Our new favorite thing!

All 5 agree that these are soooo good!!

Shhh....Don't tell them that they're made of real fruit and that they don't have any high fructose corn syrup in them.

McKenna even got to try one...in the tub!

So if you want to try one of these yummy treats click here to print off a $1.00 coupon. They're usually $2.00 a box, so that makes a cheap snack!

Sleep Over Tonight

I just got five kids to sleep. I guess that would be something to congratulate myself on if it were 8:00pm, but it's 10:30pm. Hmmm....not so good. The cousins are having a sleep over and everyone has been really good, just really excited. We might live just across the street from Emma, Abby and Nate but we rarely have sleep overs, so this is a special treat.

My mom is having some minor surgery tomorrow (so say a little prayer for her if you would) and Amy went to be with her. I was supposed to go and my dad was going to watch Christian and McKenna while I was at the hospital with my mom, but then his poor finger had a little encounter with some electric hedge clippers and the poor guy has one badly wounded, stitched up, bandaged up, finger. He decided he wasn't really up for changing diapers tomorrow so Amy took the day off work and I've got all the kids. Somehow I think she just may have gotten the better end of that deal. Let's see...I have to drive Emma to school by 8:15am with four other kids in tow...Amy will be sipping coffee while reading magazines in the hospital waiting room....doesn't quite seem fair does it? Ha!

So that's the latest with us. Seriously, forget all that Jon & Kate garbage, our lives are way more interesting than all that nonsense. I really used to like that show, but now I think it's just sad.

The Update:
It's 9:30am and everyone is where they're supposed to be. It's been busy: cereal and waffles for breakfast. two little heads of pretty hair to do. 10 shoes to get on the right feet. no one brushed their teeth - oops! Emma was 2 minutes late for school, literally. So I had to get out of the car in the pouring rain and go in and sign her in. Arrgg...Oh well. Not too bad. We're planning on having a lazy, rainy day around here. McKenna is fussy, fussy, fussy. Probably because yet another tooth is making an appearance. So I will probably hold her for most of the day. And instead of being frustrated by it (like I am far too often) and I'm going to do my best to cherish it. Thanks Olivia. That's what you taught me sweet girl - to cherish these little moments. You made me a better mom and I love you so much for it!!!

It's Strawberry Time

We went strawberry picking twice this week. Once with our cousins and once with our friends.
You might remember this place from last year. Remember this hysterical sign?

On Tuesday afternoon I took all five kids strawberry picking by myself. I usually don't do such adventurous things with all five of them and I actually tried to get out of it, but those Marshall girls are insistent. Last year when we picked strawberries my mom was with us and McKenna was a sleeping infant in her stroller. This year I was worried about the fact that she is on the move. But Tuesday afternoon is now my most FAVORITE memory with all five kids. (BTW I have no idea what was up with Abby's wild hair. I really had it looking cute earlier in the day but something crazy must have happened :)

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Look at the view of the mountains from the strawberry patch. It was so gorgeous.

And the kids really knew what they were doing. I didn't have to remind anyone not to step on the strawberry plants. I didn't have to even give them any instructions on what kind of strawberry to pick. They were picking the red ones without any problems.

And they were busy the whole time. I just walked McKenna around and eventually Nathan joined us. Strawberry picking is apparently not his thing, but is was nice to just chat with him and enjoy the afternoon. He's a funny boy!

We ended up with almost three whole buckets filled with strawberries and I didn't pick any of them. It sort of felt like a Norman Rockwell moment for me. Happy kids having a great life experience all the while accomplishing something purposeful without any arguing. I stood there and watched them and enjoyed the moment. We've come a long way. Everyone is growing up. It's bittersweet, but I'm thrilled that we can do these things now without it putting me over the edge.

Look at my strawberry girl all dressed in red (on purpose of course). She loves to eat strawberries. Hence the binkie so she would not just pick and eat. She tried it and I put a stop to it because she was NOT picking red ones and think of the chemicals on those berries. Yuck!

Christian, McKenna and I headed back to the strawberry farm the next morning with some friends.

Once again I hardly picked any berries and Christian did a great job!
The weather was not as cooperative. It rained on and off and the gnats were driving me insane!!!!!!!!!!

McKenna sat in her stroller most of the time and played....

peek-a-boo.

Cademon was having a grand time snacking on strawberries and our friends Bryson, Tanyon and Addie were there too but I didn't end up with a good picture of them. You'll have to head on over to their blog to see some cute pictures.

What a fun time we've had!!! Next up...blueberry picking! Yummy!

Good News!! Good News!!

How did the Lord know we really needed some good news just about now!! I'm totally crying as I write this, I'm so excited. Ryan got a call today that we've been anticipating for six months. Most of you know that Ryan was a bone marrow donor last October. He donated to an anonymous woman who was 59 years old with leukemia. Ryan has had lots of complicated related to his bone marrow donation and it's been quite a discouraging process at times. Ryan is still dealing with medical issues related to his donation, but he has said all along that it's worth it and he would do it all over again just to be able to give someone the chance at life. Well, apparently that is just what has happened. The patient who received Ryan's bone marrow donation is ALIVE and doing very well. That's all they can tell us at this point, but they would not say that she is doing well if the bone marrow transplant wasn't working. So that means it's working!! Yippee Jesus! Thank you for praying for this woman. We would love to hear from her in person one day and who knows, maybe that will happen!
If you're new to our blog and haven't read about Ryan's bone marrow donation, you can use the "search" box that's up in the right hand corner of the blog. Type in the words "bone marrow" and it will show you all the posts where I mention Ryan's bone marrow donation.

Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

My New Hobby

Well, I don't know if this counts as a hobby or not, but I'm enjoying it! I have gone coupon crazy! Millicent is going to be so proud of this post! She's the one who inspired me to start saving money! I feel like part of the job of being a stay-at-home-mommy is saving money, but for the past two years I've been a little overwhelmed and I feel like I've been in survival mode for awhile. Thankfully life is starting to calm down due to the fact that my cutie McKenna has been healthy for almost three months now. We haven't been to the pediatrician since March! Yippee!

This was my latest shopping spree. Obviously this is not everything I bought. I got milk, bread, fresh produce, diapers, etc....but this is the stuff I got amazing deals on. Nothing in this picture cost more than a dollar and most of it cost far less. The toothpaste was free (It was on sale for $1.00 and I had a $1.00 off coupon). The deodorant cost $0.47 (I had a $2.00 off coupon). The Kraft barbecue sauce was free, the ranch dressing cost $0.09 I could explain everything in this picture but instead I'll tell you that this should have cost $35.34 and I paid $14.18. I saved over 50% by using coupons!! Ryan is going to be eating a lot of mac and cheese for lunch these days :)

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I've had better shopping sprees than this one but didn't take pictures of it and pictures make posts so much more interesting, don't you think?!

I have a coupon binder that I take with me to every store I go to just in case I see a great deal.

I've found a few blogs that have gotten me started on this whole money saving thing!
Check them out:
http://saveathomemommy.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Any thoughts?

This is a horrible picture, but the inside of both of McKenna's hands are peeling. I've never seen anything like it. It's like she got a sunburn (which she did not) on the palms of her hands and now they're peeling. I think it does bother her because I've seen her rubbing her hands together several times over the past week. I noticed her hands were feeling rough a few days ago and started putting lotion on them and now they're peeling. Hmmm....any thoughts? She isn't sick, other than a runny nose which is probably related to her latest teeth coming in. I don't know what to think.

Before I Forget

Remember when I asked you in THIS post if you knew the name of this plant?

Well I almost forgot to give you the answer.

These are called MAY APPLES. They grow in shady spots in the woods.

Easy to remember because they appear in MAY and they have a tiny little flower bud that grows on them that looks like an APPLE! That little apple turns into a pretty little white flower.

Don't you feel smarter now?! Now go for a hike and show off your new knowledge to your kids or your spouse.

The "Benture"

Christian loves to go on adventures or "bentures" with his PopPop and Grandmom at their house. When we were on our way home on Saturday night Christian said, "Did you know PopPop and Grandmom's house is on sale? Can we buy it? I love it. I want to live there."

7am Saturday morning I was woken up by a little boy who was very happy to see me! I'm so glad he missed me because I missed him. But he had no intentions of staying in bed and snuggling he wanted to take me on a "benture." He was so proud of everything he learned and did while I was gone, so by 8:30am we were outside and he was taking me on a tour of all of his accomplishments. And you get to come along!"Mommy, I can ride Abby's big bike now."
"I can have races with PopPop on Abby's bike and I win."
"This is the worm I found. I call him wormie."

"Wormie lives in this house."

Don't you just love the rain boots with the shirt that's on backwards? I love it that he's so independent :)

More races with PopPop!

"This is the big swing Grandmom pushes me on."

"Sometimes I can twist around on this swing."

"Here's the giant mushroom PopPop and I found."

"I can climb this tree all by myself."

"I like this rock because it has stairs on it that are my size."

"I can jump down from here all by myself."

And that wraps up this "benture" but the thing that really surprised me was when he said, "This is Grandmom's favorite tree. It's a beech tree and she loves it." Hmm...you never know what he'll learn at my parents house.

Later that afternoon we headed to the playground at my old elementary school.

They never had fun stuff like this when I was there.

Christian had a blast visiting with my parents. Yesterday he said to me, "Mommy did you know that Grandmom makes me chocolate milk all the time, everytime I ask?" I think they were totally exhausted by the time we left, but it was a great time for everyone. And we'll be back there again next weekend!