I really should be sleeping right now.  I am hoping that Wes will let me sleep in tomorrow morning (what am I saying, he lets me sleep in every Saturday morning.)    anyway ...

I really wanted to post a video of Sienna's crawling, because I still can't believe that she is ALL OVER our living room and because I know that my family would LOVE to see it... but I haven't been able to figure it out yet, so that will have to wait until tomorrow... or next week ... or never.

so I though I would take a moment to share a breakthrough in my household this week!!
  My kids put away their own laundry!!!
Oh the freedom, oh the joys, oh the excitement.   When I do laundry, I do 3-5 loads in one day, then it sits in the laundry basket clean for a couple of days.  then I finally fold it (normally during a movie after the kids are in bed) and it sits folded in the laundry basket for another couple of days.  then it it time to do laundry again, so i have to put it away so that I can use the laundry basket again.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to put laundry away.  maybe it is because I have laundry for SIX different people and it goes in so many different places and it is such a pain, I don't know.
So as I was folding laundry yesterday, one of them wanted to help me and it is great that they want to be so helpful and all, but normally when preschoolers help with household tasks it just makes the job longer and harder. and I know this isn't right, but I would rather do things myself than have to explain them 50 times.  I know that I need to work on this if I ever want my kids to grow up and mature and leave the house and become independent adults and prosper in society. 
Anyway, back to the story, they all started helping me; Cassia and Nathaniel "folded" their underwear and Ella pulled out all the socks. and as I finished their clothes I would give them a little pile and tell them to put it away.  Ella did the kitchen stuff because she knows where the towels, washcloths and bibs all go. After that Nathaniel helped her get her things in her drawer... it was soo cute.  I never would have thought that my not-quite-two-year-old was capable of doing so much ( Maybe they could even scramble eggs.) Cassia didn't get anything in the right drawers, but it is a step in the right direction. Nathaniel did a great job (although I never checked his drawers to make sure they got to the right place) and he even helped with bathroom towels and washcloths, so all I had to put away was Wesley's and my clothes and our bathroom towels.  It was great.  I think this will become a new tradition.


what else should/could my kids be doing to help out?!?!?!

I love trying new recipes and allrecipes.com is my most favorite website.  I tell it what ingredients I want to cook with and they suggest recipes that have those ingredients!!  I had some fresh blueberries that I wanted to use, so I did a search...  I came up with Blueberry Crumb Bars.  I had the ingredients (for the most part) so I decided to try it.  I read some of the comments/suggestions and tweaked the recipe a little.  Here is my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
a shake or two of salt
a couple shakes of cinnamon

1 cup shortening
1 egg
a capful of vanilla
a capful of lime juice
and a little bit of water
1/2 cup of oatmeal (for use later)

a pint fresh blueberries
1 bag frozen raspberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, and baking powder.  Mix in salt and cinnamon.  Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly.  Add vanilla, lime juice, and water to help it stick together a little bit and press half the dough into prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch.  Gently mix in the blueberries and raspberries.  Sprinkle the berry mixture evenly over the crust.
4. Add 1/2 cup or so of oatmeal to remaining dough and crumble over the berry layer.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until top is slightly brown.  Cool completely before cutting into squares.

I made this snack for our ABF Sunday morning and was delighted to have leftovers that I have been enjoying this week.  I can't wait to have something to make it for again!

I am sharing this recipe with you for two reasons.  One, because it was so good; and two because I am entering this contest.  Be sure to check it out and try my recipe, too!

here are some pics from the last month or so that just haven't got up until now.  enjoy!!!!


Here is what happens when I refuse to turn on the TV for my kids and tell them to use their imaginations and play with the toys they have.
 

It just creates more work for me. And yes, this was taken at 11:00 am and the kids were still in their pajamas


My daughter Ella, was more tired than hungry this day.

(I wish I had the pic of me doing this same thing almost 30 years ago!)

More Sunday pictures (my kids have such cute clothes and are so adorable)


Nathaniel loves his baby sister.



Nathaniel has had a new pet.


His name is was Fishy -fish Goldy Wilson
 
He got this fish at a "carnival" birthday party and I didn't think it would live very long, so it took me almost 3 days to actually go get food for it. don't you just love the "fish bowl"?  It was still alive when we left for vacation, so we took it to our neighbors to feed and it passed on to the next life while we were gone.  It took Nathaniel a whole day after he got back from grandma and grandpa's to remember it and ask about it.  I was not very sympathetic when I broke the news to him and he got upset.  I recanted and started over and he hasn't mentioned it since.

Sienna loves to snuggle in on Mommy and Daddy’s bed early in the morning.





Here is Sienna’s five months shot


And of course, her siblings wanted to get in the picture, so here is all of them.
 
and this picture is now a month old.  I need to do her 6 month picture on Saturday... where does the time go????

well, it is way past my bedtime, but at least I finally got some pictures up here for my family (and friends and acquaintances) to enjoy.  soo long, sleep tight...