Me & Clay

Not trying to toot my own horn, but i took this picture. i thought it turned out good! Ben looked at it and said "mom, look at your big nose!" haha. i love him.

Green beans!

This is my second big picking this year. All years in the past i've never been able to get high yeild from my green beans. I would get enough, but not like my mom used to get from her garden. So this year i tried a different kind, and i was very intentional about weeding around the plants when they were small. I noticed a huge difference!! Now if only I could remember which kind i planted :)

Quotes from Momma

Things i've heard myself say recently. i'm pretty sure only a mother of boys would need to say things like this....

"Stop hitting the cats with the bat, we're trying to tame them!"

"Stop hitting your brother in the head with the banana"

"DO NOT PEE ON YOUR BROTHER!"

These are actual quotes....yes, i have my hands full :)

June

Whoa, it's been a busy month so far! Lots and lots of activities, chores, play, and the like around here. I love it but some days are hard and i think i need 4 of me to do my job! Thank you Lord for strength, and for good days to keep me sane.

i could bore you with details, or i could just post some pics w/ captions from June thus far.

Boating:

Mel's pond:Taking rinds to the corn field:Playing with baby:Benny in the pool:Critters:Long's Park:

Janae's wedding:

Enough already!

Grandma's Strawberry Ice Cream

She used to make THEE best! I wanted to make ice cream for a Father's Day thing for Rod and his dad. So i called Grandma on her cell to get the recipe (yes, my 83 year old Grandma has a cell phone!) She was at the beach, but thought she knew the recipe by heart. And it was good, so i guess she had it right!

Strawberry Ice Cream:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup sugar

1 container cool whip

1 qt. milk

1 1/2 qt strawberries, diced.

Mix all together and freeze in ice cream maker.

Garden

Well, might as well post my garden while it's half weeded!!! I'm enjoying doing this, (so far). but it's been a group effort. I mentioned before Rod's family planted the garden. Rod rototills it, i weed where the rototill doesn't reach, and my mom takes care of weeding the strawberry rows. Oh and the boys pick a weed here and there.

Here we have tomatoes, carrots, red beets, peppers, green beans, and sunflowers & wild flowers.

A whole bunch of corn!

And here's some kale, newly planted asparagus & strawberries, and the play area!
Hoping for some good crops. And already thinking about what else i could plant next year. There's something about watching food grow that i just love!

2 buck outside our back door this evening. majorly zoomed in! I think you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Memory work/2 months old/ "play date"

Ben and Brad's Sunday school class have been learning Psalm 100 this past quarter. They've been doing very well with it. Here's Brad saying the first 3 verses or so.

This has been an eye opener. I'm so glad our church's s.s. curriculum includes memory work. I learned it's never too early to teach them the Word of God! Adam's Class has been learning the books of the Bible, old testament. He's getting tired of it :)

Mr. Clay is 2 months old now. He still sleeps a lot, but not quite as laid back and content as we thought he might be. He is a sweetheart though and a piece of cake compared to twins, so i'm not about to complain! 2 month picture....My good friend Nadene came today with her baby Emma, she's 12 days older then Clay. And they finally got to meet today!! She's a dear, we're looking forward for many fun times together with our kids. Especially after she moves back to Lancaster! This is the only picture that didn't get blurry, not a good angle of Emma, Nadene was in my way :)

Our Apartment

We have a small, but very functional apartment downstairs, which we like to have available for people needing short term housing. The apartment was completely finished in 2008 and so far we've had quite a few different people stay there. Rod's cousin's family on furlough for a few months, another cousin and husband coming back to the states after being in China on missions, an older couple from Illinois who came to work with GAIN (Global Aid something), a Barnstormer for a couple weekends, a few 1 or 2 night stays from family, and most recently my cousin. Who we will miss but we are happy for her as she's starting a new chapter in her life (marriage!).

The apartment has 1 bedroom, a big kitchen/dining/living room all in one, and a bathroom. It has a seperate entrance, so it's private. If you know anyone needing short-term housing let me know (it is furnished). It'll be available after June 26th. The whole downstairs can be opened up for bigger families. We've had a family of 5 stay here comfortably. We can't wait to see who God sends our way next!

(i might have to stay a night or 2 first. i love it down there, i really feel like i'm away from home when i go down :)

Adam

My mom had the twins for 2 nights this week, so i was able to have more time with Adam. It was good. Some highlights were going to the library and to Krista's pool.
The boy says some of the funniest stuff. Half the funny is the way he says things. Here's a couple Adam quotes from this week.

"Mom our family has really changed!" Oh yeah? How? "Because of the baby and All These Silly Bandz!" (yes, we jumped on the silly band bandwagon!)


Me on the way to the pool: "oh i forgot my camera" Adam: "Don't worry mom, I'm not going to do anything cute."


His plan for bedtime: "First nurse Clay on one side, then put me to bed, then finish up on the other side."


Love him!
A pic from this morning..

Thought for the Day

You'd think after the 4th baby, that i'd be a little more laid back. But in some ways i worry more and i think it's because i know more now. when Adam was a baby i had no idea there was such a thing as "failure to thrive", i never heard there were risks to getting vaccines, never knew letting your baby "cry it out" could affect their personality, etc. etc. Now it seems i have to think about every choice and what the consequences might be. It's not an issue for me, but i found it interesting as i looked back on when Adam was a baby and how clueless and carefree i was. I think he turned out ok ?? :) So i'd rather stay naive thank you very much!