Time to Celebrate!

Last year our Christmas tree (artificial) stand broke, and the Christmas tree fell over. We were all in the living room when it happened, and somehow I managed to catch the tree before it hit the floor. Some of the ornaments still broke, but none so special.

So, this year we are just using our small, 4-foot tree for now. A few days before we put the tree up, we started to talk about it. Kynzie was very excited to decorate the tree and immediately set about the task of scouring the house for "decorations" for the tree. Even though I tried to explain we had ornaments packed away, she filled a shoe box with various items from the house. Included in her box were items such as a purple padded hanger, her princess tiara, a plastic bead necklace, mylar balloons, and anything sparkly. I took some pictures of the tree with her items, but they are all blurry.

She said we needed the star-shaped mylar balloon because it was the star of Jesus when he was born. It still makes its way to our tree from time to time.

We also brought out the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set. The little kids loved it again this year. Kynzie loves to act out the story of Jesus' birth, and she has tried to explain it to Max a couple times.

Snow Ice Cream!

Several days ago, when it snowed, we set a bowl out on the patio table to collect some snow. Kynzie was so excited to have some snow ice cream. She seems to remember it from last year. She loves to play in the snow, and thinks it is even better to eat it! So, I mixed a batch of yummy sugar snow. I loved snow ice cream when I was growing up.

By the way, this is how Max eats all food. He must have a spoon or a fork to hold or stick in his food, but he still uses his hand to put the food into his mouth.

Breakfast Bits

This morning we were listening to some Bbile songs while finishing up breakfast. Kynzie looked at me and asked, "Jesus wears britches?" It took me a minute to figure out she somehow got that out of a song that goes "Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches."

After reviewing the contents of a container full of maternity clothes (given to me by my sister-in-law - Thank you, Kerry!), I mentioned it is going to be exciting to wear some different maternity clothes now. Delainey replied, "It's going to be exciting to see you in some different maternity clothes now."

Max has a miniature basketball (this poor ball is permanently partially deflated) he calls "etball". He brought it to breakfast this morning and pretended it was more important than his cereal. But, when push came to shove, and I wouldn't give him the cereal until he dropped the ball, there was no contest. Food wins every time! He is a little food tank.

Parents of a Teenagaer!

(As a side note - we didn't get many good pictures of Delainey's birthday because most of them were blurry.)

Delainey had a whole weekend of festivities. Friday Delainey, her friend, my sister-in-law and I spent the night in a hotel (courtesy of my bro & his wife). It was fun and a good time to be had by all. The made-to-order omelet for breakfast was my favorite. Saturday, we went to my mom's for a family gathering there. My parents, my brother and family, and my sister and her family even came into town. Sunday was an all-day shopping trip capped off by a second family gathering at my mom and dad-in-law's which included all of Scott's siblings and families.

She felt pretty special with all the activity ushering in her 13th birthday. Thank you to everyone!

Here are some of the pictures that did turn out okay. I love the one of the little girls sitting around her on the couch waiting for Delainey to read the card.

First Haircuts

Kynzie, at age 3, and Max, at nearly 18 months, received their first haircuts on November 1, 2007. It was quite an exciting day for us all. Kynzie's hair had grown past her waist, and it caused great stress and anguish for everyone in the house during the daily hair-brushing sessions. Max's curls had grown past the cute stage and into the shaggy look. He was mistaken for a girl ALL the time now. These facts brought me to the point that I was very ready to have the locks lopped off.

Scott took about 60-some pictures of the kids playing in the leaves before the haircuts, then we took photos during the haircuts, and there were more leaf pictures after the haircuts. I will try to load some of each here for your viewing enjoyment.

Kynzie's Swimming

I will try to catch up a little here...

Kynzie finished her first session of swim lessons on November 17th. She did great in class and loved the water, which was a little surprising and refreshing given her "beaver-be-cautious" nature. Here are a few pictures from her October 6th class. Can you see the perma-grin on her face?

Fourteen Friday

Okay, there is a thing among some bloggers to do Thirteen Thursday. The first blogger that introduced me to this event said it was supposed to be blessings... 13 blessings on Thursdays. Since then, others have said it is just 13 random facts about yourself. Obviously, it isn't Thursday; I missed Thursday. So, I am going to do a 14 Friday. And, although blessings would be more uplifting, I am not going to put that pressure on myself right now...

1) Max & Kynzie draw so much attention when we go out to dinner sometimes. People oooh and aaahh over them all the time. I really wanted pumpkin pancakes at IHOP, so that is where we went tonight. There were so many senior patrons eating all around us, and they all told us how cute our kids were and such. Of course, many of them thought we had two girls. (Delainey was at my parents' house, so it was just Kynzie & Max.) He's getting his hair cut tomorrow.
She thought Bonnie Tyler was Granny singing Total Eclipse, and she thought Righteous Brothers was Boppa Denny singing (Your My) Soul & Inspiration. Too funny!
Kynzie pointed to a man across the room and said "That man is a giant man" with a smile on her face (maybe she was thinking he was a relative of Goliath's), and then pointed to a woman that looked to be my grandmother's age and said "That lady's going to have some babies too!" She kept us well entertained as well as on our toes. We used these precious little moments as training opportunities as we tried not to laugh too loudly at how cute she was.

2) Last Sunday was the first time I didn't throw up once all day! There hasn't been a repeat yet, though.

3) A friend of ours from church brought dinner to us last night. She went all out with a wonderful chicken dish, yummy rice, sauteed vegetables, a delightful fruit salad including all the best berries, a fancy foccacia bread, and dessert. She also brought fresh flowers in a vase for me and a lovely fall centerpiece for our table. We ate until we were stuffed. It was wonderful. We have had some great meals brought to us from friends and family during this time. Thanks!

4) I decided this week that if I had money to just throw around I would love to take some culinary classes. That would be so fun! I really enjoy cooking, not always the daily grind of it, but I enjoy recipes and new food and such.

5) Someday, I want to be officially trained as an herbalist and nutritionist.

6) I would like to learn to play the guitar in the near future.

7) Today we saw the babies on ultrasound again. The Dr. said they are doing well with good heartbeats, but my placenta is low. I had placental previa with Kynzie that corrected itself before delivery. Hopefully, this will correct itself as well.

8) I will be the mother of a teenager one week from tomorrow. Wow!

9) My sister called with some awesome news this evening! You'll just have to guess at what it is for now.

10) Delainey bought her third light saber. I don't quite get it, but I don't really have to. There are worse things for you daughter to enjoy.

11) Kynzie really loves her swimming lessons. Next week is her last class this session.

12) Max has started putting little sentences together. It is so adorable.

13) Misty, our dog, seems to become more and more strange all the time. We just can't figure her out. She doesn't seem to be a normal dog, but then she had pretty big pawprints to fill after Rosco, I guess. She would rather be outside alone than inside with us. Not so much man's best friend.

14) We heard some really exciting news about my husband's youngest sister and her continuing education. We are very proud of you Kelsey!

Over the Weekend

Let's see, what happened over the weekend? Friday, after our last homeschool coop for this session, my mom came over and helped with some domestic stuff. Stuff I think only your mother can help you with. She helped me sort the little kids' seasonal clothes and such. Then she helped me organize their closet. I say she helped me, but that's not really an accurate statement. I mostly laid on Kynzie's bed while she did the work. Thanks, Mom!


Oh, then she also left dinner for us. That was the icing on the cake, very good. We have really appreciated all the meals friends and family have provided.


Saturday morning Kynzie had swim lessons. Scott took some cute pictures of her, I'll try to load them later. Saturday was another difficult day for me. Scott waited to work out till we put the little guys down for nap. He took D with him so she could swim. And I slept.


In the evening we went to Scott's brother and sister-in-law's house for a family get-together in honor of a family friend from across the pond. Schaun out-did himself again. In my current state, I have a hard time with some meat, but it all smelled wonderful. That is saying something if I think it smelled wonderful in my condition. I did had one of the hamburgers plain, and it was the best hamburger I think I have ever had. Scott really enjoyed everything he ate, especially the slab of ribs, he said.


It was nice to see everyone and talk with everyone.


Sunday we went to church. I ended up staying in the nursery with Max so I could eat and kind of lay on the (carpeted) floor if I needed to... It was good to talk to the other ladies in there; one of which has a set of twins. She said they are turning 21 this week. She has 12 children total, so she is always a good source of advice and helpful information.


A family from our life group sent a meal home with us, and then later another family brought a meal to us! Our church home school group went out to eat and then to Louisburg Cider Mill after church, but we didn't go. I just didn't feel up to it, and I think the kids were cranky from being up late the night before.

Ramblings of Pregnancy (with twins!)

I decided to blog about being pregnant with twins, kind of like a journal.

We are so very excited to be blessed with twins. I am 11 weeks and 4 days along right now. We found out we were having twins through a sonogram with my OB at 9 weeks, 3 days. It was awesome to see both babies on the screen at the same time and watch their two tiny hearts beating!

Pregnancy is different this time around. I am feeling sick more often and more severely than my other pregnancies. I believe I am going to turn the corner soon, though. I have been researching all possible natural remedies I can, and I think a few of them might be helping.

It has been a wonderful experience telling people about our twins. Friends' and family's reactions have been positive and encouraging which has helped tremendously.

We are considering joining the local parents of twins club (I don't know the name of it right now). That's something I never thought I would need to research.

We are also planning to attend a more intense, more thorough childbirth class. We went to one when we were expecting Kynzie. I was the only woman out of the 15 that raised a hand when the instructor asked if there was anyone who DID NOT want to have an epidural during the labor process. So, our instructor didn't spend any time on how to cope with or manage pain. Nor did she explain how to work with your body's natural processes during delivery. I was very disappointed.

I did end up having an epidural with Kynzie, but no outside pain relief with Max. That is the way I want to go again. My doctor thinks I am going to regret it, but in the end, there were many blessings to not having the drugs in my body during that birth.

Now, since I am considered "advanced maternal age" at almost 35 for this pregnancy, my doctor wants to refer me for genetic counseling as well as do all kinds of testing for downs possibilities and other birth abnormalities. Scott and I have not yet decided about which testing, if any, we want done. And I am not even sure what genetic counseling is or the purpose of it. The babies are what they are already. Their DNA was written the moment sperm met egg. So what genetics are they going to counsel?

I think I will end this one for now. I think I would like to go back and detail some of the events of the past few weeks, but we'll see if I get to that. I don't always feel well enough to sit at the computer, or read, or type, or even sit sometimes. Oh, plus I have to eat every hour and a half! I don't always want to eat, and I don't really enjoy too many foods right now. Sometimes it seems like such a chore to go figure out what to eat now. I didn't think I would ever have to deal with that problem either.

I Think We Have a Genius on Our Hands

After nap time one afternoon, I went in to tell Kynzie she could get up from her nap. Mind you, she rarely sleeps at nap time anymore, but she is still required to have quiet, rest time on her bed. Upon entering her room, I greeted her ever-smiling face with a kiss and a question. "What's this?" I asked her. "That's my drink holder," she answered with pride.
Can't you just tell how pleased she is with her own invention? I even called Daddy at work and asked whether it was something he had rigged up for her previously, and I asked Delainey too. But neither had shown her how to make the handy holder. And, yes, that is her beloved rain boot hanging on one of the tool pegs on her tool bench. Who knew a sippy cup fit inside a size 6 rain boot so perfectly?

Do You Ever Feel Like Cinderelli, Cinderelli

I just remembered this and had to post it...

A few nights ago at dinner time, I called the family to the table to eat. Kynzie was a bit slow coming, so I called her a bit more firmly the second time. She came to the table and let out a heavy "hmph". She gave a small foot-stomp and said through tightly pursed lips:

"Every time she gets a minute, that's when they begin it - Cinderelli, Cinderelli"

And just so you know, she does have chores (jobs), but only two really. However, she often asks if she can scrub the floor, but I think it's only because she thinks bubbles will float around everywhere.

She's a keeper.

Our new dog

We brought home our new Lhasa Apso today. Her name is Misty, and she is white with a little brown here and there. We adopted her from the "pound". She only weighs 12 pounds. Here she is a little tired from her surgery today, but she looks so adorable with her fresh hair cut.

The kids are very excited to have her, and I hope we made the right choice with this breed. Since we finalized the adoption on Saturday, we have had more than one person tell us a full-bred Lhasa is not the way to go. But she is so calm and easy-going, and she has let the kids bother her to no end without batting an eye.

I think she will be great! Kynzie wanted to share her own cuddle blankie with Misty to make her feel more welcome. Isn't that sweet? Look at her here posing next to her new friend.

Birthdays are the Best

Max had a monkey cake to go with his Fisher Price animal train we bought him. I used the Wilton animal crackers pan and moved the ears down on the head a little to change it to a monkey. Scott helped me decorate the monkey. He did the dark brown stars for me. (That little brown blob near the monkey's ear is a cupcake for Max.)

Kynzie's request for her birthday cake has been for a David and Goliath (one of her favorite Bible stories) birthday cake. I have searched for about a month for ideas and premade possibilites but to no avail. So, since I am still a newbie and limited in my creativity in cake decorating, this is what I came up with. I found stickers in right size for the cake (I had all but given up until two days before the party when I found them by chance at the dollar store), cut them out, and taped toothpicks to the back to keep them in place on the cake. I did buttercream icing for the green grass, the little blue river, and the 5 smooth stones (yes, those are supposed to be stones).

It isn't the most exciting cake I have ever made, but she was nearly thrilled to see the cake when I showed it to her yesterday morning. And, that is why I did it.

I will post more pictures and such later. It was a fantastic day with all our family to celebrate with us.