I have fought the good fight...but I have lost.



For all of our married life (10 1/2 years) we have not had cable. I have been proud of this fact. Really? Who needs to sit around and watch T.V.? In my mind such a waste of time. That is unless it's 10:00 p.m. on a Thursday night and E.R. is about to come on. I just haven't got attached to shows, Except for that one show. (Thanks Beth & Amee) And for the kids I loved channel 34. It is PBS...and it always had something half way decent on it for the kids. But when we quit getting channel 34-because they went digital, I was a little on the dissatisfied side with the 5 channels we had left. No more Sesame Street, or Mister Rogers Neighorhood. Because really....how else will the kids learn their numbers and letters? So anyways a couple of weeks ago Donovan got an offer in the mail for Direct TV. Some bundle offer where if you put your cell phone on with your Internet and combine 1 cup of flour the Direct TV is free. Well, I was reluctant...because I just can't handle another temptation of ways to sit on the couch this winter. I already have this computer for pity sakes. But when it was all said and done....we are actually saving $5! Really 200 channels and then it is $5 less, well I can live with that.



So the above picture is children sitting in front of the TV. And wow, Let's be honest....it's a great babysitter.











In other multi-media news....Suzy is now using the library computer while William has story time at our local library. And the reason she can use the library computer and not our home computer?....Well I don't want her to ruin our computer.



And just to prove that we have done other things besides play on the computer and watch Direct TV.....here is a picture of some winter fun that has only begun. Just down the road, in our sub-division there is a small sledding hill. Within walking distance. We had so much fun. Well maybe not as much Suzy as the older kids. Suzy liked watching better than going down the hill.

And back home for something to warm us up. We were out of hot chocolate mix, so I used a recipe I love just as much. And just because I care about your warmth I will share it with you. Let me know what you think, if you make it.

Butterscotch Steamer
1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar together in saucepan.

Add 2 qt. milk heating until hot, but not boiling. Serve in hot mugs sprinkled with cinnamon.

Quote of the day:

At lunch yesterday I was making lunch & out of the corner of my eye I see William tapping and annoying Suzy.

Me: "William, Stop!" (without looking at him.)

William: "How can you see me when your doing your job?"

Well because I'm super mom, that's how.

And some day...you may think it's not as gross as you do now.

What a week! I needed a babysitter everyday except for this weekend....Thank goodness for friends and willing family members.


Monday....was the fieldtrip with Jack. Thanks Holly for babysitting for Suzy and William!


Tuesday...Orthodontist consultation for this girl.....
The poor thing has a lot of dental work in her future. We learned this week that she will need an expander for her upper palate because there is not enough room for her teeth, it also is affecting her breathing, and her bite. This trait came from her daddy, which... imagine that -her dad's mouth is not big enough. She will also need braces (short term) for her bottom teeth. So next week starts the appointments to prepare her mouth for the expander (which we will turn a key every day to "expand" her upper palate) and braces. December 16th is when the braces and expander will go in. That day could not come fast enough for her. Isabella is so excited about getting these on....and is already contemplating rainbow bands or pink?? Thanks Malaina for watching our 3 youngest.


And then on Wednesday we learned this guy needs glasses in a serious way.....



Jack is very farsighted. He needs glasses full time. We were beginning to notice his trouble with his eyesight, so we were not very surprised. Jack is so excited to get glasses....but so disappointed he has to wait 7-10 days for them to come in. Everyday he asks, "How many more days?" I also learned I needed help. Well-with my eyes... I have been having lots of migraines lately, so I had an exam also. My prescription has not changed in 2 years, but my focus mechanism is "almost shot" as my Doctor put it. The way to help this focus muscle is to relax it by wearing glasses or contacts. I was so excited to hopefully find a source for these migraines that have been slowing me down for years. I just don't function well when I feel like a knife is stabbing the center of my right eyeball. And really - I had 3 migraines last week alone. A record for me. So I opted for the contacts....which my Dr. had right in stock. Thanks Elsie for babysitting for Suzy and William and picking Isabella up from school.





Thursday this past week we met with Jack and Isabella's teachers for parent/teacher conferences. I've never worried about Isabella's conferences in the past....our son is a different story. And Jack is not a bad kid, he just loves to talk. He loves to tell stories. He just makes me nervous. Like...what is he going to say next kind of thing. He's not as shy as his older sibling...which keeps me humble most of the time. He also doesn't love to read...which I know is o.k. -Isabella does and it is totally to her advantage in school (I know there I go comparing our kids) But Jack's teacher said he is average-to above average in his reading level and he does not participate in class as much as she wishes he would. He is just a little reserved in class. WHAT!??? Are we really talking about the same kid?? Well, I was just sooooo thrilled there were no problems reported, I could've kissed and hugged her on the spot. Before going into the meet with Jack's teacher Donovan admitted to me, He's just a tad nervous about Jack's conference. Because he is the most strong willed of all our children. Trust me if you are going to battle with him, you better go and get some boots and a comfortable chair. He just takes you for a ride. He tries to talk you out of any and everything...and the chair is for the comfort, because as far as food he doesn't like....He will sit at the table for a very long time. Very long.


So enough about Jack....You know I love him...right??? He just tests me in ways I never thought would make me so angry.

Isabella's conference went so well. I am so happy with her teacher. She reported that Isabella is a great student, and that she is a good friend. Her grades are very good, and it's so nice that she is loving school so much. Thanks Malaina for watching all 4 of our kids so we could go meet with teachers. You are such a sweet young lady!


So with all this babysitting I needed I got to return the favor for another friend.....Look who we got to snuggle with....

O.k. So we didn't get the baby the whole time (he went to a wedding with his parents)...But we did get little cousin Karis for a couple of hours. His mama thought he would need to eat, and apparently I've run dry. After the wedding Lyndon and Krista stopped in to pick up Karis and we got to enjoy two-week old Jeremy while we chatted.

Oh seriously look at those big beautiful blue eyes!!! Jeremy you are so cute!

So it's 10:30...and lunches need to be packed, clothes need to be laid out, my bath needs to be taken, and here I still sit. Over and out friends.

Quote of the day:

At the dinner table last night Donovan and I kissed and I might have snacked on his neck just a little.

Jack: "I have to say that is really gross."

Actually, I decided to take the van instead of the pony.

Earlier this fall at our church campout there were several couples around the campfire that started talking about the beloved Ikea. There were a couple of the girls who had never been there, and others of us that carry a map of Ikea in our purse at all times. Just to brush up on where things are for the next trip. So this started the idea to go overnight and make a little girls get a way. We left Saturday morning at 8 a.m. I won't tell you what time we got there...because it took a bit longer than it should have.

So after a bit of shopping at Ikea we went for some deep dish pizza. This is a picture of lunch that we finally sat down to at 3:00 p.m. Then headed back to Ikea to polish off the 3rd floor of the store.

After our fix on Ikea we checked into our hotel. Our 5 star hotel Monica's husband found for about $60/night online!!! It was absolutely amazing! It ended up being only $20 per person!!! And my favorite part of our room was this....

It was a T.V. that was built into the mirror. I'm not really much of a T.V. buff, but how cool is this?? Cool enough to take a picture, is how cool! When you opened the double doors into the bathroom the T.V. automatically came on. It was kinda fun to have entertainment while on the throne. But really how clean do you think that remote is? Are any of you gagging at this point? Because seriously I thought about it, but it didn't bother me at all to change the channel.

After checking in to our room....We went in search for supper. We found the Cheesecake Factory at the Woodfield Mall. There was an hour wait to eat, So some us went shopping and one of us did this....

I had been needing a change, needing a fresh look....so off came 6 inches. I am so excited! I love it. After my cut....our table was ready at the Cheesecake Factory.

Our supper was so good!!!

Some of us, had some loud moaning going on during cheesecake. It is that good.

After our late supper....we headed back to our 5 star....and got an in-room movie. It was just like a little slumber party. There was more talking, more laughing, and little sleep going on for the rest of that night/early morning. But really who cares? Because no one is getting up with a baby/children during the night, or the next morning. I think I finally drifted off about 3 a.m.

The next morning we got ready & went to breakfast. Here is the hotel lobby, at the fire place.

Here's the group....Rose S., Rose Y., Me, Monica

Back row: Carla, Julie, Brooke.

My welcome home....was very welcome. Obviously, Jack is hot blooded...since he is wearing a tank top while there are snow flurries outside. And yes, if you're wondering if that IS a key chain hanging from his collar of his shirt. What? Don't your kids do that?

Look at this happy pants....I went along with him on a field trip today. He couldn't have been more giddy. Me either. It was so refreshing to have a little breather from the day to day. It just makes me appreciate my kids all over. We went to the Elco Preforming Arts Center for a musical about the children's book...If you Give a Pig a Pancake, and several other children's books. It was cute.

Quote of the day:

From William on Sunday:

His Sunday School teacher: Where did your mommy go today?

William: "She went to town a riding on a pony"

screeching breaks & squeals

I love how excited my kids get to see each other after the school day. It's pretty cute how they can get along for 4 minutes straight....

at least right after school.

a new baby boy joins the family

Last weekend....

This weekend....

Lookie what my little friend Krista had.....

a little baby boy.

Jeremy Mathias

How sweet is he???

How exciting to have finally met this little sweet bundle. I've felt him kick through Krista's tummy...I've watched her grow....How fun to hold this sweet little baby.

It was very exciting to take our kids to meet their new cousin, they were all so pumped about the baby even before we got there. The boys were especially excited that Krista had a boy.

It's really fun to see your baby hold and love on a baby. Suzy just loved this little doll. Thank goodness she has her own "dolls" at home. :)

Congrats Lyndon and Krista. We are so happy with you on the birth of your son.

And if I put my head down on the table and you be quiet long enough, I could take a nap.

Even though I haven't blogged for a week, you really haven't missed anything very drastic happening from this side of town.

Except for the fact that I almost had a major break down when I thought we were out of sour cream tonight. Sour cream is one of the main staples I have with every meal (well almost). So -when I finished making nachos for supper, I was pretty frightened that we had run out. But rest assured we were o.k. with the sour cream supply.

Not sure if I picked up a flu bug or what....but I've been feeling just a little stomach flu for the last couple of days. (Maybe it's all the sour cream??) Isabella has a touch of this stomach bug too in case you're wanting to insert a pregnancy joke here. I had a migraine this morning to top off the stomach ache so I was back in bed with full sympathy from Donovan. How sweet of him to let me go back to bed at 6:30. Two hours later and one Imitrex and I was back in business. That is until I tried to eat some cereal. Well - sick again. So I took a break from eating for a little while.

Urghhhhhh! And I love eating!!

In other news we carved pumpkins tonight. A few of our children will put their hands into the pumpkin to actually clean it out. Here was one of the brave ones, Isabella.

Jack has my acute sense of smell...and kept saying, "ohhhh, that smells like poop." I was gagging slightly myself.

Donovan was excited to incorporate power tools into the carving process.


Here I am trying to think past the smell.

If you click on the picture, you can see Jack has the gagging look on his face as well.








The best part of this process was watching their excitement. Listening to their anticipation after school...."Can we carve our pumpkins yet??" This is one cool thing as your kids get older, they remember from last year & how much fun it was.

My pumpkin with her pumpkin.

Another pumpkin with his baby pumpkin.

And my pretty little baby pumpkin with her baby pumpkin.

Quote of the day:

From Jack last night....

"If I put my ear down to the table, I can hear the ocean."

breakfast almost in bed

Last night we had small group at our house for the 1st time. We joined this small group about 6 weeks ago..this was our first time hosting. We are doing an excellent study on a series called "The Bait of Satan", by John Bevere. It is a very good study. Christianbook.com review states:
Are you ensnared by bitterness, seized by anger, held captive by resentment because someone has offended you? Bevere shows you how to escape Satan's grip, avoid a victim mentality, practice forgiveness, experience reconciliation, and remain free in Christ.

I love it. And I am learning so much, about myself and how I relate to others. The things I screw up and the things I need to change. More than the study I love the people in our group. This group has been so accepting of Donovan and I, and our family. They have treated us so kindly as new-comers. They have made us feel like we belong. Here are the girls....

Carol, Carla, Julie, Rose, and I.

And here are the guys.

Willard, Jason, J.B., Donovan, Norm, and Ed.And these are our offspring....13 in all! It is amazing how they can keep themselves entertained during the video we watch...with little help from their parents.

I love our new small group. Thank you guys for being so welcoming to our family.


And this my friends is today....breakfast in the bedroom. Sleeping in too long....and getting a late start....got me thinking. Thinking about how can I multi-task the morning. I've been taking William and Suzy to story-time at our library, that starts at 10 on Thursday's. You wouldn't think that would be an unreachable goal, since I get up at 6:50. That is unless I go back to bed and sleep until 8:30. (Give me a break...I didn't get to bed until midnight.) Anyways...it worked out well. I put William and Suzy just outside our bathroom to eat their breakfast.... while I washed and blow dried my hair. They looked at me pretty funny when I told them they were going to eat breakfast in mom's room today. Started laundry, got the kids dressed and we were on our way.


I've got a cousin (by marriage), Jessica that is visiting from Florida- so she met us at the library today. Then we went to where she is babysitting for some friends while they are out of town for 2 weeks. The kids all played and we had a great time catching up and then having lunch together. I wish everyday could be so fun.
Jessica, Maryls, and me.

So are you wondering about the bread give away?? Are you wondering if you won??
I asked Donovan to pick a number between 1-16 (the number of comments) and he randomly picked #9.

So the winner is.... Joy.

She is the person who had the 9th comment.
Congrats Joy -I will drop your bread off tomorrow.
Thanks for the rest of you who left me some pretty original, funny, and sweet comments. You guys are such cool friends!!


Quote of the day:
Jack, "What if I'm in a hot air balloon and it drops down to the ground?"

Who knows where he comes up with these scenarios.