Fishing Trip

 I have so many memories of fishing with my dad growing up.  I'm not sure what I found so thrilling about it, but something about feeling the fish on the line, or even just the peace of standing at the edge of the water fills my heart with warm memories.

So when my girls started begging me for a fishing trip, I knew who to ask.

Of course, I knew 5 little girls would press the patience of my father.  But I also knew that these memories would be too important so pass up.

My father knew of the perfect fishing hole.  It was small enough to keep track of all the kiddos and well stocked with fish so that everyone had a chance to catch something!

The two big girls had their own pole and the 3 little ones shared a pole (which was PLENTY to keep up with).  Poor Papa spent the majority of his time baiting and fixing fishing lines.  I ran back and forth between girls making sure they were having a good time and helping them with technique.

I have to admit, it was pretty fun for me and I was anxious to do some fishing on my own.  It's a good thing the little ones have a short attention span; I gladly took over for them many times!

Here is Papa helping the girls cast their line

The majority of the fish were about this size, which was plenty big for their little arms!

And of course the highlight for me was catching this HUGE catfish!!  And of course I caught it on the little one's 3 foot pole.   I have to admit, I did have to let my dad reel this one in!

That is one BIG fish!

Abby found her own little treasures while we were fishing.  

The owners of our fishing hole also had bunnies!

Adding to the family

It's been quite a while since I've written a blog post, so I thought I would start with our fun news.  Our family will be adding another member in December around Christmas time.  Watch this fun video to find out if it will be a boy or a girl.  Many thanks to my niece for making such a great video!

Kids Everywear Consignment Sale ** My FAVORITE!!

I can't lie, consignment shopping can really make my head spin.  All those random clothes stuffed into a little room.  It can be quite overwhelming.  Because of this, I am very picky when it comes to consignment sales.  And of course, I have a system which you can learn about here.  That was 3 years ago and I still follow a system very similar.  And you know what, I still go to the same consignment sale (going on 5 years now). Why?  Because it's well organized, open and easy to walk through.  The staff is friendly and the clothes are plenteous.  I don't feel overwhelmed in a huge loud room because each section of clothes has it's own storefront.    I depend on this sale!  There is no way we could afford to clothe our family without it.  And guess what?  It's coming up soon!  So make sure that you don't miss out on the Kids Everywear Consignment Sale.   Check out http://www.kidseverywear.com/ to get more information about shopping dates and sale dates (it doesn't get much better than 75% off!!)  They also offer early admission by bringing in gifts for charity.  Who doesn't want to get good deals while helping those less fortunate?  That's a win-win for everybody!  Happy Shopping!

March in our Home

It's only June!  It's not too late to share about our March, right?!  I'll be skipping April and heading straight to May next...such is life...

 

 

This is our 200lb wheat order.  Anything that requires flour, this is what I use.  I try to make as much as I can from scratch, but I'm still learning.  I do make all of our own bread and pizza dough.  I'm working on tortillas and would like to expand to hamburger and hot dog buns.  I plan on attempting more sprouting soon, maybe some soaking as well...when I have to time :)

Is that my husband in a Yakama?  Why, yes, it is!  Our neighbor turned 13 and we were invited to his Bar Mitzvah.  The husband is a Messianic Jew.  It was a very neat service!  It was an interesting mix of Jewish tradition with Christian influence.

 

The girls had a great time at the party afterwards. Once they warmed up, you couldn't get them off the dance floor!  



My sweet Babby.  I cannot remember at all what cute things she was doing in March, so wait for the May post and I'll catch you up then :)

Julianna cooking some eggs (no worries, the pan is empty and the stove is off)

Julianna sweeping the floor.

Julianna feeding Abby.  Do you think she likes to play house?  Just a friendly reminder they are always watching!

Sydney wearing her baby just like mommy!

 

The big girls got to go to a real Theater and see a play.  This one was based off of Rapunzel.

Caroline got to go visit our friend who just had a baby.  She is such a little mommy and loves to hold and play with babies!

 

Makayla was hit by a car in our neighborhood.  She only had some minor bruising and scratches.  Our sweet neighbor down the street brought us this Barbie with a homemade dress to help make her feel better.  So sweet!

For our history lesson we brought in a real Archaeologist to tell us about what they do.  She had some great things to show and tell us. 

Looking at fossils and artifacts.

 

Makayla dressed and ready for a dig.

To celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary Josh and I went to Charlotte for some R & R, if you can call racing 4 miles in the rain, cold and mud R &R.  We decided to go for "Something Different" for lunch :)

 

We visited St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church for their Friday Akathist service.  It was a beautiful church and fun to experience the Greek side of Orthodoxy.

We stopped at a used book store, it was crammed with books!  Readers paradise!

Krispy Kreme!

And of course a trip to Charlotte isn't complete without a stop at Ikea!

Pre-Race happy faces.

Post-Race sad faces.  It was a fun race, but SUPER cold, we were chattering for 2 hours afterwards!

My monkey Caroline

The girls helped me plant some seeds for the garden.



We made some homemade playdough for the babies to play with and the big girls to my hieroglyphics.

 

 

And finally, here is Juls picking up eggs at my parent's Easter (protestant style).  

Forbid them not

Wednesday night Vespers is always interesting on the nights when my husband, Josh, is working.  It would probably be easier to stay home, but I have been programed since birth to go to church on Wednesday nights.  I just can't help myself! 
Tonight was no different.  Typical madness trying to get my kids to stuff down some dinner before we head out the door.  Making sure everyone is dressed, changed and mostly clean.  Cramming all 5 in their appropriate car seats so we can "make it to the church on time" (you must sing that in your head to the tune from the song in My Fair Lady) 
Phew...
We make it to church, each kid assigned to a bag to carry in and where to put it.  Running in as fast as I can to set down a baby or two before Sydney reaches the candle stand to light her candle.  Venerating and trying to get in a mindset of prayer before Vespers.
It was all going so well...
Then Sydney looks up at me, legs spread wide apart with a look of desperation in her eyes "Go potty, Mommy!"
I sigh in frustration.  Whose idea was it to potty train a kid?  It's really just more work on me!  I guess that since she's walking funny she must have already wet herself a little bit.  As we are walking down the isle to leave the Nave, she starts pulling down her pants.  Lo and behold, there is NO diaper on that child!  She has peed straight down her legs!
We go to the bathroom to let her finish her business, I distract her from the candy room where she typically gets her treats, and head to the changing room to get her a diaper.  I then proceed to find and ask if her best friend, who is also two, happens to have a change of pants in her bag.  Alas..no.
So for the entire service, Sydney is worshipping with no pants.
As I am doing my best trying to keep my kids from distracting other during Vespers, Father takes his seat in the choir rows as he sits to listen to the evening's readings.
I love Father Nicholas, he looks just like Santa.  He has such a sweet spirit and is always so nice to my kids.  In his role as Priest, he is putting on the role of Jesus for us. 
Tonight was the perfect symbolism.
As soon as he sits down, Sydney looks up at me and ask, "Sit with Father?" 
I look down at her bare legs and diaper tushy and at first respond with a mental "no."  I have never witnessed anyone sitting with the Priest before during Vespers, he always sits by himself.  But not wanting to cause a scene, I let her run over, I figured at worst he would tell her "no" and send her back.  But what does he do?  He places her on his lap and uses his Epitrachelion to cover her bare legs.  He has a huge smile on his face and listens to her jabber for a moment and reminds her to be quiet.  They sit together for a few minutes in, what looks like on Sydney's face, bliss.
I really wish I had had a camera.  It was absolutely precious. 
And then I thought of this verse "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven"  Matthew 19:14
I could totally see Jesus doing the exact same thing.
I really love how in the Orthodox church children are not seen as a hindrance.  As my Godmother said their noise is "Holy noise." 
We are all working together in our church body to grow closer to Christ. 
Thank you Father for giving me just a glimpse of what it might have been like to be in the presence of Jesus.

God's Hidden Treasures: Prepping our garden for spring planting

The weather was just right today to do a little work in the yard.  I am getting so excited about starting our garden this year (Lord willing, not having to garden with a baby belly!).  We have been gardening the past two years; this year will be our first year starting with all seeds.  While I'm nervous about the greenness of my thumb, I do really enjoy working in the soil and watching God's handiwork.

I started some seedlings this week, so I felt the need to at least re clear the space used for our garden. Since Josh was working this morning, the 4 oldest and I set out for a morning outdoors.  Thank goodness Julianna can finally walk!

While I was blowing the pine straw out of the way, I stumbled upon something that looked familiar.  It was a sweet potato!  I thought I had dug all of them up!  So while I was blowing the land clear, the girls set out on their "treasure hunt" to find the little treasures that God had stored away for us until spring. 

 

 

Of course if digging is involved, Joe is there to help.  He actually did find a few sweet potatoes.

Some of our treasures in a pile.

The girls were very anxious to get them cleaned off and ready to eat.  Thankfully, before there was too much of a mess I steered them to the kitchen sink instead of the bathroom.

 



 

We found a few sweet potatoes, one golden potato and a few carrots.  And various bug treasures that were left outside :)
Also speaking of prepping the garden.  Josh and I were discussing at dinner the pro's and con's of tilling your garden before planting. What do you do to prep your garden?  Do you till or just plant?

Our February

I realize that lately I have been posting more about my life than the lives of our children. 

Never fear! 

I have decided that unless there is a super fun special event, that I will do a monthly rap-up at the end of each month. 

As I was trying to think of what happened in this short month, I didn't think there was much, but now that I've looked back through the pictures, we had a pretty good month!

 

So enjoy this photo journey through our February!

 

 

Sydney's new favorite book is Pete the Cat.  She LOVES it!  We have yet to have a child fixate on something, but now we do.  She would sit and read the book all day if she could.  And when she's not reading the book, she singing the song in the book.  This is a picture snapped of Sydney "reading" to her baby sister (whom she loves!). 

 

 

Abigail is all dressed and ready for a fun day of play at Marbles.  We had an awesome field trip for all the homeschool and preschool families from our church.  It's great when you have families of lots of kids, it's easy to get the group rate!  Marbles treated us right and we were even able to reserve a room for lunch.  Because of this, I have now been selected as the Social Director for the kids at church :)

 

It amazes me how spiritually minded my Makayla is.  This is a cross that she made out of sticks and rubber bands.  She is constantly making crosses, singing church songs, drawing pictures about the Bible.  My favorite this month was a prayer that she wrote out.  We framed it and put it in our Icon Corner.

 





Sydney is patting the "baby" that is in her tummy.  I have no idea where she got this from, but she has become such the little mommy at home.  When she's not reading Pete the Cat, she is taking care of her "fragile doll."  She feeds her, puts her to bed, changes her diaper, you name it!  I am always being told what baby is doing.  It is so sweet watching her little imagination!

 

Josh and I were very desperate for some time alone this month.  Babysitters are not easy to find 1) because we have so many kids 2) Because we just don't have the money to pay!  So, we improvised and had an in-home date night.  We hurriedly got the kids to bed right at 7pm and then we had a nice candlelight dinner, ALL BY OURSELVES!!  It is so nice to be able to sit and eat dinner without the interruptions of little ones!

I thought this was so sweet, little Abby just snuggling with her sisters!  They aren't resting, we just don't have TV in our living room, so if the girls are ever treated with TV, they have to sit in our bed.  TV is just not a priority in our house, I'd much rather have them play outside or doing something creative inside, so it just hasn't been part of our day.  Although, there are times when  TV is appropriate.  This time we had just finished reading Peter Pan, so the girls were doing an "educational" review of the movie and shared with me similarities and differences afterwards.  

I really don't like all the junk candy that Valentine's Day can bring.  It is soooo nasty and we never eat it all, so there is nasty candy laying around my house forever.  Seriously, we still have most of our Easter candy left from last year.  So, when Josh went out to get Valentine's for his girls, I asked him to avoid candy.  So this is what he came up with and the girls LOVED it!  He got them supplies to make their own Valentine's cards and some fun snacks.  The girls spent hours at the table making Valentines for everyone they know, I even made a Valentine for my special someone :)

 

 

While all the girls were all artsy craftsy, Josh was outside being manly and building a fire pit.  So for a romantic Valentine's dinner we had fire roasted Hot Dogs and Smores for dessert.  The girls love a good camp fire! 

Believe it or not, it has actually snowed twice this winter!  Our second snow was definitely the biggest.  The girls were chomping at the bit to go outside and play in the snow.  I am a snow scrooge, so I stayed inside.  Luckily, their daddy enjoys the snow, so he took them out early Sunday morning and gave them one last romp in the snow before it all melted while we were at church.

 

You can't tell in this picture, but my Julianna is finally walking!  A week before she turned 19 months!  She had been playing around with the idea for a few weeks and then randomly she made up here mind that is was time to walk and she hasn't stopped since!  She has quickly learned all the fun stuff she can get into now that she is upright and moving fast!

Josh and I actually got to go on a REAL date!  Our sweet neighbors had given us a gift certificate to a restaurant and a coupon for free babysitting.  Our schedules finally coordinated and we actually got to go out and enjoy an evening as just adults.  The girls enjoyed watching mommy get all pretty for daddy.  We had a great time in peace and quiet with each other.  What could be more fun than dinner, Lowes, Starbucks and Walmart :) 

 

 

Like I said, Sydney loves her baby sister.  She is always asking to hold her.  Of course she doesn't realize that Abby weighs just a little less than she does, so this time it ended up that Abby layed on top of Sydney.  I love the sweet sister moments!



 

My mom got the girls some new dress up clothes.  All the girls dressed up and danced around the living room. Even Julianna, walking to dancing in just a few weeks!  It warms my heart!

 

 

Even Abby joined in on the dress up fun :)