Amish Acres

Last weekend we made our way out to Amish Acres for the second time. The first time was with my family and this time was with Gran, John’s mom. (John and his dad and brother were enjoying some guy time at the Notre Dame football game.) The place was decked out for fall (be still my heart!) and there were pumpkins, huge squash (squashes?), gourds, and scarecrows everywhere. I wish I had more pictures and better pictures, but I was kind of busy keeping up with kids!

We got to watch a live demonstration of an Amish man making apple butter. (Yum!) That poor man had a really hot job!

Look at this cute scare-crow! He was a delivery guy and it made me think of Doug from King of Queens.

I really wanted a cute picture of all four kids. Hmmmmm…. I guess we get an E for effort. Next time I’ll take some Gorilla Glue and glue their little hineys to the steps! I also wish I had known how fallish everything was going to look – I would have dressed them in fall colors for pictures! Good grief, La, get it together, right?

Of course, there was shopping with Gran. That’s always fun because everyone knows that Gran buys you whatever you want! Woohoo! In this case Julia got a Hawaiian looking Ty bear (because that has everything to do with the Amish farm we were visiting!) and John David got a bow and arrow (which I suppose is a little bit more Amish?). Aulora got a stuffed horse (definitely Amish) and I don’t remember what Joshua got.

(In case you’re wondering, this was a working Amish farm until about 25 years ago. It’s now owned by a history buff who has made sure that it is an accurate representation of the People. You can take tours of the house buildings and the old school house and the restaurant is in a super old barn. Many Amish people are employed there.)

Love you babies!!!

(edited to say: I'm trying out some new blog tools. My post isn't supposed to look like this, but I need sleep so this is how it stays!)

Bad La! Bad, Bad, Bad!

I've got pictures and I've got stories. Have I posted anything? No.

(Hence the post title.)

I don't know why, but I HATE downloading pictures from my camera onto the computer. It's not even a big deal, but I can't convince myself of that.

So the pictures stay on the camera. (Pictures of the opening Notre Dame game, the Amish farm we visited, projects I've been working on, and messes that have been made.)

And the stories stay in my head. (Stories of progress reports, and more of "THE TALK", stinky boys, and messes that have been made.)

May I blame the non-posting on the "messes that have been made"? I do think that if I owned one of these my posting would be more frequent......

Things Like This.......

only happen when you are youth pastors. Such a lifetime ago it now seems.

I wonder how much money these three girls might pay me for this picture? Hmmmmm.....

Behold, My Son

This just really amuses me......

Teacher Birthday Ideas

At the PTF meeting a week ago I signed up to be in charge of celebrating teacher birthdays and doing the teacher appreciation stuff. I received the birthday list on Friday and there's a birthday this Thursday!

Does anyone have ideas? I'm probably going to call the school's secretary in a little bit to find out some favorite things. I'd like to include students, but I'm not sure there's enough time for this one. It also seems that this first birthday will set the precedent so I need to do it right. Not too big, not too small. Sweet, thoughtful, useful, fun, budget friendly. You know.

Help?

Airing Dirty Laundry Via Homework

John David is currently doing a science section at school about our senses. One homework paper was all about hearing and it wanted him to list five things he could hear right at that moment. His list?

• The TV
• Babies screaming
• My Mom
• Birds
• My breathing

How bad does that sound? Could he not have specified that the TV was tuned into PBS? Educational programming? Should I just be thankful the list doesn't say, "Mom screaming", instead of "babies screaming"? That would have earned a superb grade, I'm sure......

Happy Birthday Aulora!

We've loved you since you were being formed.

And then we met you and loved you even more:

Before we knew it you were turning one!

And then two!
(Somebody has sleepy nap time eyes in this picture from school!)

And today you turned three!

I really mean it when I sing the words, "You are my sunshine!" My days are crammed with hugs and kisses and smiles from you. You, little girl, are sweet to the core and I will always love you. I love watching you play with your doll house and taking care of all your babies. I love how you care for your brother and how you follow Jupie around. It makes me smile to watch you snuggle with your Bubba. I melt when you run to Daddy's arms. When you ask for one more song at night, how can I say no? When I ask you to come here and you respond, "Why? What're you gonna do with me?" - well, that's just stinkin' cute!

Monster, Boo, BooBoo, Baby Girl, Pappy the Puppy - no matter the name, you are my precious girl! Forever and ever and ever!

Good Mom, Bad Mom

Yesterday evening, all the kids were playing in the den while I did some housework. John David was suddenly hollering my name in a slight panic, so I ran to where they were, my mind busily running through a multitude of scenarios.

I had not considered what awaited me. At all.

There was Joshua, sitting on the hearth of the big fireplace, covered from head to toe in soot and ashes. Oh, for a picture!

I think he was very content, playing with this new found medium, until he tried tasting it. That's apparently where he drew the line.

I was frozen just staring at him trying to figure out what to do next. He was filthy! Currently, the only bathtub we have is out of commission (it's the next remodeling project! yea!), so baths have been happening in the big kitchen sink for the babies. BUT, the big kitchen sink was still filled with the crusty pot from dinner last night (hey, back off - it was soaking) and all the dishes from the dinner the kids has just eaten.

So with one hand I held him (getting my own clothes filthy in the process) and with the other hand I cleared out the sink. After a good, long scrubbing, he was finally kissable and squeezable again.

My question to you.....

Was I a bad mom for letting that happen in the first place?

or.....

Was I a good mom for handling it so cool?

I'm definitely leaning towards good mom. Don't you agree???

Here's a Recipe for Tonight!

I tried a new recipe last night that was so good (and super easy!) and I just knew that all of you would want to try it too. I found it on the Taste of Home website and it's called Almond Chicken with Apricot Sauce. It reminded me a lot of the apricot chicken served at Olive Garden - one of my favorites! I'll definitely make this again.

By the way, Home Depot is running a $5 off of their Behr paint special through tomorrow so if you're planning on doing some painting soon you should get some! I've used Behr and it's good stuff. Maybe I should get some to redo our bathroom with the yellow tile on the floors and half of the walls. I painted it a chocolate kind of brown in there and John informed me it looked like a banana fudge pop......I think he's kind of right this time. ;)

Great Goodwill Find!

One of my favorite things to do is go to garage sales, thrift stores, and second hand shops for kids. My heart seriously beats faster!

A few months ago I made the mistake of taking the older two with me to Salvation Army and it was not a good one. I never went back to that particular location, but ever since then the kids have thought very negatively about thrift stores. I just can't have my offspring thinking thoughts like that!

Soooooooo, when I was at a neighborhood Goodwill earlier this week and out came this sand and water table in brand new condition, I grabbed it right up! I was determined for my kids to see that you can find great things without spending lots of money. It even came with the play accessories and the umbrella was still in the bag. All for $10! They LOVED it!

Of course, you have to have popsicles when you play outside.
Aulora likes to share hers with John David.

And with Julia too.

And with John David again.

This was such a great bargain and it has been worth much more than $10 already. (Joshua loves it too but he was napping when these pictures were taken. He gets incredibly messy when playing with it - like he's been at the beach!)

BTW, I've heard that Goodwill will be launching a blog soon featuring things like before and after projects with thing purchased at their stores. I'm looking into it and will post more details as I hear about it.....

Summer (?) Attire

This is John David riding his bike a week ago, when it was still August. Do you see what he's wearing??? Yes, that is a ski coat. It was cold outside. In August.

I'm scared!

The Dining Room Nightmare

I previously mentioned that I was enduring quite a trying time getting our dining room painted. I'm happy to say that it is finally behind me. Whew! Let's see if I can recap it all so you can, ahem, enjoy the transformation as I did.

Here's the dining room before we ever moved in.
Who are those children in my picture???

After hours and hours of messy and tedious work, the wallpaper was gone. There was also chipping and peeling paint that had to be scraped.

I meticulously taped off the floor and then primed the walls with two coats. I'm not sure from this picture if I had painted the wainscoting yet or not. That was no small task either and it took several coats to get it pretty and white.

After priming twice with one coat primer from Valspar, we saw that the places underneath were still showing through. Using plaster, I filled in lower spots where the paint had peeled and attempted to copy the existing texture on the walls. Once dry, I sanded it all down lightly.

I primed the walls yet again. And here goes the red.. Not so sure I like this color but the man really wants it.....

Bad lighting (it was the middle of the night - when else is a mommy of four supposed to paint!?!), but I think you get the idea. The red is intense (!) and the areas I re-textured are still showing through after multiple coats of one coat coverage.

Look at this next picture. Have you ever seen anything so ugly when painting??? These walls are totally dry and this is what they look like.

Here's the paint I used from Valspar (Lowe's signature paint).
I took both the primer and the paint and returned to Lowe's where they gave me exceptional customer service. My money was returned and after they saw the pictures and heard the story they said they would contact Valspar to see what we needed to do.

Valspar said that because it's a thick paint and fast drying you really have to paint a small section of wall and cut in. Then move to the next small section. You can't go back later and cut in around your trim. (???) They also suggested a flat paint. Valspar and Lowe's hooked me up with everything I needed to redo the room (on their dime) and I got right to work.

First I sanded the walls down. So ugly!

I didn't take pictures of all the next steps because I just wanted to be done! Next I primed it all again with a green tinted primer. I took this opportunity to change the whole red plan and go with my choice - green. My "Mark Twain House Olive" flat paint from Valspar went on beautifully. I did not use the one coat coverage again, nor will I ever!

I can't replace the light fixture just yet, but Home Depot was clearancing out their shades so I replaced those and took off all of the gold berry vines that were wrapped around the light. Some of the bulbs are too bright, but you get the idea.

I can't wait to make/find curtains and hang things on the walls.

So happy now.

P.S. John did admit that he does like the green better than the red. He really wants something to be painted red, but I've just had to explain to him that I do NOT like that color and it makes me unhappy. It also greatly disables me when it comes to decorating. I think he understands now. =)

This Inventor Deserves The Nobel Prize!!!

I totally forgot to post about the new grocery store I found! It's not actually a new store, just new to me. There has never been another grocery store that I've considered shopping at regularly other than Walmart (mainly just because of prices), but I think I've discovered something here!

The store is called Meijer and it's very, very similar to Walmart except:

1) it's not nearly as crowded!
2) they seem to be somewhere in between Walmart and Target when it comes to things like housewares and clothes
3) they have one of those horses your kids can ride for only a penny (hey, it's the small stuff!)

And here's the big one..............

4) they have special baskets you can pay a dollar to use that have a "car" in the front for your kids to be buckled into and there in front of them is a little tv that plays cartoons for them while you shop! No lie! Do you even know how helpful that is when you are shopping with a one year AND a two year old??? Sweetness!

I really loved this new store! It totally beats Aldi and their ridiculous have-to-pay-a-quarter-to-use-them baskets. Has anyone else seen these baskets anywhere? Why aren't these everywhere???

My apologies to our fellow citizens......

I'm seriously thinking that by now, most people in our new town have seen us.

They've heard us.

They've laughed at us.

They've smelled us.

They've witnessed trails we've left behind us. (I will leave to your imagination what kind of trails.)

They've experienced US.

Oh yeah, baby. We're here!

For instance, yesterday I had a few minutes to kill before picking up the big kids from school and I had really wanted to try out a grocery store called Aldi.

With two little ones in tow, I walked up to the store to get a basket. Uhmmmm, they were chained and locked together. I fumbled around trying to figure it out for a minute and then asked a lady who was coming out.

Turns out, you have to insert a quarter into the little lock in order to use their basket. Of course, I'm me and it would be way too easy if I had a quarter. So I decided to just carry Joshua and have Aulora walk. I had no plan for whatever groceries I might buy.

I'm sure we were a sight in that store. I juggled two children and an armful of groceries. And guess what else? They don't have shopping bags. Bea-u-ti-ful!

Our second showing was at the park last night. I'm married to quite the terrorist it seems. All the little kids l-o-v-e the merry-go-round and they piled on when they saw a daddy was going to push it.

Y'all, the first time he did it I had to run over and make him stop because a little girl was terrified and crying. Of course, she ran over to her mom and I had to wonder what she might be saying.

Not much later I look over and he's doing it AGAIN. This time Julia is about to fall off and she's hanging on with just one little arm and about to be dragged to her death. (No, I'm not exaggerating at all, in case John tells you I am.) Another little boy was screaming and crying and again, I had to make him stop the stupid thing.

We left the park pretty quickly after that and I have banned him from all future merry-go-round pushing. I'm fairly certain that his picture is already posted all over the park trees by now anyway.

Wow. We live an exciting life......

Hopefully Waking Up Soon....

....from the horrible painting nightmare I've been living for the past week now.

I've painted a lot. Certainly more than my fair share in the last year for sure. I've learned a lot of lessons the hard (and expensive) way. I consider myself a pretty good painter. I take great pride in the fact that I don't have to tape anything other than the floor.

However, over recent days, I've met my match, I do believe.

Seriously.

Even the head paint man at Lowe's was baffled. He called Valspar and consulted with them.

Hopefully, we've solved the issues. Pictures will come in the next day or so when it's complete.

And for the record, I am a good painter who has suffered through some horrible paint. Lowe's has been great and refunded money and even paid for new paint to correct everything.

Yea for Lowes. Boo to Valspar.
(sorry if you're a Valspar fan!)

Will Crash for Krispy Kreme

We were leaving Chickfila on Thursday evening and next door the hot light was on at Krispy Kreme Donuts. We love (well, mostly me, but whatever) the donuts there and John rolled down his window and had his head sticking out to smell them. "It smells just like the fair," he said. He was enjoying the scent so much that he very nearly crashed into the median.

Silly Man.

Yummy Krispy Kreme.

Sigh.....

***No, we did NOT stop there. No, we never stop there. They aren't good for us. Boo.***

A Walmart Moment To Beat All Walmart Moments

I can't believe I have neglected to write about this, but it happened when I was computer-less and internet-less a few weeks ago.

I was driving down the road yesterday and had a rare moment of clarity.

Gadzooks! I never shared THE Walmart moment!

(I'll forewarn you now that I have now pictures - boo! - but hopefully you can appreciate the story anyway.)

It was a Saturday and in an effort to kill two birds with one stone - distract the kids because my parents were leaving to go back home and buy some groceries too - we headed into Walmart. Myself, John, and all four kids.

What were we thinking??? Walmart? Saturday? Four kids?

Moving along.

Early on in the trip, we had what might be considered a foreshadowing of THE moment when I asked Aulora to put the container of blueberries in the basket for me. She obeyed happily and dropped them in. As soon as the little plastic box hit the basket it opened up and blueberries went everywhere. Of course, berries fit through the little openings of the basket so they rolled here and they rolled there. They rolled, as I said, everywhere!

So before lots of people started walking on them and squishing them (and before they could kick us out), we had all the kids on their hands and knees picking up berries.

Then we discreetly grabbed a new box of blueberries and continued shopping.

Fast forward one long hour of grueling Walmart torture later and we are checking out. I sent John ahead towards the car with the 3 big kids as I took care of bagging and paying. We were almost done when I realized the monkeys were eating a box of goldfish we hadn't yet payed for. I didn't want to walk too far away from Joshua and the basket so I told John, "Just take the bag out of the box and toss me the box."

Pause right there.

Are those difficult instructions? "Just take the bag out of the box and toss me the box." No? I didn't think so either. Hence my assumption that's what my husband would then do. This is the man that scored so high on his LSAT that he was hired to teach the prep course. This is also the man that is now in law school at Notre Dame. And he already holds 3 other degrees.

He's a smart one. I really can't emphasize that enough.

Back to the story.

He did NOT remove the bag. He did NOT close the box. And I did NOT know that he didn't do those things.

He tossed the box at me from about 15 feet away. The rest is quite a blur.

A blur of goldfish and laughter that is.

Right there, in the midst of Saturday afternoon Walmart craziness, I was assaulted by a whole box full of Pepperidge Farm goldfish. They were flying all over the place! In my hair, at my feet, in my shirt!

Time froze and I stared at my smart husband in disbelief. Everyone else stared at me in disbelief. Poor little me with a now empty box in my hands, standing in a sea of goldfish.

And then I could hear some snickers. Of course it was not at me, but with me, I'm sure.

I've had a lot of Walmart moments, but this one has to be my crowning glory. I really hope I don't top it. I really don't.

I'm good. Thanks.

(I have to say, the incident did make for easier snacking as goldfish were readily available throughout the day. That's all I'm going to say about that!)

Do you have a Walmart moment that will make me feel better? Do share!


**I'm sharing later about my new favorite grocery store! You won't believe what they have for the kids!**

Something Hairy Can Be Scary!

If you were sitting in your living room, in a house you just moved to, where you daily see either "varmits" outside or at least the evidence of them, and you looked over and saw this:

Wouldn't you be a little concerned???

After slowly inching forward to see what it could be and then poking it with a long toy, I discovered it was just this:

What is it?

Just the hair that fell off of this poor little Amish doll.

There. All better.
Except that everywhere I go in the house, this hairless doll shows up on the floor - her hair always sadly nearby. Kind of creepy.

Julia said she has boy hair and that's why she needs her Amish "cap".

Budding Artist Uses My Door

Aulora felt the need to add her own decorating touch to one of the doors.
Can you see it? Lots of big crayon scribbles all over it.
All crayons have now been confiscated.