the girl loves food

Our best eater yet, except when it comes to squash and bananas.
Despite her appetite she is turning into quite the petite little thing.
Just as tiny and as happy as can be.

food

*We go through at least 3 loaves of Milton's 12 grain bread every 2 weeks, 2 Costco sized loaves. I'm planning on starting to bake all of our bread. Wish me luck!

*1 large box of Cheerios, monthly

*Adah consumes 1 box of multi-grain baby cereal and at least 35 containers of baby food each pay day. (about 3 a day) And also eats whatever she can of our meals, diced.

*We spend about $30 a month on diapers. That number reached nearly $100 when we had 3 in diapers...for 2 years! Yipes.

*It takes us 1 month to go through a gallon of blue cheese dressing. Don't judge!

* And along with all that dressing?
a costco size bag of broccoli,
a costco size bag of carrots,
a costco size bag of Romain,
a costco size container of cherry tomatoes,
a costco size bag of snap peas,
a costco size bag of baby bell peppers,
each payday.
+ whatever else is in season, we love asparagus & green beans.

*Until I weaned the kids off their sippy cups a couple of months ago we made it through 5-7 gallons of milk every 2 weeks.
Now? 1-2
Huh.

*Fruit;
1 costco size container of blueberries in a matter of hours
(Jude and Mama's favorite!)
costco strawberries, kiwi, cuties, bananas, pineapple, grapes, raspberries, cherries, and pretty much 1 of whatever else they have in season...every pay day. And I try to get something new for the kids to try each pay day such as papaya, a coconut, pomegranate, mango, star fruit, or passion fruit, etc. (note; we only ever make it to costco about once a month, the rest of the time I just have to buy that much quantity, or we go hungry!)

*the kids eat, on average, 1/2 an apple apiece every day during the winter. Camden usually can eat 1-2 on his own daily. They're his favorite. My grandparents go to Wanatchee every fall and bring us back boxes and boxes, never charge us, and then store them in their garage for us to use as we need them.

*1 bag of costco chicken every 2 weeks

*20 lbs (?) of hamburger every month

*we have steak once a week

*I never buy...
nuts (Jude's allergic),
seafood (gag.),
mac and cheese
(though aunt Heidi makes a special lunch of it for the kids every week or two),
any kind of breaded chicken,
hot dogs,
corn dogs
or sugary cereals.

*Snacks usually consist of fruit and crackers; graham, or occasionally animal, fishies, or likewise.
I try to limit myself to 2 items from the snack aisle each pay day.

*I usually bake about twice a week

*I try to buy only un-bleached or whole grain flour and sugar.

*We've been known to make it through a 12 pack of soda in 3 days. We try to not always have it around, but somehow my husband just can't stop bringing it home! It's probably our very biggest downfall. The kids are hardly ever allowed soda, except at birthday parties.

*Sour cream is another of our loves. It's not hard for us to go through 2 large containers each payday. Especially when I'm making lots of casseroles. Lately we've been trying to have a grilled meat and side of veggies each night, so our sour cream consumption has gone WAY down.

*It seems we go through about 18 eggs each payday. I'd like to eat more.

* We (not including Daddy) LOVE beans. We're always stocked up on kidney, garbanzo and black. We use them in soups, salads or straight outta the can!

*Yes. I admit it. I try to limit myself to 1 latte each week. It's a work in progress! I also no longer allow myself any coffee creamers because I cannot stay out of them!

favorite things

10. clean sheets
9. baking
8. sleeping with the window open and waking up to the sound of birds
7. lattes
6. jeans that fit (Yes...Over my big buns!)
5. the smell of wood smoke
4. brushing Gwyn's hair
3. lazy days with my family
2. my babies' chatter
1. lyle's massages

just a few of the things that make me happy.

What makes me grumpy(er)...?

10. Manipulation. If I feel I'm being manipulated in any way you can bet your bottom dollar I'm not gonna do it.
9. Mud. Really; mud and 4 kids.
8. Competition. Who cares if you win a silly game, or lose? Does it really matter? Just have fun.
7. Cold showers = grumpy mama.
6. Tardiness. I'm not talking about the occasional 5 minutes, I'm talking about being perpetually late. Those who are consistently half an hour late. You may as well grab a megaphone and announce to the rest of us, "MY time is more valuable than yours!"
5. Clutter.
4. Those who make themselves look good at the expense of others. That's scummy.
3. Laundry. I never got it. Until I got married and had 4 babies. Now I get it. Mountains of it. Every day.
2. Laptops, iPhones, video games, etc, etc, etc. Come on guys, there's a real world with real people out here!
1. Being ignored. The ultimate betrayal.

Oh, And WHINY KIDS!

look who's growing up...

I ask him nearly every day why he won't stop.

"Because that's the way God made me!" he says.

happy friday!

thank heavens for all the sunbeams outside
'cause we sure don't have many inside. teething;
it's the pits.

Our Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes {Adah}

Our Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes {Gwyneth}

Our Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes {Jude}

in shining armor...

I thought I'd share this since so many of you have had our children in your prayers.

This was Camden's story this morning as the boys were waking up;

"Guess what mom...There were lots of knights here last night. I was awake because I woke up when it was really early and I could hear them all around the house outside. They were all gold. I know because I saw one come in our room. I could hear him come up the stairs and he opened our door and left it open...but it was still closed. And he stood right there by the door. He was all gold and he had a helmet and a sword. But his sword was still in his sword holder. He was nice, but he was REALLY grumpy. He went like this...(insert vicious snarl) His eyes didn't see my eyes because he was standing right there watching Jude sleep."

To which Jude responded,

"Camden, there were lots of knights standing around my bed. They came to save me."

"Save you from what, Jude?"

"From my bad dreams."

Our Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes {Camden}

Aunt Crystal's brain-child.
A year in the making.
Deemed "the best Christmas present ever!"
Worth every once of energy that went into it.
A treasure for generations to come.

Camden...
Dreamy as can be...

sleepover

5.30am...quiet stirring

5.44am...sleepy whispers

5.53am...gleeful giggles

6.02am...little tiptoes

6.13am...excited chatter

6.24am...giddy laughter

Tuesday.

1. A couple of weeks ago we had a bad case of diarrhea run through (no pun intended) all 3 bigger kids. It was really the first time any of them have had to deal with it. They weren't sure exactly what to think about it. Camden, after sitting on the potty for 20 minutes straight finally told me, "This is terrible, Mama." And Gwyneth, "I don't wanna see that! Disgusting!" Jude would just scream, at the top of his voice, every time that he had gone in his undies. We'd get him to the bathroom only to discover he hadn't. He never once did. Thank you, Jude. Mama loves you for it.

2. I just discovered this great site, Kiddie Records Weekly. It offers free audio stream­ing of classic children’s records from the 1940s and 1950s. If you love all things vintage as I do, then make sure you check it out. It's fun just looking through their library. They also include jpegs of all the record covers...soooo cute! I am so excited about it! Hopefully the kids share my enthusiasm.

3. My hair is finally starting to grow back. I still lose handfuls upon handfuls hourly, but at least some of it is being replaced now. Thank goodness. I was getting quite the widow's peek!

4. Adah has her first cold. And she's teething. Poor thing. I cannot begin to tell you what a blessing she is to our entire family. She really is an angel. I've never seen a sweeter babe. Say a little prayer for the poor dear today, will you?

5. I got a new chair for my living room! Well, new to me. We got it at the antique store. I love it! It has a caned back, and a big fluffy linen-like seat cushion, and coppery painted frame. It really is beautiful. I'm sure we'll be doing a photo shoot after I get it cleaned up.

6. I really need to rearrange my living room. It's clutter central right now. I cringe just thinking about it. If anyone knows of or comes across an antique bookcase, please let me know. I'm in dire need of one.

Because:

7. My grandma had all of the girls over the other day and had us clean out her bookcase. Yay! Beautiful classics and antique hymnals for me. Thanks Grandma! It was so neat to look through inscriptions to relatives living over a hundred years ago. (we didn't get to bring any of those home)

8. Overheard:

Jude to Camden: Hey, Annikan, how's it goin? I'm Caleb. I'm seven.
Gwyneth, "You don't know the power of the dark side."
Camden, "Luke, I am your father." In a voice filled with such regret.

And they continue to act out Star Wars, every day.

9. Jude calls his brother, Camd.
Not Cam.
Not Den.
But Camd.
It makes my heart happy each time I hear it.

10. I loath whoever invented chocolate. It'll be the death of me yet.