Busy Ryann

"Helping" Bubba with the dishes.

Coloring with Daddy.

These were just too cute not to post.

Getting Ready for Baby Tara!

This is the stroller my parents gave us! Ryann was ready for a test drive as soon as Daddy put it together.

We heard my dad's motorcyle pull up, so when he came to the door with this huge box, we were quite surprised. As it turns out, Mama drove her car as they had been in different starting places.

Now, we have to buy a new carseat. We thought Ryann's old one would fit on the new stroller. We were wrong.

I hope to wear the baby as much as possible anyhow. I have 2 slings from when Ryann was tiny and I just ordered this one. I also hope to make this one with my mom's help. I really love having my babies so close to me. (I sometimes/often wish that I could go back in time to when Brendan was a baby.)

Steve and I (mostly Steve) finally got the bins of baby clothes sorted and put into the nursery closet, what a relief. I'm thankful that we have so many hand-me-downs for this baby.

We haven't been too busy lately. My dh and I made pizza pockets today, I used a recipe for crescent roll dough and he helped me fill them. They are quite good.

I made 2 loaves of whole wheat bread on Thursday that did pretty well. We found that slicing it very thin was excellent for ham and cheese. I will bake some more tonight after dinner (which will be pizza pockets).

Brendan is growing way too quickly. I had to buy him size 10 shoes today!! He's only 12! When B and I went to my sister's today, we found out that he is taller than she is. AAAACK! She's 6-ish inches shorter than me so I'm not too worried about looking up to him too soon.

The girls have been playing all day (Ryann seems to want to play all night too, poor Daddy). We've had a quiet day mostly.

The SUN Was Out Today!

It was so lovely! We ran some errands this afternoon! It was very nice out!

It is supposed to be nice during the day tomorrow, but it will get wet again by night. We'll enjoy it while we can!

How wet IS it....?

"Rain rain go away..." I don't think it has stopped raining for 2 weeks! My dad said he hasn't even cranked his motorcycle for that long! It is really taking a toll on our moods. Well, according to Weatherbug, we should atleast get a peak of the sun tomorrow. The yard is like a marsh, so we will need lots of sunshine before I can kick the kids out to the backyard.

A wise woman on an e-loop I belong to said it was wrong to complain about the weather, it's part of God's plan which is perfect. So, I have been trying to thank Him for the provision he is making for our Spring gardens and Summer crops. I have also tried to do this when praying with the kids, so that they will see that rain is good.

It's just this "cabin fever"! We're gonna go to the library soon and on an errand or two, but we'll have to come home again. We may take the dog so that we don't have to lock her up all afternoon (she's very good in the van). We do have Bible study this evening and there's a spaghetti dinner at church, so maybe today we will get out of this wet season "funk"!


The Artiste! (I love the foot on the easel)



The Student (at her sister's desk, using her sister's stuff - maybe Sister should have put stuff away?)


Even Sandy is bored (especially after perusing Popular Science).

We REALLY do HOMESCHOOL

Doesn't look like it, but it is part of our His-story lesson.

Brendan had to create a new animal & name it. This is a "worm-sting".

The creator.

Kyla had to make a man, woman or animal.

This is an elephant. She didn't like the man or woman she made.

We are doing The Mystery of History and studying Creation and Adam & Eve. Yesterday, we made Creation Booklets. I think the kids really like this stuff.

Finally!

Well, since finishing the cooking session on Sunday didn't sit right with me, I finished it tonight!

I made 6 x 1.5# meatloaves, 20 x 0.25# burgers, & about 4 meals-worth of taco meat. It is such a relief to get that over with. I used the new stockpot to mix the meatloaves and then to cook up the taco meat. I ran out of onion powder on the meatloaf mix, so I had to flub the taco meat, but even Brendan liked it (rotel and all).


This is the stand-up freezer in the garage. We have a refrigerator out there, too. It's freezer has the frozen veggies, fries, fruit & ice cream. The inside freezer is for open bags, one-portion frozen left-overs and other miscellaneous items.


Just in case you ever wanted to know what 9# ground beef look like in a 24qt stock pot.


Well, I'm going to finish watching Mansfield Park and knit on the scarf that I started. The dog is in my seat!

Cooking Day!!

Today was/is cooking day! The kids went to Winterfest with my parents. Steve and I stayed home to do some freezer cooking. We roasted 2 turkeys last night, and have been chopping and cooking all day.

Steve being very careful & exact!!

My new stock pot, 24 quarts!!

Kyla is GRATE! (waa-waa-waaaaa). Oh, the face paint is from WinterFest. We put the kids to work when they came home.

So far, we made:
-Sticky Chicky Drumsticks (1 meal)
-BBQ Drumsticks (1 meal)
-Chili Maple Dump Chicken Breasts (1 meal)
-Garlic Dijon Dump Chicken Breast (1 meal)
-Turkey & Broccoli (4 meals)

-Turkey Spaghetti (6 meals)

-Beef Stew (2 meals)

Kathy's Turkey Spaghetti

1.5 cups butter
1.5 cups flour
1.5 quarts turkey broth
1.5 quarts milk
salt & pepper to taste
48 oz spaghetti
3 lbs cooked turkey (I'm guessing here, didn't actually measure)
30 oz rotel (diced tomatoes & green chilies)
24 oz mushrooms, sliced
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
*Melt butter, stir in flour, bring to boil, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and broth, salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a near boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
*Cook noodles according to package instructions for al dente (unless you plan to freeze, then undercook).
*Stir noodles, chopped turkey, rotel & mushrooms into sauce. Divide into pans and top with cheese. This is where you can freeze or proceed.
*Thaw (if frozen).
*Bake @ 350°F for 30 minutes, until bubbling or cheese browns.
*Servings: 36

I love chicken spaghetti, but really wanted to avoid velveeta, so I had to come up with this on my own. We had this for dinner and everyone loved it. Next time, I will try to have salad with it.
We have also washed the dishes several times, ran a load of dishtowels/clothes through the washer. My back and neck are aching, but it was sooo worth it! AND...I only had to send my wonderful husband to the store twice!

We plan to make 6 meatloaves, hamburger patties, & taco meat.

...

Isn't this sweet. Kyla and a door had a disagreement (later her toe and a broom) and Ryann was comforting her. I couldn't snap a picture of her laying her head on K's shoulder, but it was precious.

Brendan's masterpiece! You may remember, he got the set for Christmas. He worked very hard.


Here's the future engineer. Well, he claims he doesn't want to be an engineer, but you should see what he builds without a kit. He has a gift.

Ryann and Sandy playing.

We had a full day! The break is over. We did school all week and start co-op tomorrow.

I also had my neices for the afternoon and even though Kyla caught a ride with a friend to Keepers, I had 4 kids to pick her up and take her to piano with. I also took the 4 to the grocery store while K was in piano lessons. I guess I needed the practice. I got lots of looks, 3 girls in a buggy, a tall young man at my side and an obvious pregnant belly. Oh, well. I guess I could shake my head at their obvious (to me) life choices also, but I don't.

I think I'm gonna get some tea and contemplate a bubble bath.

A Trip to the Dentist

Here we are at the dentist, seems like we were here 6 months ago. But this time is different!! This is Ryann's first time to be a patient. Well...she did go in several months ago...there was an altercation with a blueberry seed, but it doesn't count.

The dentist has a great play area but we had to bring the toys out to be with Mommy! Mommy moved to the play area.

Look, isn't he cute? The frog's not bad either, or is that an alligator?

Kyla loves the dentist. She counts down the days until we go. Our hygenist is wonderful. We've been coming to this office since Brendan was 4 or 5 years old.

"What are they doing to my sissy?"

"We get toys too?" They let Ryann choose her toy when Kyla got hers. My least favorite part of taking them to the dentist.

Brendan's turn! I won't say he loves coming, but he's very good about it.

Ryann decided to investigate everything while she could. The dentist brought in a chair so that she could watch her brother and sister, she didn't sit in it for long.

When Bubba got up to "rinse and spit", Ryann climbed into the chair, so the hygenist took advantage of her willingness and got started. She was really surprised at how well Ryann behaved.

Ryann didn't quite understand "open wide" but they got the job done. The main object of the appointment was to get her used to the routine before getting old enough to be fearful.

Waiting on Ryann now.

This is our dentist, we really like him. My parents and sister's family go to him also. All the kids got a great report.

The Marker Incident

This is what happens when mom is on the phone and has left a marker within reach of a toddler. Yes, the couch is leather.

She is so proud of herself!


Did I mention the pen is washable?

The Brown Kids

Here's a picture or two of my kids all dressed the same. They got new clothes on Saturday with the gift cards from Mammaw & Pappaw.

I know it's been a few days, but not much exciting is going on.

I'm just so tired.

We did not start school this week like I had hoped, oh well.

The baby is moving a lot, I think that's in direct proportion to my coffee intake (only one cup a day, but somedays the cup is bigger than on others).

Today, I went to the big W for the first time since before Christmas, I would rather not shop there, but T does not have fabric. I bought 2 patterns and enough material to make each girl a dress - including baby Tara. I also bought Tara an outfit for the first time.

We have so many hand-me-downs from my neices and my two girls. I went through all of it this past week. So fun to walk down memory lane with each outfit. Some of the clothes came from a cousin of ours and still more from one of my sister's friends. I have no problem with 2nd hand (boy have I come a long way), especially since so much you buy new today had some cartoon character or corporate logo on it, some of it is even indecent (I'm talking about for toddlers). I also plan to make jumpers and dresses for my girls, they are pretty easy - as long as there are no zippers *g*.

I am enjoying the new-to-us van. It has taken some getting used to - being so high up and big like that. I still hit curbs on those right turns, but not every time.

Well, the kids are cleaning up from dinner and I should fold that laundry and maybe I'll have time to cut out the dresses tonight.

God Bless You!!

Do I have to have a title?

Yesterday, after the car buying, Ryann and I took naps, rather late in the day. I slept for maybe an hour (longer?) and Ryann much longer. We didn't eat dinner until 8:45 (not normal) and the big kids were up until around 10. Steve and I were up until around midnight, so was Ryann! We put her down and all was quiet, until Daddy went to check on her, she didn't get quiet again until after 1a.m. My husband is so wonderful and would not let me get up with her.

We had to get up at a decent hour so that he could get to work and I could go to the doctor. We made it with few mishaps (I'll spare you my pregnancy moment). The doctor wanted to schedule my c-section 10 days early, but we didn't want to have Tara share a birthday with my neice, so the doctor will schedule me one more day early. Tara will be here on March 8th which makes my ticker incorrect, but no biggie. Maybe, I'll add another to show when she'll be here, but I really like the one that shows her development.

Kyla is off to the movies with her friend, and I am trying to get the laundry done. I should step away from the computer now, I've wasted enough time napping today.

Starting off the New Year

Well, this was yesterday, but doesn't she look adorable?

What's is this? Is Steve test-driving something?

OH! It's our new van!!

Ever since finding out we were expecting again, we knew we needed a larger vehicle! Not necessarily more seating, just more room - especially LEG room for our growing kiddos. We have been looking, but we saw this one on-line last night and decided to go check it out. Everything worked out and now it is ours!! It is a 2002 Chevy Express conversion. It seats 7 very VERY comfortably. It's best feature as far as the kids are concerned is the giant video screen (15 inches), there's only a VHS player, but there are jacks to hook up a DVD player or game system (don't hold your breath kids). There is so much room!! I can't wait for our next long trip (probably not for a few months)!