The Fall Round-Up

Here the hungry boys pose patiently, waiting to eat these freshly, baked oatmeal muffins. As you can see, Sam (in hat) is rarely without his "gun", which is actually part of one of our dining room chairs (?????)...LOL!

R.I.P, dear aloe vera plant. You once flourished in our home and added comfort and relief to burned and irritated skin. You brightened the living room with your greenliness. Now, you are but a victim of a heinous plant-beating crime.

Greyson holds the weapon used in the plant-beating crime. It is confiscated as evidence "exhibit A."

The guilty perpetrator confesses after a bit of questionning (wink).
This is what you do A LOT when you live and strive to survive with 6 brothers. And as you can see by Rachel's smile, it's kind of fun sometimes (grin).

John, with his weapon at-the-ready.

Frolicking in the leaves.

Noah, #6, ready to lay a hit on somebody.

Malcom getting into position.

The victorious Pop Warner Peewees Greyson and Elijah.

We had to take this picture to show Sam trying to fit his enormous head into a too-small-for-him football helmet.

Things are slowing down a bit here. We are all catching our breaths before it gets busy again.

Take care and say "hi" by leaving us a comment HERE.

Thanks!

Camy

We're now in the homestretch of football season. One more game!


At this point, our whole family is exhausted....even the football players themselves. We are thankful for an upcoming, short break. We are contemplating winter sports at this time with the boys.


For your listening pleasure, I have added a playlist of some of my favorite music (see sidebar). Perhaps you can take a listen as you read the blog entries!


I love these chorus lyrics by Mark Schultz in "He Will Carry Me"


Even though I'm walking through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone and I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me....




You will see that my playlist is full of songs that encourage during the struggles of life. These songs really lift my spirit, and I hope you will find them a blessing as well.

This week we are trying to clean and organize (after all the chaotic activity during football season). Shoes are our biggest project right now. We have 3 large laundry baskets full of shoes! LOL! They are a blessing, but we need to weed out some of them. We only have 18 feet in our house to put shoes on (grin).

Have a blessed and wonderful day!

(p.s. We got to hear our baby's heartbeat! Rachel and Sam accompanied me and got to hear it as well. At the same appointment, my blood was taken, which Greyson and Elijah were thrilled observers of the process...quite a homeschooling fieldtrip, eh?)

Can't wait to hear your comments...click HERE to say "hey."

Never A Dull Moment

We sure stayed heavily occupied last week, as you can tell by the absence of blog entries.

Our family has a new addition. Meet "Kit", Rachel's new American Girl doll, courtesy of her Grandpa and Granna.

The addition of this doll to our household has created quite a stir. The boys are somewhat stupefied by this feminine creature. It would be their delight to kidnap Kit and rearrange her anatomy. However, their mother has strongly cautioned them against such a feat....as well as listed the possible consequences of such an event.

Needless to say, Ms. Rachel is so delighted with her new "sister", her reference to Kit. So sweet! Can you believe that we put away her dolls a few months ago after Rachel announced her new, profound interest in science? She still loves science, but she's not ready to put Kit into that stored-away doll box.

Here are a few other happenings at our house this October:

This is one of the myriad of Lego creations by Greyson and Elijah featuring the Indiana Jones theme. They've been hard at work building and taking photos of their masterpieces.

Did you ever make leaf paths when you were a kid? I remember making leaf houses on the playground in elementary school as a child. Here is a "leaf labrynth" (as Greyson has labeled it) in our front yard. Greyson worked hard raking and organizing this pathway, much to the delight of the younger children! They played for a few hours, running and finding their way around the winding maze. Greyson timed them as they navigated, which caused competition, which in-turn caused dissention, which led to arguing, tears, blah, blah, blah (grin).

Rachel is holding a plate of her bread creations, fit with sprinkles!

Still more bread....if we're lucky, this will last us 2 days.

As you can see, there is never a dull moment in our home, and we thank God for that.

Hope you and yours are enjoying October!

Send us your comments HERE...we sure love hearing from you!

Blessings,

Camy

My Haven and Place of Rest

This is my kitchen sink, my haven from the world. My place of prayer, solace, tears, laughter, rejoicing, sadness, brainstorming, ....you name it. It is clean right now, for the first time in weeks. I have been tired and pregnant-nauseous, which often inhibits my ability to tidy and keep the sink area clean and clutter free.

I love my 70's vintage orange formica countertop! Not only does it hide a lot of warts, but the yellow tones in the orange tend to brighten my mood a bit.

I love to put a few drops of lemon essential oil in my dishwater. The scent both relaxes and rejuvenates me at the same time, not to mention that it cuts grease. There are also two, small oil-burners for simmering various essential oils. These help to tone down cooking odors and cheer the air.

I like to put up reminders in this place of habit. To my right, I have an afternoon list, a verse, and a postcard from a dear friend with a suffering sister. Since I spend long hours at this spot, it is helpful for me post items that I want to keep in mind.
On the left side of the sink, I have poster that reminds me to be thankful for freedom of religion in this country. These are dear souls who have either been jailed or killed for their Christian faith in Sharia law countries. When I feel downhearted, a glimpse of this poster tells me that many of my worries are so minor....



I have learned to love the times spent at my kitchen sink, my haven and place of "rest." Getting lost in my thoughts, as well in piles and piles of dishes each day is what I do here.



Blessings to you this day.



Thanks so much for your comments. You can leave them HERE



~Camy