sunday's child.

wishing we were farmers.

I think being a farmer would be hard work.

Sometimes just caring for our flowers, shrubs, fruit trees, small vegetable garden and all the other things we have growing can be tiresome.

The weeding, feeding and watering at the right time and pruning can become all too overwhelming. But the reward is amazing.

My husband just decided to buy a blueberry shrub then realized that we need to buy one or two more because they're necessary for them to cross-pollinate. Ugh.

But I know the kids are going to love eating the blueberries right off the plant like they do with our other fruit growing out in the yard.

Everything is blooming and growing. My favorite time of the year is right around the corner. Spring.

And even better-- the season will be bringing us a new baby. An Easter baby.

occupation.

What do I do for a living?

I am raising and teaching my children to be men and women of God.
I have the greatest job in the world.

took a little trip.

We took a little trip to Home Depot the other evening that turned into a 2 hour shopping spree. Home Depot has a way of doing this to us. A quick trip usually turns into a long adventure.

We desperately needed (translated: I wanted one really bad) an arbor over our front walkway and a few extra necessary items.

Arching over my front gate, my hubby had taken the roses on either side and made a natural arbor by intertwining their long stems. Unfortunately it had begun to sag so low that the poor mail lady (and anyone else for that matter) had to duck her head to enter our front yard to drop off our mail.

So....I asked hubby if he wouldn't mind buying me an arbor as an early Mother's Day gift.

Since it was made of redwood, he and the three oldest boys had to stain it white. I absolutely love it-- adding more to the cottage garden charm.

And of course, I went looking to buy flowers for the backyard and found more to plant in the front as well. Will it ever stop? I love my garden. I love walking around and enjoying all the different colors and contrasts. So far from my boring 'rose, hydrangea, rose, hydrangea' days.

Next hubby wants to add white lights to the front arbor. Charming. And now even hubby is picking out flowers I had no intention of buying because he has the gardening bug too. Finally.

my two year old.

I love Ruby because she loves taking her naps.

Sometimes even letting me know she's ready for a bath and bed.
Gotta love that in a little one.
Except when she gets into her big sister Pearl's make up
She thinks and tells us she looks beautiful
and we smile because she looks really scary.
Last Tuesday, Daddy bought Ruby her first lip gloss from the Target dollar bin.
She applies it every minute....no, every second.
Then she puts some on Jasper too.
He doesn't mind because he loves Ruby.

monday facts:

I had to buy a new vacuum (against my husband's wishes) because with 5 kids using my awesome avocado colored Hoover for their chores (the youngest being 4 years old), it's life-span is now over. Done.

I found a very cool family of 10 whose oldest is 14 and who make goat milk products, love Jesus and homeschooling. Since I want to try goat's milk out on Charlie's eczema and want to support their family business, I went ahead and bought the purity soap and fragrance free lotion from them and it really was not expensive. I heard drinking goats milk instead of cows milk is better too.

In order to avoid any damage to my new blue hoover vacuum, I splurged and bought a dust buster for the chores. I thought it would be better for those who vacuum the food piles under the kitchen table, in the bathroom, and in our classroom.

Jasper can sing 'Jesus Loves Me' using phonic sounds. He is a genius being only 15 months. I know, every mom thinks that about their 'talented' children. He even has a vocabulary of about a dozen or more words. My earliest talker of our boys by far.

The boys buried a time capsule treasure somewhere in the backyard. They are keeping it a secret. It contains a riddle to find the real treasure that they buried too.

I'm dying to go on vacation somewhere with the cupcakes and hubby but we aren't sure what or where to go being that our Spring break is the week before I am due.

We are repainting and changing up our one and only bathroom with new colors and look. I don't think there was anything wrong with the way it looks now, but hubby wants to paint it. And I am always up for change.

As this pregnancy is winding down, I have become overly possessive of my hubby, 8 little cupcakes and my Saturdays. Just a little fyi. SO don't ask to come over on a Saturday. Ha!

I just discovered and am going to experiment with rose water for my face and rose oil for a fragrance because I love the smell of roses. But I still want to get my refill of my Angel perfume bottle.

Everyone who can read got a new NKJV bible with their name inscribed on it. I will do a post about how we presented them to the older kiddos. I did a search on some of the words used on the other translations. Yikes. My kids have no idea what they mean and I don't want them knowing just yet. So they are all going to read the NKJV where the words are more proper.

Hubby and I ran into the Carter's store 10 minutes before they closed after taking the family to the Souplantation the other night, and I think I found the new baby's coming home outfit. That I know he will only wear for a brief moment for pictures and to drive home in.

I have never been a finger nail biter before, but with this pregnancy I couldn't stop (gross!). So I opted to try pink and white gel tips. Love them-- but sometimes they do make me feel fake. But that's just my imagination. I'm so not (fake).

A friend of ours at church gave Parker an almost new guitar and he is taking lessons from his dear Dad. You can hear Parker practicing all the time now. His Dad is impressed.



All my kids, even our 2 year old, are begging to listen to Jonathan Park every night at bedtime. We are on set three. I know they'll be asking me to buy number four any day.

My 'bun in the oven' sits on the right side of my round belly, I weigh way more than I want too and I am too tired to walk on the treadmill. But I am not complaining.

Jasper is obsessed with the guitar. Obsessed. And music and the drums and singing. Did I mention obsessed?

sunday's child.

our saturday.

Today I have big plans: A deep house clean for this month. I always feel better after we take care of this. I know my hubby doesn't like clutter and piles, so I guess it's good for him too (or maybe I'm just putting words in his mouth!). Since I'm pregnant practically every year, I'm always nesting to one degree or another, so I view it as a win win situation. I get a new baby--AND a clean house!

Afterwards, I want to head off to a few of the local nursery's and buy more flowers for the back yard. Yes, I'm addicted, but I promise-- I only want to get a couple of $3 flowers. But-- I think my front yard is finally done. It's exactly the way I want it to look.

Now it's time to fill in some bare spots in the back. Which is good because there's always a new plant or flower that grabs my eye when we visit the nursery.

My kids love it because at one place they have a koi pond and at the other they take off and go lizard hunting while hubby and I stroll the grounds.

Don't worry they don't hurt the lizards.

The girls have ballet at 11 and I have to visit the local Lakeshore to take care of some Children's Church things. I love Lakeshore. I could buy everything there.

The kids also have reason to be excited because tomorrow we're heading to Wendy's with the church for lunch. The kids love it when we plan these kinds of church activities. Honestly, so do I. I gotta get me a homestyle chicken fillet sandwich and sea salt french fries. Don't forget my two ranch dips on the side. Yummy.

the battle.

Okay--

Charlie has eczema on both his legs to the point where I would consider it to be pretty bad. He has seen a doctor, nurse practitioner and dermatologist and they have recommended everything from over the counter cortisone to a stronger prescription dose. It works great for his rashes at times when it's red and flaring.

(Updated: He is scheduled to be allergy tested too.)

He is the only one with this kind of skin and neither hubby nor I nor anyone else for that matter has had skin allergies. So what's up with that? Frustrating.

One day I got the urge to start investigating the effects of long term, everyday cortisone use on my 6 year old son. Everything I read and discovered I didn't like. Not at all. Of course, I became even more frustrated, but kept investigating-- which led me to a ton of natural healing choices for eczema.

From non-steroid creams and non-soaps to blackseed oil to organic shea butter to goat's milk soaps and lotions to omega 3 vitamins. What does this all mean right now? I'm on a mission to find a solution that is non-steroid and as organic (100% pure) as I can get to help Charlie's legs.

I want to keep a record of what we're trying and what is or isn't working.

We are also praying daily for Charlie to be healed both as a family and individually. We know that God has to be first in getting rid of his itchy red skin on his long skinny legs.

Right now, we've started with Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Baby Eczema Bar Soap w/Aragan Oil & Extracts of Frankincense and Myrrh and Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Baby Eczema Therapy w/Aragan Oil & Extracts of Frankincense and Myrrh. That's a mouthful.

I'll update you on how it's working...

it's been decided.

Yesterday I had another baby appointment.

This time the midwife was on vacation so I saw the doctor who delivered my last four babies.

Again it was uneventful-- which is a good thing.

Pearl and I headed to a few stores looking for a coming home outfit for the new baby, but nothing has grabbed me screaming, "yes this one!"

I want to pack my bag or do something, but it's still way too early.

For some reason at this point, I'm really guessing that I will go to my due date and maybe a couple days late. I'm hoping to hold on until the midwife is back in town. If this is the case, then I am going all natural with the delivery.

BUT, if I happen to go into labor during her planned vacation and get stuck with one of the other doctors on call, then I'll probably go ahead and have the epidural because of all the things they want to implement during delivery that make a natural childbirth even more painful (like pitocin which is known to intensify one's contractions).

(Updated: Just to clarify, I was given pitocin last time and delivered naturally with out an epidural.)

Yikes.

And I still believe that with this current plan of mine, God knows the right time to trigger this big day and the best date for the baby to come even with all the elements involved and the possibility of the midwife being out of town the week before my due date.

Thankfully, it is all out of my control.

I would rather it be in God's hands.

Less pressure or worry for me.