5 Years Old

 My little Sweetie Pie turned 5 on Sunday!

I admit it, I get sad inside a little bit when I say that.

My aunt asked me if she was my "favorite", she said, "you know if you 

could have a favorite, would she be it?" 

All I'm going to say is I think about that conversation a lot.

(and I love all my children equally, really)

 I changed as a mother after my 5th baby.
It, somehow, got easier
(and then got harder again)
I can't even explain it in words,
because, obviously the work got harder,
I mean each baby adds another load of laundry, right?
But things were easier in my mind.
I didn't get as stressed when they didn't pick up their toys.
The house didn't have to be perfect before I went to bed.
(although, I do still like that)

Maybe it is because I turned 40 right after she was born

(Yes, that means my 45th birthday is coming up!)
Around age 40, I started knowing what worked and what didn't
and not really caring what other people did.
It all (raising children) became a "This is what works for us"
kind of thing.

 Maybe it's all the love and joy she has brought to our family

 Both these little ones have.
Children do that, babies do that,
they make people happy, they bring so much love and joy.
They love like we are supposed to,
unconditionally and fully.

When a child hugs you,
they give it their all, nothing is held back.
Oh, we need to love like that.
 

I think, I finally, when she was born,

realized how quickly time goes

(I'm a slow learner)
Those sleepless nights?
Fleeting!

(What a ham)
I learned to cherish that time up in the night
It was our special time
(except the nights it was more than 3x, those were not so special)

 How amazing it is to have little ones around.

The joy and excitement they bring to the little things 

helps us to be a little happier

 And Thankful

So very Thankful.

So hug those little ones.

Hold them a little closer.

Sit down and watch them, be with them

Read them some stories.

Because there will come a time 

when they will no longer want that.

Oh, how I love you Sweetie Pie!! 

God bless you my sweet girl.

Electronic Devices

I have a few questions about electronic devices.

This one in particular.

It's an iPod Touch 5th Generation

This model has:

music/radio

internet access

instant messaging

apps 

Face time

camera

And much more

 

Questions

1. Would you let your child buy this (with their own money)?
2. If so, what age would you let them?
3. What rules would they have if you let them?

A Few Quick Things

I told you in my last post, I'd post this recipe!  

 White Pizza

Pizza Dough

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup self-rising flour (actually you will need much more)

Mix and knead the dough for 5 minutes

Here's where you'll need more flour, keep adding it 

til you can make a good dough

Roll it out

1/2 Tbsp olive oil, drizzled on top

1/2 tsp course sea salt

(I also added course pepper, ground onto it)

Mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)

Ricotta cheese (about a cup, maybe more)

Dollop the Ricotta cheese all over

Bake 450 degrees for 10minutes or til golden brown like above!

I made 2 of these, and on the other one,

I put fresh minced garlic and sprinkled some fresh red pepper flakes on 

before the cheeses.

Everyone voted (and we had extra kids(boys) here that night)

Verdict:

The recipe above, no added spices, surprising, huh?  

Sounds kind of plain, but it wasn't, it was delicious!

 Borox cleaned my shower!!

Actually, I cleaned it using Borax.

(and it was bad, really bad)

I thought it would never come clean, 

I thought we'd need to buy a new shower in order to sell our home.

I was wrong.

HERE

is something I pinned a long time ago

and finally tried.

It 

(the dirt and grime and shower soap scum) 

came off like butter.

Really, I kid you not.

OK, not really butter, but it was really easy.

 Seriously, is there any parent out there that actually likes this 4 year old bald kid?

Well, when my 2 year old says,

"Ci Woo, Mama, Ci Woo, Mama"

I melt and give in and let him watch the stupid show.

 Why does the donkey have so many names?

1. Donkey
2. Ass
3. Mule
4. Burrow

Do you think Adam had a hard time deciding what to call this animal?

 Has anyone seen this?

I watched it the other night.

It has me thinking, it really has me thinking.

If beans didn't make me fart so dang much, 

I might give this vegan thing another shot.

Really interesting, I give it a thumbs up.

 Movie review!!

Good movie, pretty good movie

Especially if you like Kevin Costner

 And I do, so I liked it.

I didn't like the weird boss lady he had though, that was a really weird part.

Other than that, it was a pretty good movie, with some cute stuff to make it light hearted 

 Why do cookies get flat like this sometimes?

I rarely bake homemade cookies 

so when they do this, it bugs me

(no one complained)

I could google it, but I thought it would be more fun to see what you'all 

would say.

 My baby boy.

He's a cool dude.

He's so fun and busy right now

and not that red anymore.

(yes, that's a bruise between his eyes...he got hit with a frisbie)

I just want to keep him like this forever, 

fun and busy and in love with his mama.

This little girl, my baby girl will be 5

(YES 5)

on Sunday

My heart is sad, I admit it. 

I don't want her to grow up.

(I'm selfish that way)

She's spunky and full of giggles and she says funny things

and wants to do anything FUN.
And she's a cutie pie.
I mean, look at those curls!

Have you heard of this "ice bucket challenge" thing?

I've never heard of this before this year.

It's for ALS, to raise money to support research for ALS

This HERE

explains the type of research they do

Now when I read something like that, 

I have this moral conscience thing that will not let me let go of it.

I can't read something like that and ignore it, like it's not a big deal.

It's a big deal!!

We need to do our research before donating to an organization

that might be using embryonic stem cells.

You can go 

HERE

for an updated list of organizations that do this.

(their website is down, but the address is there)

 It's issues like these that I get tired of being unpopular.

Why don't people care about this?

Don't get me wrong here, I really think the bucket challenge thing
was an awesome idea, what a media frenzy!

What a way to spread the word.
It's just the particular organization that is profiting is not so up on
the up and up.

SO, what is a person to do?
Go HERE

There are options, a few different options.

And remember...

Spending our time at the beach, where there are no distractions,

just the beauty of young hearts enjoying summer.

Thankful For Everyday Life

 After my last sad post about Sarah

(you can still donate to help her family HERE)

And

all the sad sad things happening around the world, 

I wanted to post a Thankful post.

I love this picture of Sarah, posted by a friend of hers.

The joy in her face reminds me of the joy she must feel now,

in Heaven!
(and how much more glorious her smile must be!)

It's a happy picture for me, not a sad one. 

(OK, it's kind of sad, as tears well up and my throat has a lump in it)

 I've been really contemplating the meanings of the beads she created.

Thankful she not only created beautiful beads,

 but each bead has a significant meaning.

 My favorite?

The Rooster.

The detail, the meaning, so very fitting, especially now.

 Thankful my daughter also found the necklace Sarah made for me

I'd borrowed it to another daughter and the chain broke

The clay piece was lost, til the other day. 

I have since put a black cord through it, so it can be worn again.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary, 

given to me 4 years ago, the last time I saw Sarah in person.

You can bet it is even more special than it was before

(like, I'm not going to let any of my daughters wear it)

 Thankful we are making small home improvements, 

like here, I sprayed my GOLD fixtures a nickel color

 Thankful I got the back porches (steps) 

painted, it took me all summer, but I got them done!

Before above

 After

 After...forgot to take a "before" picture, but trust me, it was bad.

 Since we are in the backyard, Thankful for my hydrangea bushes

 and the beautiful centerpieces they make

 Thankful for MCCL (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life)

In the almost 3 hour time period we were at the local fair

I spoke to a young woman that had an abortion and another 

who unsuccessfully tried talking a friend out of having an abortion.

There is so much hurt out there.

I love the positive messages this Corporation gives

and it is an honor to work their booths

There is so much pain out there, people need LOVE, 

they need to feel LOVE.

 We decided to go back to the fair with the littles this time

Thankful for cute moments like this one, 

waiting for a pony ride!

 Thankful for fair food!

The kids each got to pick one fair food

The choices they made were ice cream, mini donuts and cheese curds.

I got a bite of each!

 Yep, I was there too.

 I let my 8 year old have the camera

I'm like, "OK, one more picture."

And he was done.

 Thankful we have plenty of milkweed to feed our caterpillar

and plenty of kids to enjoy watching him eat it!

Thankful for pretty August mailboxes

 and back to school pictures

I even got myself!

(well, my 4 year old did)

Only 2 left to do

Why back to school pictures you say?

 because we started school on Monday

(she's mad she had to wear the orange shirt, not because of school starting)

We have from left to right:

a 3rd grader, 4th grader, 7th grader and 9th grader!

 I didn't forget the messmakers pre-schoolers!

 I'm doing letters, numbers, Little Saints Preschool 

and lots of play dough

 Go HERE

for a better idea of what we do!

Thankful I found 2 boards like this, one is with letters and pictures 

and the other is (red) with numbers and pictures

for $4.97 at Wal-mart!

Thankful for these awesome pens, really, no other pen compares.

(they are pretty cheap too)

 Thankful this year we decided to bind all the books we want to re-use 

for about $3-4 a book, done at Office Max, this is my favorite thing this year!

(next to the pens of course)

(this is last year's picture) 

Just a tip, I put each child's work in bins like this, it works well for us.

They are easy to pick up and bring to other rooms and they store little things

and the books are all upright so they are easy to read and grab.

 Thankful, among some of the things we are fixing around the house, 

the patio door is one of them!

This door has been broken for like 4 or 5 years.

Completely stuck shut.

Thanks to Mr 12 Lives at the Lake +1

We are getting a ton of stuff done!

 Like a screen door!!

So Thankful for a screen door!! 

 Thankful for get togethers with friends!!

Recognize these lovely ladies?

Sarah (With a Hopeful Heart)

Me (with Minnesota Humidity mascara running eyes)

and 

Margaret, (Minnesota Mom)

 Isn't she pretty?

If I'd have been on the ball and posted a 

single post on just this visit, I'd have called it

"Frozen Pizza and Whatever's In My Fridge"

Maggie here, only gave me one day notice!

That's OK, I can go with the flow!

 I always have lots of veggies in the fridge

And she can eat veggies! 

 We met at a famous flower garden in our city

where my almost-5 year old played in the fountains

 and Maggie's 5 year old played in the fountain

(Yes, I'm thinking match made in heaven, or at least at the flower gardens)

 I love the instant friendships that happen.
(I stole this picture from Sarah!)

 I got almost all my kids in a picture!!

Gosh, if you are still here, reading, aren't you Thankful it's over?

Thankful for August summer carefree days in the sun!

Enjoy it while you can!!