Still praying for Stellan

Lil Stellan is goin to Boston for surgery again...the details aren't quite nailed down...but at this point, it's not if but when. he's holding his own, and he still amazes me....he's taught me so much. click on his pic to get to his mom's blog, for more of his story.

Praying for a family in agony right now

Stellan is a sweet 8 month old in heart failure...his story is long...and short. right now his family and his doctors are fighting for his life. later today, when i write my "not me monday" post...i want you to know that not me monday started with stellans mom, jennifer. and as i write later today, i'll be thinking of jennifer, and her hubby and children...and precious stellan. click the pic to read more about stellan and his fight for life. and if you pray, send up prayers for him and his family please.
Gen

Dad is home!

and his welcome included an attack by the children...and by the dogs! the cat not-so-patiently waited at the door till he walked inside...then he attacked too! i sure wish i'd had my camera out!

so this may be it until sunday night or monday...i'm gonna enjoy the weekend with my hubby!

a lovely day indeed

today we went to a friends house for some swimming time in the "cement pond". haha. the girls had a lovely time...we're finding that spending time away from home the first couple of days really helps with dad bein gone...by wednesday evening, i'm ready to be home though...i'm becoming the homebody...who knew?

i forgot the camera, so no pics...i did however, get in the pool and enjoy the cool. seems to have helped baby's position some too! woo hoo!

not me monday...not my children either!

i did NOT leave the tomatoes alone all weekend so i could spend time with hubby, thus leaving stinky piles of rotting tomato...nope not me!

i did NOT take four small children to wal mart with me for the solitary purpose of grocery shopping...that would be crazy!

i did NOT pray for rain this week in north MS so my hubby could come home early...after all, if he don't work, he don't get pay! not me..couldn't be me!

now for my children :)

my children did NOT peel the leaves off of a stem and leave them heaped in a pile on my office floor...certainly not after i told them to pick them up...they are precious angels who only do what they are told after all!


my child did NOT hang out on the floor of wal mart for no good reason...certainly not after i told her to get up!

my children are not fussing at each other as i type this post...they always get along famously!

ok...enough. it's monday after all...and Monday doesn't ever go astray ever!

another week

another week of fun. lol. i think this week might be a lil bit busy too...keeps our minds off hubby working so much! this week, we'll be running errands tomorrow, swimming at a friends on tuesday maybe(?), and wednesday there is a birthday party. on saturday there is a birthday party as well...and the big girls are invited to a sleepover on friday...but daddy comes home that night, so we're not sure yet!

should be a busy week...Thank the Lord for friends who keep us busy!

pictures as promised....

of our new baby's bedding and high chair!

all this pink would have made me sick three years ago, now i'm thrilled!

this lil pouch is for toys i'm told...right now it has a bassinet sheet and two bathtub books in it...



notice the teddy bear in the bottom corner, and the lamb and duck in the upper corner. the lil duckie is from her big sisters!


see the pretty blankie in the corner? it's got her name on it...and the blanket is made with fabric that is pink with little turtles on it...it's the cutest dang thing! notice the elephant in the bottom corner, and the purple bunny hanging at the foot of the crib....

each of her lil toys came from family and friends...she's got a lil dollie from mommy, but it's in the bassinet in my room...so no pics yet! the turtle blankie is from her Tee-Tee, the elephant from rand, the bunny and lamb from gana, the teddy came in a gift basket from my family. every single bit of it special. when i get the shelves up, lots of them will go on the shelves...but until then, in bed they stay.

isn't this the sweetest lil bedding set? i just love love LOVE IT!




and this is our new high chair...it's wooden! i'm very thrilled, and it's just so cute sitting in my dining room...and it's a great thing, b/c our dining table seats six. lol.

long week is almost over!

it's our first week without daddy...he'll be home tomorrow. I'm not sure who is more excited, children, dad, or mom! we've made it through, proving once again that i'm stronger than i realized! the girls have had a fun week, and now we're preparing for AR's bday...on sunday! she's so excited...and as my tradition goes, she got to pick her birthday cake...funfetti cake with caramel frosting. hm...here's hopin it's good!

we're having friends over on saturday night...hubby is excited, as it's his best bud that he hasn't seen in about three years! so we're gonna have the cake then....mom can't eat as much if i have to share with more people right? :D

no great pics to share today...i mopped and scrubbed...things are getting clean! lol. but you SOOOO don't wanna see pics of that!

Baby shower!

could i just say that i have wonderful family and friends! and it was so cool to have a baby shower for our lil girl...we had a GREAT time! pics to follow!

busy busy day...

went to curves early this morning...in the hopes that i'd have enough energy to get everything done today! i need to can both peas and tomatoes...and need to mop the kitchen, and clean the counters. i also need to clean the living room...and we're leaving tomorrow for my mom's. so busy day today. i promise to take pics...only of the canning, and perhaps the clean living room. the children cleaned the counters a lil bit today...and swept sorta. now to finish the laundry....oi, it never ends!

it's a rainy monday

so we're all inside...daddy has the day off, so he's on the computer as you can imagine. the girls thought it'd be fun to color....


course CG didn't wanna color, but did want mommy to take her picture...here she is saying "cheese"



and yesterday we bought Prissy the bully...i mean doggie....a collar to go with our invisible fence...to keep her safe. she hates the collar, and hates having her pic made...see?


eventually she'll learn her boundaries, but until then, she doesn't go far from my feet. lol.

Long weekend

and tons of fun! the kids played at a friends house on the fourth...complete with water slide!


they had so much fun!

yesterday after church we went to lowe's and got the rest of the stuff to finish our closet...now the only thing left is getting a dresser! i promise to take pics when it's all done....

starting off strong today...

and fading fast! yesterday was long...i picked and canned zipper creme peas...


today i had tomatoes to do....not too many, but too many for everyone to eat before they went bad. can't freeze them...no room in the freezer! i'm preparing for baby now, so the freezer will be filled quite soon!

here's the tomatoes from this week:


and just for big jon, a step by step tutorial of my canning methods for tomatoes. :)

first, core tomatoes and cut off bad spots


then drop said tomatoes into boiling water for a moment:


pull them out, and shock them to stop the cooking....drop them in cold water.


then peel them....skins come off easily!
see here, the skins are all wrinkly looking...


and here, skin just slides right off!


see all the skinless tomatoes? they aren't attractive, but they ARE yummy!


so, then you chop them, dice them, whir them in your food processor, or leave them whole if you'd like. i tend to dice them or whir them up.
these i diced.


then jar them up!


put nice clean lids and rings on them, and process them in your canner as the instructions say. don't forget to clean the rims before putting the lids on....this makes for a gross experience trust me!

mine are processing right now...woo hoo first tomatoes of the season! maybe i can be a farmer's wife...i do love canning!