Wordless Wednesday

Luke being held hostage on his Birthday with his own weapons!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Two boys and their dog. The little bit of blurriness you see at the left of the picture is the cat's whiskers. He was being nosy and wanted to investigate what we were doing. 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Luke and Micah dressing up for the camera.  I did a little playing around with Picasa!

This is what the original looked like.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Anna, Luke,Micah and Samuel at the Pinewood Derby 2012!

 

Show Us Your Life: Mom Of Boys

Mother Karen has seven sons, seven sons has Mother Karen...

Welcome to you who are visiting from Kelly's Korner!  I am Karen and I am mom to 10 living children total! Seven which happen to be boys!

Today Kelly is having a link up on Mom's of Boys. I think I qualify since I have seven! I just happen to have three girls as well!

Let me introduce you to my sons.

Jeremy is our oldest at 25

Jeremy recently visiting with my Mom

Tim is second at 23. He has been married to Naomi since January 2010.

Tim and Naomi

Josh comes in 3rd at 20. He just recently got engaged to Jillian. A June 2013 Wedding is planned.

Josh and Jillian on Easter 2012

So you can see, my three oldest are boys! Next came two girls. Rebekah and Victoria.

Matthew is next in line at 14.

Matthew on Easter 2012

Up next is Samuel at 12.

Samuel on Easter 2012

After Samuel we had a little break from boys and had another girl, Anna.

Then came Luke who is now 8.

Luke on Easter 2012

And Coming in last, but most definitely not least is Micah at age 6!

Micah on Easter 2012

Being a mom to boys can be challenging, but it is also a joy! It is fun to see life from their perspective. It is also so sweet how much they love their Mom! I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world!

 

Our Trip to the Creation Museum ~ October 2011

I have missed blogging through the past several months. I had pictures ready and waiting to be posted to a blog post, so now I am trying to catch up. So here is the first post playing catch up!

In October I took several of the children to the Creation Museum. It was a beautiful, warm, Fall day.

We tried to make the most out of our trip and see as much as we could.We walked through the whole museum and saw most of the movies and visited the planetarium. We enjoyed walking through the beautiful gardens and the petting zoo. We were quite tired when we were finished.

This first picture is of Samuel, standing in front of Adam in the Garden, with some animals.

Samuel

 

I believe that the dinosaur display was a favorite of most of the boys.

These silly boys decided they had to have a break while walking through the museum.

Samuel, Matthew and Luke

We stopped for a lunch break at the Noah's Cafe.

Micah, Matthew, Luke, Anna, Rebekah, and Samuel

I love the beautiful Fall Colors. We walked around for quite a long time.

We saw this pretty little guy on our walk to the petting zoo.

The four youngest enjoyed the petting zoo quite a bit. This guy was very eager to be fed!

I thought this guy was quite pretty.

Micah was trying to feed this guy but he was a little intimidated by him!

Micah

This is a Zedonk.

This is a Zorse.

Meet Gomer. The kids enjoyed having a ride on him!.

Anna and Gomer

Luke and Gomer

Micah and Gomer

Samuel and Gomer

While walking through the Gardens we encountered this bridge. The kids had a lot of fun going back and forth. I personally was glad to get off!

Luke and Anna

Micah, Luke and Matthew

Luke, Micah and Samuel

After walking around for quite some time in the warm weather, we found this gazebo and enjoyed the shade as well as the fish we were able to feed.

Micah and Luke

Micah

I pretty much had to pry Luke and Micah away from the Fish!

And this is as we were leaving and were pretty worn out!

Samuel, Micah, Rebekah, Luke, Matthew and Anna

We had a wonderful day at the Creation Museum! Now I would love to see the Spring foliage.I know it must be beautiful!

 

Let's Catch Up!

I am such a bad blogger. Days are so full and I find it hard to sit down and write what is going on in our lives.

Do you remember this post?  Well, guess what? He is now living inside my home and has made himself quite comfortable!




Here he is sleeping in an empty box from a toy Luke got for his Birthday!



After the first few days of living on our porch, it started raining and got pretty cool and windy outside. The kids started to worry about the kitty, so hubby suggested that we open up the garage a few inches so he could come inside. We put his water and food bowls in the garage as well. He became quite comfortable and would often sleep in a box he found. The only problem was that two more cats found their way into the garage as well! On Saturday morning hubby went into the garage and found a bag of trash ripped open and some pee on the floor near the door. Hubby was not too happy, but the kids told him he couldn't blame it on the little kitty. Maybe the two other bigger cats scared him or they actually did it themselves! So yes, we gave him another chance!

On Sunday morning hubby went out into the garage and found an injured, bleeding, baby bunny in the garage. The kitty was playing with it and the bunny was desperately trying to get away!  So, that was it! Hubby got the bunny out, put kitty out, and closed up the garage. When we left for church, I made sure his water and food dishes were back on the porch. However, when we returned from church, he was gone! We could not find him anywhere!  The kids and I were feeling a little sad. We took a walk and looked around, but he was no where to be found! After a whole week at our house, he had moved on!

We were pretty sure we would never see him again. But on Friday evening the door bell rang, and the little girls from next door were holding our kitty. He had taken up residency on another front porch down the street. Their mom knew the lady that lived there, and I guess the lady talked about the kitty that she was now taking care of! The girls went and looked at the kitty and said it was the one that had been living on our porch. They brought him to us and we brought him inside that evening. We have no idea who his original owner is, but he is living in our home now.

I knew he was fairly young. I am not sure of his age, but after visiting Pet Smart and seeing the cats they have there, I would guess that he is 3-4 months old. He has lost two baby teeth since being here. Micah actually saw him spit one of them out. He picked it up and brought it to me. He wondered what it was. I told him it looked like a tooth. I checked the kitty's mouth and saw another tooth that looked just like it and it was loose. Micah found that tooth the next day!

The kids are having a lot of fun with him. Just one thing, he and the dog do not get along. At first, the dog was actually scared of this little kitty. She would avoid him at all costs. How can the 60 + pound dog be afraid of such a little cat?  As time went on the dog has gotten to where she acts like she would like to eat him. The kitty taunts her. He chases after her, but if she gets too close, he arches his back and hisses at her.  She then growls and goes after him. She has gotten scratched a few times. Most if the time they avoid each other, but we keep an eye on them. When we have to leave the house, we make sure that they can not get to each other.

Can you please tell me how to get the cat and dog to like each other? I so desperately want them to live here together in peace. Also is there a way to keep the cat off of the kitchen counters and the kitchen table! That is something I really need, too!  Also we are taking suggestions for a name for our kitty. I have always had a hard time naming animals. The kids have thought of a few, but no one can come to agreement on anything yet!

Speaking of Luke's Birthday, he and Anna both recently had a birthday.




Anna celebrating her 10th Birthday!







Luke on his 8th Birthday!


They grow up way too fast!


The other day I took the children to the Creation Museum. I will share some pictures from our trip soon. I also have been crocheting a lot recently. I mostly know how to make scarves and hats. I want to learn how to make some other things as well. I have a hard time sitting down and following a pattern. It takes time and concentration. It is hard to get enough time for quiet around here to concentrate. I am eying a shawl pattern though, that I might try soon.

I have been trying some new recipes too. I hope to share some of them with you very soon. The kids were always wondering why I was taking pictures of food. They are now so used to it that they never ask anymore!

Well, that's all for now. I hope to be back soon.

Have an Awesome Weekend Everyone!

 

This Is Not Our Cat!

We have this sweet little kitty that showed up on our doorstep a couple of days ago! The children have fallen in love with him!

He seems to be pretty young, as he is still pretty small and skinny.  Yesterday we gave him some milk and I cut up some popcorn chicken for him to eat. We also gave him water but he would not drink that! I had to run out to the store yesterday to get some medicine for Luke so I just happened to pick up some kitty food! When Hubby came home he asked, "why do we have Cat food?"  I told him that we needed it!  He said that we did not need it! Umm, well we kinda wanted something for kitty to eat!

The truth is I love cats. Actually I love animals in general. We have a dog that is allowed inside our house. This dog acts like she wants to eat the cat! The cat stays in the front and the dog goes out the back so that we can keep them apart! We cannot really keep this cat. I am hoping we find his owner so that they can be reunited.

Luke has been having some major allergy symptoms. His eyes have been swelling up really bad. The past couple of days have been even worse. I just wonder if he happens to be allergic to the cat! He wants to go out so badly to play with the cat. I told him today that he has to stay in all day and away from the cat to see if he gets any better. The pediatrician gave us a new allergy medicine to try as well as some eye drops. Let's hope these help. So far I am not convinced!

So, even if the owner is not found and Luke is not allergic, we cannot keep this cat!  Hubby and I are not interested in having a litter box and we really don't have a good place to put one anyway!

Yes, I am talking myself out of keeping this cat! He is very sweet and affectionate! The kids adore him. The dog abhors him!  What shall we do?

Until we figure it all out, I guess we will be doing more of this!

 

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Ris...

Or Has it?

The past few days have been just beautiful around here. The feeling that Spring is in the air is bringing relief that Winter is about over.  I am reminded of this little poem that my Mom would recite! Looking all over the Internet I found a few different versions.

The  version I remember most went like this:

Spring has sprung. The grass is ris. I wonder where the flowers is?”

Bad grammar, I know! I do not remember if there was more to it or not.

Here is another version I found:

It has been pretty warm here, mostly in the 70's. Today has been warm again, but a cold front is moving in and with it Thunderstorms are expected this evening. We are in a Tornado watch until tonight.  The next few days are supposed to be in the 40's. It was nice while it lasted!

Here is a reading from the Thermometer in Rebekah's car showing the outside temperature taken yesterday.

I walked around the yard to see if I could find any sign of life. I was a bit surprised to see that my Rhododendrons are going to bloom in the near future.




If you have any clue why there are spots on the leaves and what I can do about it, please let me know!

 


I found many dandelions. You know a lot of  people spend a lot of time trying to get rid of these, but there is something about the pretty yellow flowers that I really like!

After taking these pictures, I realized that we have a lot of weeds in our backyard! But some of them are so pretty!




Are they weeds or wild flowers?

 





Growing up, I called these violets. I have no idea what they are really called.

 




Here they are a little closer up. My pictures are not showing their beautiful blue color!

 




Here is some wild onion growing amongst some of the pretty purple flowers weeds! Our backyard has a ton of wild onions growing this year! 

 

As I was walking along, I also found some really cute kids playing!




Micah on the swing

 




Luke

 
Upon further inspection, I found the turtles are coming out of hibernation. Four of the five have been spotted. The smallest one named April has yet to be seen. Of course Zach was the first to be seen. He is the most outgoing turtle and he has personality! Last week, he had just his head sticking out of the ground!



Here's Mr Zach!



I believe that Spring is my favorite time of the year! As the weather grows warmer and new life is starting to sprout, it makes me feel as though I can break out of my shell and out of hibernation! There just seems to be a new hope and a new promise. It makes me feel like I have a fresh new start!




Picture Credit



For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Happy Almost Spring Everyone!