2 down....3 to go.....

pictures from last week......
when it was more like summer.....
we were at grandma's and she showed us a baby bluebird nest that had 4 eggs in it.

And yesterday we got to see that they had hatched.....we think on Sunday....Donovan's birthday.

What sweet days....warmer weather....barefoot....smiling children.....husband that came home after work.....kissing after the kids go to bed.....

Today, not as easy. It hit me hard at 3:30 that Donovan will not be home for 3 more days. I miss him so much. It just seems like so long to wait to hold him again. The work load is heavy when your by yourself. I'm thankful for my oldest 2 that have really helped while dad is gone. But it's just not the same.

On a more positive note....Donovan's parents were here tonight to help out. What a blessing to see them come in my door. Donovan's dad mowed the yard for me, while his mama took the kids outside and watched them while she also swept off walks and cleaned up around outside. I made dinner for us all, and it was just so nice to have some solitude for a short time inside getting dinner ready. Before I knew it, it was too quiet, and with too much quiet I had too much time to think. I was so sad and lonely for things to get back to how they usually are. Ready to have the husband home. While so grateful to have Donovan's parents here, I was so lonely for my best friend. So I finished up dinner and headed outside. Donovan's mama and I got busy on a project I had been putting off....of re-potting some plants. It was good to get it done and good to have help. Good to get my mind busy.

We came inside for dinner and then mama helped clean up the kitchen. Baths, bed, packing lunches, laying out clothes, and here I am ready to fall into bed.

Thanks to mama and papa G. for all your help tonight. You were a mood boost!!

And one more thing before I sign out.....

the quote of the day.....

by William, "why is your tongue wet mom?"

my reply: "because God made our tongues that way"

William, "I want my tongue to be dry, I don't like it wet"

1 down.....4 to go....

Looking so big..........

Yet...still so small.....

Prospective is everything right now....I'm just keeping it prospective. One day down and 4 more to go, and we made it through today without any tears. Which is big for the girls in this family. Well, I really should correct myself and say their were no tears of sadness for the missing member that had to leave on a business trip today. There were however tears for other various reasons. All common occurrences among 4 year olds and 1 year olds. For instance tears when a certain someone didn't want to wear the shirt I picked out for him. Tears when he didn't want to take a nap. Tears when another member of the family wet her pants. Which at the time I just picked her up and hauled her off to the bathroom. Thinking she needed a swat...but extending grace, because I just was not in the mood to go through all the steps. However after I got the wet stuff off....Suzy looked at me and said, "I yi yi yi yi...." (something Donovan says to her when she has an accident) and then swatted her own leg. And then repeated the phrase and swatting of herself again.

God sure has a sense of humor. God sure knows how to give me the "pick-me- up" I needed at just the right time.

celebrating 2 of my favorite boys.....

This weekend was a week-end full of celebrating......We had a small birthday party for William with his grandparents and aunts and uncles on Friday night. Jack was just as excited about the party as William and asked me, "Mom, can you just call every one and ask them to come earlier?" I'm not sure what he wanted more.....to dig into the cake sooner, see everyone, or play with his brothers presents.

For William's birthday I told our family that we are overloaded on toys right now....and please do not bring more. Fellow mama's you know how it is....You have multiple children that have had multiple birthdays add in Christmas time and that equals LOTS of toys. Lots of little parts to toys. Lots of little things to pick up, Lots of clutter. However we did add to the invitation- if they wanted to donate a cash donation to a big gift we wanted to get William a tandem bike to attach to our bike.

I loved the look on his face when he saw his daddy ride out with it!!! Wish I got a better picture....but here shows a little of his joy.....

It was a little tall for him...but he jumped up there and was happy to give it a try.

After he opened a few gifts....we smashed around on a pinata for a little while. Serving 2 purposes actually. Getting out energy of little people AND getting rid of all the candy we had sitting around here!

And some birthday baseball.
Then the cousins went downstairs for a jam session. William on guitar and his cousin Lucas on the drums.

Now that Donovan's brother Wes and his family go to another church, we just don't see them as much....We need to make a better effort in this area. The kids had so much fun playing together. Brooke is so "into" Suzy. It was fun to watch them together, and Brooke love on her little cousin.

And then there was today, Sunday......

Birthday breakfast....celebrating Donovan's 34th birthday. We lived very large this morning. For one I actually made breakfast which rarely happens on the weekends. I am so lazy. And for two I went all out. It doesn't take much to please Donovan. We started with Sausage biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, orange juice, and bananas.

We got to church and had a potluck after the service....so I took a birthday cake to share. And also spaghetti. We had an Italian theme for our carry in today. Lucky for me there were left overs of both of my dishes.....so guess what we had for dinner???
Spaghetti, corn, garlic bread, lemonade, chocolate shakes, chocolate cake, and cookies. Do you see a theme with his birthday? FOod, FoOd, and more fOoD!!! Somedays it seems that is all I do is make food, clean it all up and start the next meal. And as exhausting as it all is, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my family. I love my husband.

So what a bittersweet day...Such a fun day to celebrate Donovan. But sad because tomorrow Donovan leaves on a business trip to California. For 5 days. FIVE DAYS!!! So I'm busy tonight getting in some good computer time...because I'm thinking being a single mom this week will leave me little time to do much else than cook, clean, wipe things, fold things, put away things, and hold little sad people that miss their daddy. While at the same time missing the man that makes my life feel so very complete.

happy 4th birthday william

Dear William Lewis, Where has the time gone? Can it be that 4 years already since you were born? Time has just flown. It has been absolute joy to be your mama. You bring so much fun to our family, and I love to watch you with your brother & sisters. You make us all laugh with your silliness and goofy voices you have. Today a friend reminded me how you never did crawl. You used to scoot on your bottom to get around. I almost forgot that you did that! We used to just laugh at your method of transportation. You had sweet, fat thighs, pudgy little arms, and cute chubby cheeks. You finally did walk when you were 16 months old!

You're very best friend right now is Jack, and you love to play trains with him. You are pretty endearing to your big brother and love to follow him around. Even when he gets upset with you, you are quick to forgive him. Keep that great quality little son! I also love how you show your love and happiness. You are quick to bounce into a room and liven it up. You love to show off.

Today at lunch after I put a candle in your pizza and sang Happy Birthday to you....You smiled really big and you told me, " I like you mom" Just out of the blue. It melted my heart. I love how transparent you are.

You are such a blessing William. You add so much to our family!!

I love you little man.

Happy 4th Birthday.

Love, Mama

Because we can not name a baby girl, "Douglas."

Today was another full but fun day. We started off the day to sleeping in until 9 a.m. which was a sweet start to any day, but an added bonus when it's Saturday. We had breakfast and then headed off to drop Suzy off at Aunt Arlene & Uncle Jon's. We then headed up to Kalamazoo for a play that my cousin was preforming in. The play/musical was "Hello Dolly"

This was the first time we had been to a musical as a family. Isabella especially enjoyed it. She loved all the dancing, singing, and acting. The boys did well and it was so fun to be there all together. In the above picture is my Aunt Esther (my mom's oldest sister), and Kendra (my cousin), Jack, William, and Isabella. The musical was very entertaining and I was so impressed with the extent of the props, backdrops, and costumes!! They put so much work into this. It is a home school group that my cousin Kendra preformed with. They did an excellent job!!

Here is another of the actresses....I thought looked like the same age as Isabella...but she was 11! She was so cute.

My cousin Rosetta was there with us, and took us backstage to show the kids how a musical works. Where they get changed, put on their make-up on, and the backstage. I love that Rosetta thought to take the kids back there...It helped them realize how a play is made. The backstage was amazing...to see the huge curtains, the stage, and tons of props. I wanted Isabella to put on a hat to take a picture...but she was too embarrassed. Hmmmm....her dad sure wasn't.....tell me isn't there something wrong with this picture?

After the musical we headed off to a late lunch/early supper all mixed into ones....at Carrabba's.

After the play and supper we went to Donovan's parents house...because they were hosting a family get-together. Aunt Wilma & Uncle Reuben were in town from Florida. Here is Aunt Wilma with our girls and me.

And all us cool cousins. We definitely bring young blood to these get togethers'.

Suzanna begging for ice cream.

Great Grandma Gingerich with our kids....I love how Grandma loves our little ones. She is so special.

And the newest member of the Gingerich Family....Donovan's cousin Craig and his wife Rachel had a little baby boy just 5 days ago and brought him tonight. What a little bundle of sweetness. And while eating up and loving this beautiful little baby boy....let me rest all of your little turning wheels in your brain.....I am totally loving this stage of my motherhood. Everyone is feeding themselves in our home now. For the first time in 8 years I am not buying diapers. I do not need nursing pads. While there are so many parts of the newborn stage I adore...I'm really happy to be moving on. Which is huge for me...I really thought I would never say that and actually mean it.

And as we were getting ready to go William asked to hold him. Here William is telling me, he would like a little baby like this in our family. Only not a boy, a girl, who he would like to name Douglas or Donald. Really William, Thomas the train names? Well I was thinking of granting your wish for another baby girl, but now that you put those names on the table, I think I shall have to say no. Otherwise I would've had to eat my previous words and send Donovan back to the Dr. to reverse the surgery. Just to grant that sweet little request from William.

No wonder my eye was twitching all day.....

We've been gone every night for 5 nights in a row....and we have plans for the next 3 nights to come. Fun..but busy. It's hard to know what to cut out and how to slow down. This was one thing I for sure didn't want to miss. A birthday dinner...oh how I love to not cook dinner. What a treat. Tonight we went to my aunt and uncles house to celebrate my cousin Jon's birthday, Donovan's (who turns 34 on April 27th) and William who turns 4 next week.

How very unfortunate the Creme de menthe ice cream pie I made looked better than it tasted. Don't you just hate it when you get special ingredients for a special desert and it turns out wrong. The recipe called for 2 TBS. of creme de menthe, I used 1 TBS. and it was way to strong. As in...one bite left you running for water and burned all the hair out of your nose. It was bad. I used Creme de menthe flavoring oil. Do any of you cooks know something different I should have used??? The recipe simply said creme de menthe.




Then we headed outdoors for some croquet. What a beautiful day. Loving the warm weather.

Someone loves to prove he's not getting old.

My cousin Steve and his wife Jane.

Showing the boys the game. Poor Jack has been running a high fever since Tuesday, but was up and around a little bit tonight.

O.k. just so you know this kiss was less than 1 second long. We are not making out. Just to clarify...for Donovan's sake.

And on a side note from another day....Tuesday we were at the school picking up Jack and Isabella and I had to use the bathroom. Which by the way....other question comes to mind what can you do with your little (almost) 4 year old boy when you go into a public restroom and need privacy...any ideas?? So moving forward I finish going to the bathroom and Suzy says, "Potty, Potty" along with her little dance that means...right now! So I quickly jump up and put her on the toilet. The very tall toilet with lots of germs on the seat. So I'm holding on to Suzy because of course she can't touch the floor with her feet and I certainly don't want her holding on to the seat.....and I'm waiting. And waiting. And waiting. So I look around to see if maybe she did go and I didn't hear it. So I look around the side of the my precious little girl and ker-plunk something huge & brown hits the water and then splashes. Splashes pee water into my eye. The eye I can not wipe because I'm holding precious with my 2 hands so she doesn't fall into the toilet that is very contaminated. All in a days work...girls. All in a days work.

my free fair pass

We are taking the huge plunge and Isabella is starting 4-H this year. I know it's a big step...but we are really committed to her learning about her community, and caring for animals, and blah, blah, blah. Let's get straight here. Exploring 4-H gives FREE family passes to the county fair. I love free and I love the fair. Did I mention the fair pass is good for the whole week of the fair?? Love free. Love fair food.

So for exploring 4-H...you pick one project and Isabella chose to do a poster on horses. Last week while the rest of y'all were in Florida tanning yourselves....I was home. Visiting horses. I'm not bitter at all.

So last week we went to our friends home to get an education on raising horses. It was cute how Isabella had her questions all written out and asked Anna, and then wrote her answers down for her project. She looked like a real little journalist. It was fun to see how the kids reacted to the animals. Besides horses and cows they also have a puppy, and a cat. It was so cold the day we were there, and then my camera batteries quit working....so I only got a few pictures opportunities. It was nice to get out and was fun to visit with my friend and her kids.

So now instead spending our money on admission into the fair, we can spend our money on more important things like elephant ears, cotton candy, and corn dogs. Can't wait for July!!!

fashion fiesta

It's Bigmama's Spring Fashion Fiesta!

So there is a contest my favorite blog is doing and the winner (she will pick a random #) will receive a free blog header design from Jules blog design. So here's what you gotta do....She wants us to post about what is in our closets. What do you wear on a daily basis? What’s your uniform? What piece of clothing can you not live without?

So here it goes, grab a pillow this may put you to sleep....



While being pregnant most of the last 8 years....I usually sported my pajamas until around noon, because I was usually too tired to get dressed or too busy. And because most things did not fit. Seriously I gained 60 lbs. with my first pregnancy. I couldn't even find jeans to fit my thighs at during one part of my pregnancy. Post baby...I was nursing every 2-3 hours and so I was pretty much chained to the house because lets face it, it's just easier to be at home. Because even when I did get dressed in something nice or half way presentable (in case someone actually came over) I would get spit up on, pooped on, or snot wiped on my shouder from one of the kids. Now with being done being pregnant, done nursing, and done with the baby stage....I am loving the jeans. Jeans are my friend again. Jeans that are cute, fit. God is good. Jeans are comfortable again. I have 3 pair that work well right now. Pictured above are a pair from Charlotte Russe, great bargain at $19.99 on sale! The other I picked up at a Gap outlet mall when we were on vacation. Not as cheap...but a great fit. And considering I wear them about 3 times a week, a good bargain. The other pair not pictured came from Savers in CA, remember Savers????? They are in the wash...they are a pair of Lucky Jeans. Love them. And almost forgot the belt. The belt is my favorite accessory. That goes along with every pair of jeans...since I am in-between sizes right now. Making the belt a necessity. But also love the cute belt from Target.

Moving on....

Typically I grab a long sleeve shirt....Because in Indiana it is cold and winter lasts for about 9 months out of the year. Spring is playing tricks on me right now, so I'm trying to move into short sleeve but find myself cold most mornings. If I'm feeling rather bored with the few selections of long sleeve shirts that I have I throw a short sleeve over the top just to spice things up for the kids.

And the sandals....because my feet do believe that it is spring. I have a vast amount of shoes....but these are the ones I wear over and over. Because they are the comfortable ones. I don't even want to picture the shoes I wore everyday all winter long. The winter shoes should be thrown far, far away. Because no one should be wearing them. But in all fairness if you did see me where those brown shoes....they were comfortable. They were slip-ons. They were easy to get on and off when running in and out. They were cheap. So on with the spring/summer selection the basic black flip flops with a thick sole, I wear pretty much all the time with jeans. They are from last summer, picked them up at Target and are super comfortable. The brown shoes came from Savers and are "Born" shoes. I had never heard of them before I saw them at the thrift store....but my friend tells me that they are expensive. Great, well I paid $3.99 for them. Love them for comfort and great with khaki's. The 3rd pair of shoes are also from Savers equally as cheap, and cute. They say spring and mix it up a bit for me.


I love this coat. I can throw this on and feel a little more dressed up, when running to the library or grocery shopping. It also works for church, a date, and everywhere else. Love it.

This is my favorite church outfit right now. The skirt was from Savers, and it super comfortable. It never needs to be ironed, because of the great fabric. The sweater was a gift from a friend, and the shoes were given to me from another friend. Just a fun, cheap outfit. I love that it can be dressed up or dressed down.

Another church selection.....and another skirt from Savers. I love the brand (H & M) however the skirt always has to be ironed, and that is a huge down side for me. But I love the length, and I love the fit. The shirt is shouts spring, and I love white and khaki together.

So there you have it, not that it's terribly exciting I realize. Now what is it you wear everyday????