like and that it would take about 1 1/2 hours to do. 

That 1 1/2 hours was the longest time period in my life. Steven and I went to eat dinner in the cafeteria, his parents later came and joined us. As we were finishing our dinner our pager went off. I was so excited!! Phillip did great! He became more aware and talkative as he was moved to a patient room on the children's floor.

Once we had settled into the room, Phillip said he had to go potty. I called the nurse and she said that he'll just have to go in his diaper. I knew Phillip would not do that. He was potty trained. The nurse proceeded to tell me that there was no way that he could sit on the potty with a hip spica cast. I was very nervous that he was going to take a huge step back in being potty trained and would have to learn all over again. We soon learned how to help him when he had to go potty. 

The next morning he was checked again by the doctor and we were given the ok to home. WooHoo!! Deanna and Andrew met us at the hospital to drive Steven's car home since one of us had to sit in the back with Phillip. We went to MawMaw and PawPaw's house since it was family day.

Angela let Phillip blow out the candles on her birthday cake. He loved the hat she got too. He was a pirate!

I missed this smile!!

Here's some pictures of how Phillip managed with his cast. The cast didn't knock his spirits down at all, once the pain went away he was back to his old goofy self. 

Blowing bubbles at Grandma's.

Ms. Janna brought him a balloon (only balloon she could find was happy birthday). He LOVED it!

Chilling in the car eating goldfish.

Watching a movie on the iPad.

BOWLING!!

Building Marshmallow towers

Watching his big brother

This is how he got around until he learned to walk in the cast. 

Walking. The only problem was he couldn't pick stuff up off the floor. 

Happy Boy!!

Nite Nite Sleep Tight

I think sleep is important. Getting a good night rest is the only way that I am able to function and manage all that we do. I make a point to go to bed every night around 10:30; 10:45 the latest. I am NOT a night time person. I am definitely a morning person. I am trying to be more consistent with the time that I wake up, but right now it all depends on when Annabelle wakes up.

Being a homeschool family allows us flexibilty when it comes to having bedtime routines. Philip's bedtime is between 8:30 and 9:00 most nights. He will read/listen to 3 books with his MeReader. Then it's 3 kisses and 3 hugs because he is 3. Annabelle is usually ready to eat around 9pm and then it's bedtime for her after some rocking and snuggles.The older boys go to bed between 9:45-10:00 pm.

Managing the Madness

Since the arrival of my sweet Annabelle 7 weeks ago, I've had several people ask me "How do you do it?" Meaning: How do you manage to homeschool a 3rd grader and a 4th grader with a 3 1/2 year old and a newborn while still keeping your house clean, getting meals prepared and going to several extra curricular activities?

To be quite honest, I'm not sure how I get it all done either. But I think I'm managing pretty well. We all have clean clothes and full bellies so I guess I'm doing something right.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1.

This season of my life is all about being the best wife to my husband and best mom to my kids. Everything that I do is for them.

The next several posts I'll share how I try to manage the madness.