(The blue teeth are from a lollipop.)

Sleeping bags have been all the rage here. . . . .(they're new.)

We are leaving tomorrow morning to go to NY to visit family and have a vacation.  The children will be attending VBS at the church my parents took us to when I was growing up. . . .their VBS program is almost unchanged since I was a child and I LOVE my children being able to go.  Not only that, but they get to spend time with their cousins, who go to that same church.

Rich and I reserved a cabin at a state park for the family to stay in for the week.  Hence, the new sleeping bags.  The cabin sleeps 6, has a fridge and a stove, so I'm not sure if you can technically say we are CAMPING but hey~ it's a campground so I think we can get some credit for being a little more nature-minded this vacation.  We have never done this before and I'm hoping that it will be a great time for us.  Rich has been working way too much lately and we really need to slow down and spend time together.  He is looking forward to it just as much as I am.

I have to pack today.  I always put it off until the last minute. 

But first, a couple of random photos:

The other day, just for fun, the kids and I made GREEN SUNDAES.  This is pistachio ice cream, whipped cream that I dyed green, and green cherries that Grace found at the grocery store~which is how we got the idea for green sundaes.  The kids thought it was so exciting.

Also, little Caleb, three years old, is finally in a big boy bed.  Last night was his first night in it, and Jacob took this picture.  We were all proud of him.

He did so good!  He stayed in it (which was sort of a miracle) and looked at his pile of Thomas books with the last remaining light of the day coming through the window.  Later, after it was dark, I went to check on him and he had the whole pile of books on his legs and I could barely see his big eyes.  When he realized I was in the room, he stirred and told me breathlessly, "Thomas, he fell in the stream". . . . .he was just quietly thinking about Thomas stories and I thought he was so precious that I kissed him all over his face and then left him to his pleasant thoughts.

Well, that's all I have to say this morning.  The boys are out in the kitchen frying eggs and I suppose I better get ready for a day of organizing and packing.  We will be gone for an entire week!  Will you miss me? 

Seriously, I hope you all have a great week and I'll be looking forward to sharing vacation memories when I get back.  I'll be checking my blog throughout the day so if you have any camping tips or ideas. . . . . . .

Mother

I was reading one of Jacob's books yesterday about one of his heroes, Sergeant Alvin C. York (who fought in WW1).  York was born and raised in the mountains of Tennessee and only received a third grade education.

When I came to the chapter in which he writes about his Mother, I was inspired.  I think you will understand what I mean if you are able to take the time to read this little story.  I want to be this kind of mother. 

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"Like most all boys, I think my mother was the best mother in all the world.  I jes think so much of her that I don't know how to say what I want to say.  I guess sometimes you can feel things so deep you are sorter lost for words to express them."

"Hit's different talking about Mother, but I jes got to.  Her story is jes sorter mixed up with mine and mine with hers, and I can't jes tell where one ends and the other begins, and I can't look into my own life nohow without finding her always mixed up with my affairs.  And always for the better.  I have generally taken her advice as being most helpful.  When I have failed to do it, I have 'most always got into a heap of trouble."

"She went to school and larned to read and write and that was about all.  She never read no other books but the Bible."

"Father built the log house at the spring, and that's where most all of us were borned and growed up.  The children kept coming right smart until there were eleven of us.  Mother had to work hard from sunup often until ten o'clock at night to keep us clothed and fed.  Until we was old enough to help, Mother had to do 'most everything around the house.  She milked the cows, made the butter; she looked after the hogs and chickens.  She made the soap and the tallow candles and fixed the grease for the lamps.  She carded the wool and spun and wove the cloth and made all of our clothes.  She was a good mother to us, and with Father she brought us all up, and we are living today.  We're all strong and healthy and well and she enjoyed every minute of it.  She enjoyed life much more in those days, so she says, slaving and working for us, than she does today, jes quietly living with us with not much to do or to bother about."

"She jes didn't have time to worry or to be unhappy.  Life tried to crowd in on her and bust her up right smart and she jes wouldn't let it nohow.  She knowed what she wanted-she wanted her home, her husband, and her own children, and she knowed she would have to pay for these things with work and sacrifice, so she was willing.  That's a mother for you!  And that's what she's done for me."

"And here I was running hog-wild around the country, keeping her up late nights and worrying the heart out of her."

"All of this was making me feel kinder bad.  I jes knowed I was wrong.  I jes knowed there was no excuse for me, and I was beginning to make up my mind to cut it out, when she begun her praying for me.  She prayed and prayed.  So I made up my mind to finish it."

"I sorter turned over in my mind all the sacrifices Mother had made for me.  I ricollected that I had never asked her to do anything which she refused if it was right.  I knowed she had given up 'most all her life for me.  I knowed how much she loved me.  And now she was asking me to give up all of this wild life and bad companions and be a good boy again."

"So I thought and struggled and prayed more and more.  And then, jes as I was making up my mind and getting control of myself, a preacher-man came into the valley.  He preached very close to the word of God as it is revealed in the Bible."

"So I was saved!  And that is the greatest victory I ever won.  It's much harder to whip yourself than to whip the other fellow, I'm a-telling you, and I ought to know because I done both.  It was much harder for me to win the great victory over myself than to win it over those German machine guns in the Argonne Forest.  And I was able to do it because my Mother's love led me to God, and He showed me the light, and I done followed it."

~From the book Sergeant York and the Great War

Currently Reading Sergeant York and the Great War (Men of Courage) By Tom Skeyhill see related

It was a busy morning (yesterday) and when my friend Caroline came to get the three older children at noon, I was tempted. . .oh so tempted. . .to sit the littles in front of a movie.  Then, you know, I could crash on the couch or something.  But instead, I decided to take them for a walk.  I don't get to spend time with just David and Caleb very often. 

So we got ready and we got our treasure bag and out we went.

Did you know you can make a forest in your hand?  You grab around the bottom of a big fern and pull up up up to the top and then you have a forest in your hand.  David does it a lot. 

You can see my house in the background.

This was a moment before David dropped down and started crawling "through a tunnel to a secret place."  Caleb did not like that.  He said, "Oh no!  David is going OFF.  THE.  TRAIL!"

The little bugger was deliberately closing his eyes for the picture.  I took two, using my self timer, before I caught on.  What a stinker.

I told Caleb to look at the camera, and he did.  See him?

David was the leader, and so he marched.  We stopped our marching, briefly, so I could take this picture.  Caleb did not ever get to be the leader, no, not this time.

"

David discovered The Happy Mushroom.

"

We came to the end of our walk by arriving back to our own stream.  David said, "Hey!  I know this place!"

It's always a challenge to get Caleb across. 

Photo by David Lloyd:

We ended up with a bag full of pinecones, a handful of acorn tops, a mushroom or two, and an armful of sticks for the firepit.

After our walk, the boys went for a short swim.

All in all, our adventure was less than an hour and would you believe?

I still got to take a nap before the other children arrived back home!

(lots of pictures)

Did you know yesterday was the 30th day of Summer?  Time is flying by. . . . .

The highlight of my day yesterday was seeing my new little baby in an ultrasound.  Eyes, nose, face, arms, legs, heartbeat, everything was a thrill to me.  I had my doctor go down the hall to get all my children, and she did (she's a wonderful doctor and her practice is small and not too busy). . . .and the children all gathered around me as she pressed down on my tummy again with the Ultrasound Thing.  They all enjoyed seeing the baby and I enjoyed it all the more, because they were there with me.  Our tiny baby has become a part of our family already and as I was drifting off to sleep last night I had to wipe the happy tears from my eyes.  I know I'm an emotional mama, but I just still can't hardly believe I have a new little Someone to love.  I know what is happening, I know the love and happy relief I will feel when my baby is finally here.  I pray every day that all will go well.

After the doctor's appointment I made the mistake of going shopping.  Shopping with all 5 of the children was TOO MUCH for me yesterday (there are days when I do enjoy it!) and by the time I ushered them to the van, I was saying, "OH I WISH I could drop ALL of you off at someone's house for a few hours!!!"  The kids made me laugh because they all thought that would be THE GREATEST THING and started making suggestions as to where I could leave them!  LOL  I thought I was insulting them but they thought I had a wonderful idea!  "What a nice, fun mama I am!"

We made it back home and the rest of the day was pretty low-key except we did go down to play in the stream and the kids did swim in the pond at the end of the day.

Oh, and I took pictures of the basement.  It's not completely done, there is a filing cabinet and a table that we are moving out of the room, and more to add (like pictures on the walls) but you will get the idea of the space in this photos.  Also, the boys have been amusing themselves lately by trapping birds (and a chipmunk) with a homemade trap.  I rarely see them all sit still for so long.

The trap consists of a metal can, with a train track propping it up over a pile of bird seed.  There is a long piece of yarn with one end tied to the track, and the other end in the basement, clutched in a boy's hand.  They ARE catching things. . . . . .

David, with the other end of the yarn, waiting.

I'm sitting in the corner, behind their big desk, taking this picture.  The gray filing cabinet will be moved out.  The door leads to Rich's exercise room (with the treadmill, TV, and weight bench).

The round table will be moved out.  From this angle you can see the beds.  The three beds are in a row, with a carpet between each one for little bare feet to land on, in the morning.  The wall opposite the beds has a built-in bookcase which is big enough to hold 100's of books.

We still need to varnish/stain the woodwork.

David LOVES to be with his big brothers, but Caleb misses him upstairs at night.  He says, "David's BED isn't in here!"

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The stream is so low.  We need more rain!  It was still nice to walk in it and Caleb had a little boat to play with.

This picture makes me laugh.  Grace took it.  I'm losing my balance, Caleb wants to "go home", Ethan is rushing around (he and Jacob were playing frisbee across the water) and I'm pat-pat-patting Caleb's back.  Caleb's feet are covered in mud.

I like the lighting in this one, but am not sure Ethan should be drinking the water!

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The pond is so refreshing after dinner.  We still are going down there for a swim just about every evening.  I didn't swim this time but I waded up to my knees and took pictures.  I used to go swimming in my Grandparent's pond in the summers and having our own pond to swim in brings back the memories~ two of which are the smell of pond water (a dirty kind of CLEAN) and ducking under water when the 3-corner flies land on our heads~ horrid things!

Last night the children were playing frisbee in the water, while Caleb was jumping off a rock in his little Thomas underpants.  I like how all five are in this picture.  Rich wasn't home yet, but he got home after a while, and come down with me to watch.

I don't know if you can see the back of Davy-do's life jacket.  He drew a picture of a boy shooting a bow and arrow on it, with WHITE-OUT.  I am not sure HOW or WHY he got this idea.  It does NOT wash off.  It does not wash off FACES very easily, either.  Caleb got into the white-out a day or so after David had it, and painted two lovely stripes on his face.  I had to sit down with him across my lap and rub hard on his face to wash it off.

Sometimes the kids are too busy to even change their clothes into swim suits.  David got in last night with all his clothes still on.  Here he is, throwing the frisbee. . . . .

Grace:

Ethan:

This is Jacob, right after I told him he had to sit out for 5 minutes for being a big, bossy firstborn and frustrating Ethan to the point where I had to listen to high-pitched whiney tattle-taling.  I just can't listen to that kind of thing!

Grace, with the lovely brown eyes:

David always takes the time to "practice swimming without his life-jacket on".

He has no fear and he is like a flopping fish.  He's a diver, too.

And comes up out of the water with rocks in his hands.  Look at the water streaming out of his mouth.  He's the only one of the kids that doesn't plug his nose (or shut his mouth, apparently) when he goes under.  He said to me, "I'm an EXPERT".

After a while, the boys were ordered out of the pond to go walk the dog. . . .Grace went along, too, and I had one of those happy moments, watching them walking and talking together, and I had to take a picture.  It's blurry but I LOVE IT anyway.  Ethan is wearing my straw hat!  They are such dears.

Jacob came back with this for me:

It's a big mushroom cap!  The size of a paper plate!  See the white part?  It was the texture of angel food cake, fluffy and spongy and dampish.

I stood at the kitchen counter and tore it all up to bits, enjoying the feel of it (which makes me laugh now, when I think about it.  It was fun!)  Then, I threw it all away (there were tiny buggies in it). . . . .

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures.  I'm looking out the window at an all-white sky.  There is no wind at all and I hope these are both signs that it will rain.  Jacob, Ethan, and Grace were invited to go swimming at a pool with some friends and they will be picked up at 11:30.  I will have a few hours with just the two little boys and that will be nice.  Later on this afternoon we will go to music lessons.

I'll leave you with a recipe for a crock-pot dessert.  I made it yesterday and there was just enough for a nice scoop for everyone.  And, I didn't have to use the oven, which is a good thing, since it's been pretty warm in the house lately.

Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 cup boiling water

1. Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and baking powder.  Add milk, oil, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Stir in peanut butter.  Pour into slow cooker.  (I sprayed mine with PAM first).

2.  Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and cocoa powder.  Gradually stir in boiling water.  Pour mixture over batter in slow cooker.  Do not stir.

3.  Cover and cook on high about 1 1/2-2 hours or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  The cake will be on top of a nice hot fudge sauce.

4.  Let cool slightly and serve over ice cream. 

Have a great day!

The band box with the blue crocheted ribbon on the top edge was made for me by my mom.  She gave it to me when I was a teenager and she covered it in wall paper that was in my childhood bedroom.  The ribbon was handmade by my Great Grandmother and the box is filled with dried flowers, that I saved during my teenage years.

The other two, taller ones were made from empty oatmeal cartons.  I covered them with scrapbooking paper.  I like the simplicity of them.  The one with the pink ribbon is now in the livingroom.  It holds imprisoned legos which I picked up off the floor.  They are mine until they are "paid for" by whatever means that the boys and I come up with at the time. 

I'm still thinking a lot about my house, and the housework.  I think partly because we are in the process of moving the boys into the finished basement.  It looks so fresh and clean down there, with the painted walls free from handprints, for the moment.  Spending time in that nice new space inspires us to clean up and organize the rest of the house. . . . . .

But, for now we are getting ready to go out.  The house is so hot and muggy and the bookstore is beckoning.  When Rich asked me this morning if I wanted to go to Crackerbarrel for breakfast, I told him I would rather go to Barnes and Noble, to get a decaf latte and a couple new magazines, or a book. 

Happy Saturday!

PS.  My clothes are getting way too tight.  I'm only like 11 weeks pregnant and I feel yucky, bloated, and squeezed!  And SO not cute!