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Big kids come home tonight

Hi all! It's been a busy week here without Celeste and Jamie. I have gotten a lot more organized and we're functioning rather well without them, BUT they fly in tonight late. All of us can't wait to see them. Celeste is feeling under the weather. I think she has a bad cold/flu. Please pray for her. Jamie, Celeste, and Dan all have testing on Thursday and Friday, so I am hoping all are well at that time. 2 days! Then we're all going to Sarasota to visit my parents for Easter. It should be a great time! We haven't been down since last May. We like to go to the beach in May. Hope to do it again this year, too!

In other news, I've been using the cloth diapers on Eden. I think I finally figured out how to get the smells out of them with my very hard water and high efficiency (silly) washer. I am using baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse. BTW, don't buy a Fisher & Paykel washing machine. They don't get your clothes clean. I may be purchasing something else here soon. I ordered more Chinese Prefolds (rainbow short) from Green Mountain Diapers. I also got some toddler diapers to try on Tommy. We'll see how that goes. I hope to get him potty trained one of these days. I am looking forward to my order arriving tomorrow. I also LOVE Motherease products. They have the absolute best covers. No leaks ever!

On the mend...

Tommy is doing better today. This is considering he only ate 1 cracker yesterday and had about one half a cup of milk. (Which he tossed up overnight in his crib...eww!) I know I shouldn't give him milk on an upset tummy, but it was the only thing he would drink and I figured that was better than nothing. At least my hubby cleaned it up, yeah!

I awoke with a migraine this morning and Tommy was still recovering, so we had another day at home. It was a very hard day for me. Stu has been gone the past two nights until midnight. I REALLY miss Celeste and Jamie. I need to call them to see what they've been up to. Stu is on his way home from a meeting in Daytona Beach. It's late, so I worry. Praying that God gives him safe travel in that little car. Thanks for stopping by! May God bless you today!

Please pray for my Tommy who is 2 1/2 years old. He has a fever (102+), the shakes, is c/o his ear hurting, and he threw up on my bed earlier (yuck!). He was up in the middle of the night, too. He won't eat or drink anything. Eden seems a bit better today. Just a little cough and no fever. Jamie and Celeste are in STL and Stu is gone until 10PM. Great first day alone with the littles! I shall persevere...and do lots of laundry!

The friendly skies

I may not be posting much this week. My two oldest children, Celeste and Jamie, are flying out to see their Dad in St. Louis for a week. They leave tomorrow. We have LOTS on the agenda today. Stu will be taking them to the airport in Orlando. It's 2 1/2 hours to the airport and back--plus wait time. It's a long day, so I'm staying home with the younger bunch. Dan has a baseball game, too! Last night Celeste tells me she needs a new suitcase. We duct taped hers together for the last trip, but the TSA people removed it. Nothing like last minute! She's going to try to fit in my weekender. Oh the joys of travelling! (We don't do it too much with such a large brood. I haven't been on an airplane since 1994--I love to fly, though!) We are going to visit my parents for Easter in Sarasota. I really miss the beach and the smell of the salt water! Okay if this post seems scatterbrained, it is! That's how I feel today...

Celeste got her hair cut today. It is very pretty. Yes, the curls are natural. Something about this picture reminds me of Eden. Maybe it's her eyes. My cute girls!

I added a new recipe, so check it out!!

6 months and counting

Eden is 6 months old today! (And it is the first day of spring, yay!) I took her for her check-up and was pleasantly surprised that her weight was okay. Eden weighs 14 lbs., 12 oz. (40%) and is 26 inches long (50%). I will probably start her slowly on some more solid foods. She stopped sleeping through the night a couple weeks ago. I think she may be hungry!

We are so busy today. I had Eden's check-up, Celeste has a hair cut, I'm taking dinner to someone from church (almost forgot!), and Dan has baseball practice this evening. I have barely seen my hubby this week. It's crazy.

Celeste is in taking pictures of Eden. I guess I'm going to post one with this post. (She took 13 pics of her!) I'm sure you've seen SO many and know what she looks like. I'll try to get some up of the other kids, too! I have a cute one of Tommy in a baseball cap. Have a super Wednesday! I'm off to nurse the baby before I take 'leste in for her hair cut...

A Clean Slate

Ahhh, it's Monday again! (As I sit here still in my pajamas.) I was telling the lady at the place I go exercise that Monday is a clean slate. It's a do-over from last week. You can always make a fresh start on Monday. It's like when we go to Jesus for forgiveness of our sin...He wipes away the offense and gives us grace. Monday is grace to go on. Yay! So it's not too bad that I haven't had a shower. I have made whole wheat banana pancakes for my family, done 2 loads of laundry, home schooled my 2nd grader, and fed the baby twice. It's a start!

Danny won his baseball game on Saturday 5-4! I was not able to go because it was quite cold and breezy. It was best to keep little Eden home out of that. He has a double header this Saturday. I hope to make part of that. Tommy has a birthday party to go to, so I'll have to leave early. We have such a busy week planned. I won't go into all the details, but I've never been so busy in all my life! Jamie and Celeste leave for St. Louis next week for spring break. It will be quiet while they're gone. I think I need the break from all the activities.

We're covering the book of James at church. It's my favorite book in the bible, pretty much. (I love Isaiah, too!) So why don't you read in James this week...

Yummy!

Eden had her first food today! My milk supply seems low and she doesn't seem to be getting enough--her weight gain is slow--please pray for us in this area! My friend, Kristy, suggested I mix momma milk with rice cereal. She loved it! Check out her pictures in my flickr badge to the right.

The Real Deal

Dan had his first baseball game on Saturday and here are a couple photos of the fun! They lost, but we all had a great time!

Little League

And so it begins, after years of waiting (on Dan's part), the first season of little league baseball. No T ball here, just the real thing. Practice began last Friday night. I made it to the 2nd practice and there's already a game on Saturday. Hey, the kids don't even know all the rules yet! The last picture is of a couple members of our pep squad, Jamie and Max! This latest installment of America's pasttime has truly made our schedule crazy, but I know one 7-year old boy that couldn't be happier...

A little report

Baby Eden found her tongue today! It is so cute how she sticks it out all over the place. I wasn't able to get the best picture, but I'll try to post one. Also, she decided biting mommy while nursing was fun today on several occasions. I tried to "get her attention," but she just thinks it's all fun and games. Any ideas? She did fine during her nighttime nursing, though. PTL!

**Update--Eden has done better over the past couple of days and is rarely biting. I'm glad because nothing that I have tried has made her stop!

I added a recipe blog in my sidebar! I put up white chicken chili first. We had it tonight!

Ultimate Blog Party

Hi everyone! I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Party. It's hosted by 5 minutes for Mom--go check them out! If you're new to my site, you can scroll down and catch a slide show of my family that I posted around Valentine's Day. Here are a few things about me:

~I have been married to Stu for a little over 9 years. We've been together 10. Stu is a broker/developer for Coldwell Banker. Need a home?
~I have 6 children. My two oldest are from my previous marriage. My girls are the bookends currently.
~I homeschool my 4 oldest children.
~I attend a Sovereign Grace Church and love it!
~My husband and I are currently promoting a nutritional beverage that can change your life!
~I love to scrapbook and take pictures. I am a Creative Memories consultant. You can now order directly from my webpage and have items shipped to your door from CM!
~I love to read, go to the beach, play games with my kids, hang out with the youth from the church. I used to scuba dive...miss that!
~One secret about me: I really don't like thunderstorms/lightning--especially at night.
~I am passionate about home schooling my children. God directs my steps daily. It's not always pretty, but there will be an eternal reward!
Be sure to scroll down to the end of the page and read the poem my daughter wrote for me!
Please leave a comment. I would love to visit your blogs, too!

Hi all! We've been dealing with a bunch of little sickies over the past 7-10 days. I currently have 2 boys on antibiotics and the baby woke up with what looks like pink eye. Some of my other children have had it. Hopefully, all will be well soon! It's mostly annoying stuff like ear infections and pink eye. Oh, and Celeste has laryngitis--that hasn't been too bad, ha ha! I took Max to the doc yesterday and he hadn't been in for a sick visit since March of 2004. We have some rockin' immune systems around here! Eden is sooo cute! We all just love her...see picture!

Eden Joy is 5 months old!

Today little miss Eden is 5 months old! I can't believe it! And she is still nursing. What a blessing that has been. She is very quick to roll both ways...which she demonstrated while I was trying to get her dressed for bed this evening. (See above.) I took Tommy to the doctor today and he has a right ear infection and pink eye. He's on antibiotics for the first time in 1 1/2 years. All else is normal. Just doing loads of laundry right now and trying to clean up. I made a yummy dinner this evening from my Momys cookbook. It's called Easy Sanchos. I will post some recipes, soon. We had white chicken chili last night and it rocked!

Around home

Everyone seems to be doing better today, except Tommy's eyes are quite something. He seems to have a bad cold. If his eyes don't look better by Thursday, then it's off to see Dr. Kathy. The kids were hanging out watching Thomas the Tank Engine with Dad this evening. Check out that tan/sunburn Stuart has. It's from driving the Porsche Boxter that is being raffled for charity. Enjoy the cute picture! Oh, also, for some reason, my boys were enjoying wearing empty kleenex boxes on their heads this afternoon!

We've had a bunch of sickies around here over the weekend. Jamie and Tommy had high fevers, sore throats, cold symptoms. Jamie spent Friday in the wee morning hours throwing up--for some reason. I have been very tired and a bit nauseated. I go to the doc to check out my elevated thyroid on Tuesday. Maybe that's what's going on. Please pray that Eden doesn't get any of it. Hopefully, nursing will help her keep her immunity up.

Today we're taking the day off from formal schooling. Although, Celeste is working on Spanish I and Algebra II. Jamie will do a FLVS assignment and Dan is doing 2 math worksheets. Still it's a lazy day. No Boy Scouts tonight. I need to go to the grocery store and I'd like to work out today. I'm still not feeling that great, but it's been almost a week since I exercised. Not going to lose weight that way! Kids are bickering, so I need to go.... yes, this goes on in my house, unfortunately.

Welcome baby Karson!!

Karson Thomas was born to our friends Josh & Kristy this morning. He weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces and joins his big brother, Kaleb, and big sister, Emma. I went to see him and he is SO CUTE!! What a wonderful blessing!

Even though yesterday was Valentine's, I really like this!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

I made this little movie for my hubby for Valentine's. Enjoy!

Jamie had Court of Honor at Boy Scouts last night. He earned two merit badges. He received dentistry and athletics. He is currently almost finished with 1st class rank. Also, here is a cute pic of Eden smiling! She is 4 1/2 months old now. I love her right now and wish she'd stay this way for awhile!

Where are my socks?

This question was posed to me recently by my husband. He was getting ready to go to an open house and didn't have what he needed--namely socks. We have done so much laundry around here and his didn't get done. He needed jeans, too. This made me realize that I should really be watching out for his needs. He is supposed to be my first priority. After all, he was here before the kids. (At least 4 of them!) It is so hard as a mother of 6 children to fit it all in. I am just praying that God will lead me to remember what Stu needs and supply it. I am praying for His grace because right now running everything is quite overwhelming. God gave me my husband as the perfect companion. Do something thoughtful. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

Hop on over to this blog and read Amy's post about Choices. Maybe all this pursuit of the world for "something" is not where most of us should be headed. I need to keep this in mind when I want things "just so" around here. God only made 24 hours in a day for a reason. On that note, it's my 6 hours to sleep...wink!

Encouragement

I received this encouragement from one of the momys today and I thought it was too good not to share it:

Psalm 1
1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

As you can see the words in boldfaced above, whatsoever God's people do, if they are meditating on His law they prosper. But we are human and we look at things with human eyes. Thus we must live by faith and not by sight as our forefather Abraham did. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" says Romans 14:23. If we don't have the faith we must ask God to give it to us by His grace.

Blessings,
Karen

Thank you, Karen! I will be praying over these verses this week. I am praying that as I raise my children I will do it in a righteous manner and it will prosper. May you have a prosperous home, too!

In which we see a few butterflies...

Wow, we've been busy bees this week. First of all, I got a large portion of my hair cut off on Wednesday! I wanted to have "fun" hair, so one of the sweet young ladies from church (who's a hair stylist) cut my hair. Above should be a picture of me with baby Eden. Second, Max's 6th birthday was on the 1st, so we took him to the butterfly garden at UF (again). We got some wonderful pictures and enjoyed ourselves. Third, on Friday I got to work-out with a friend and go to a scrapbook crop. I joined a local place that is similar to a Curves and even though I hate to exercise it's not too bad. I'm more interested in the results! Today we visited with Stu's parents while he had an open house. (He has another one tomorrow.) Also, I finally opened my Nutrimill. WOOT! That thing is awesome. My old Ktec grinder can't hold a candle to it. I LOVE IT! I made banana bread tonight. I am making homemade pancakes in the morning again...with fresh ground flour. Have a super Sunday!

The List

Do you ever have so much to do and you're trying to figure out how to accomplish it? That's what I'm thinking about the next couple of days! (You're probably wondering why I'm on the computer, right?!?) Tomorrow is Max's 6th birthday! I still need to get him a gift. Also, I have a hair cut today and the grocery store is calling. The baby is still asleep. I woke her up at 6:30 to nurse because I couldn't stand it anymore, but then I went back to bed for a little bit.

Max has requested a trip to the butterfly garden tomorrow. There's also the medievil fair in town this weekend, so we're trying to decide what to do. I haven't been feeling well this week, so the thought of taking 6 kids anywhere is kind of daunting to me. I'm just tired and have a bad cold. We've been trying to save money on groceries due to our very tight budget situation. I go to a wonderful website that has great cooking ideas from scratch. We ate homemade pancakes yesterday that just rocked! Go here to check out the full website.

Well, I am off to get busy with my day! I hope yours is blessed and full of little kisses and hugs from your tots!

The Greatest Reward

Being a mother is hard, self-sacrificing work. All mothers know this. There is little tangible reward in the early years. Of course, sweet baby smiles, "I love you's" from toddlers, hugs from the kids, and a willing helping hand from an older child are moments to relish. Today I received a priceless gift from my 15 year old daughter. I love you, Celeste. Read on below:

Our Mom

by Celeste

Maybe you've heard, maybe not,

Of the one who cared for us as tots.

The one who taught us how to cook

and even how to read a book.

The one who showed us to love kids big and small,

and to have patience for them all.

The one who showed us how to pray,

and gave us the words to say.

The one who gave us hopes and dreams,

and told us that life is not as bad as it seems.

The one who fed us night and day,

and tried to keep our stomachs at bay.

The one who showed us to have joy always,

even on the worst of days.

The one who taught us right from wrong,

and how to sing a song.

The one who shared the last cookie,

even though we already had three!

The one who cared to give up her life,

so we could have one twice as nice.

The one who gave us life and breath,

and who loves all 6 of us to death.

So maybe you've heard, maybe not,

of the one who cared for us as tots.

The one I would like to become.

The one we always call Our Mom.

Hello!

We have been super busy here! Life has been hectic as we resumed our normal schedules after the Christmas season. Celeste and I (with Eden) went out of town last weekend to attend "Contending for the Faith." It was a conference held here and you can get the messages downloaded. It was a wonderful education in our faith. Well worth the trip. We, also, spent a day and a night with my best friend, Valerie. What fun it was to hang out with our little babies!

My husband, Stuart, sits on the board for a not-for-profit organization. They just began a raffle for a special car. All proceeds go to a local charity that provides a home and safe environment for teenage mothers in the foster care system who are pregnant or parenting littles. Check out the raffle. Meanwhile, the car lives at our house and I get to drive it from time to time. What fun!

Off to take a shower and start the weekend...

Personal Penguin

I saw a really cute book at the book store the other night by Sandra Boynton. It's for children of ALL ages! I am going to get it to read to my two youngest. I love the message in it.

Now, lots of other penguins seem to be fine
in a universe of nothing but ice.
But if I could be yours, and you could be mine,
Our cozy little world would be twice as nice.
I want to be Your Personal Penguin.

Check it out here. Have a great Monday! I'm not schooling formally, but the older kids will do a couple assignments.

Another picture

Above is another picture of my best friend Val's children with mine. There's eleven in all between our two families! If you think you're seeing double, you are. Val has identical twin boys! The picture is not the best. I've been having some difficulty with my camera at times, but enjoy it anyway!

Best Friends and Babies

On Sunday we drove to Orlando to visit our friends, Heath and Valerie. We hadn't seen them since last August and we were anxious to get our babies together. Val and I were both pregnant with our fourth children at the same time. I was present for the birth of her fourth child, Becky. She was there when I hadmy fourth and fifth children, Max and Tommy. I missed her this last time because she had a 5 week old. It's so nice to have friends that have a big family--they have 5 and we have 6 children! Valerie is like a sister to me and I really value her friendship. We talk almost every day. We love you guys!

GATORS!!!

41-14

How about the Gators?!? I just have to say something because I am a University of Florida Alumni and I live in the area. We watched the very exciting game last night. It wasn't over until midnight, but it was pretty obvious we were going to win by the end of the 3rd quarter. We're getting a late start today, but that's okay! I have to go pick up Celeste--she went to a football party with some friends at church. Have a great day! I hope to post pics from our Orlando trip later. GO GATORS!!

Saturday routine

I didn't do much today. I did get to go to the mall with Celeste so that she could use her gift certificates from Christmas. That was fun! We got to drive a really neat car--more on that when I can put a picture up. Jamie went to play paintball in a "scenario" game with a friend of his and his cousin, JT. I was working on my Christmas pictures using Memory Manager 2.0. Of course the program is awesome and is made by Creative Memories--you can find it at www.mycmsite.com/nanpalmer. I found a few more cute pictures of Jamie at Christmas. He really is a fun, goofy kid. Above I posted several. Hope your weekend is blessed! Tomorrow we're visiting some good friends in Orlando. Hi Heath and Valerie!! We had babies around the same time and I can't wait to see theirs!

Starting out with a blessing...

Happy 2007! I've been busy...as usual. I have a praise report. Drum roll....Eden has slept through the night for the past FOUR (4) nights!!! She began on New Year's. What a present that is!! She goes 8 hours between feedings and the earliest she has gotten up is 6:30 AM. Woot! I think my brain is starting to kick into gear again. I am making lots of plans for 2007. I hope to post again soon, but just wanted to publicly thank GOD for my sweet little girl!

Happy Christmas Eve

Hello! Sorry I have not been on to post. It's been crazy busy around here. I am sure you can imagine preparing for Christmas with 6 children. Nursing has really made shopping more challenging, but I think managed to get it all done. I haven't really enjoyed this season this year. It's really too much trouble. I wish it were all more simple and the focus was truly on Jesus.

My parents came up on Friday and we opened our gifts with them. It was fun and good seeing them! I really wish my brother, Jamie, was coming this year! I hope you read this Jamie and have a big guilt trip. It's just not as fun... Also, we're not having any special Christmas dinner because we haven't been invited to one. It didn't occur to me until last night. My older brother is going over to his in-law's house and Stu's Mom is undergoing chemo treatment again. Stu's sister, Lu, and her family will be here for a couple days. I am looking forward to seeing them!

I posted a few pictures. Enjoy!

Mom Times Six

I had this picture taken for Stuart on the occasion of our 9th anniversary which was December 6th. He loved it! I am so blessed! The children's ages are: Celeste 15, Jamie 12, Dan 7 1/2, Max almost 6, Tommy 27 months, and Eden Joy 10 weeks.

ABC's of Me

A - Available/Single: Not available, thank you very much!
B - Best Friend: Val and my hubby, Stuart
C - Cake or Pie: Vanilla cake with vanilla icing
D - Drink of Choice: water
E - Essential item you use everyday: Make-up AND diaper wipes!
F - Favorite color: soft shades of green
G - Gummy bears or Worms: Bears
H - Hometown: Sarasota, FL
I - Indulgence: anything for scrapbooking
J - January or February: I pick June because my birthday is that month!
K - Kids: 6 children...4 boys and 2 girls ages 15 down to 3 months
L - Life is incomplete without: Jesus!
M - Marriage Date: December 6th, 1997
N - Number of siblings: 2 brothers--1 older and 1 younger (I share a bday w/ the younger one)
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples always!
P - Phobias/Fear: night diving/being alone
Q - Favorite Quote: Isaiah 40:31
R - Reason to Smile: Jesus and my family
S - Season: Summer
T - Tag: Huh?!?
U - Unknown fact about myself: my daughter says I laugh to myself under my breath a lot
V - Vegetable you don't like: lima beans
W - Worst habit: biting my nails
X - X-ray: left ankle....teeth when I get to go to the dentist
Y - Your favorite food: Italian and Seafood
Z - Zodiac: Gemini, but it's all bunk

The Best Present

The best present...

By the way, we got Homeschoolopoly from the UPS man yesterday and we are quite eager to find the time to play it! Also, last night was the night Stu and I met 10 years ago. We've been together ever since. 4Him penned it well when they wrote "The Roller coaster Ride." Life can be a roller coaster even without the love of your life. It's so much nicer when you have someone to go on the ride with...thanks Stu! We just celebrated our 9th anniversary on December 6th. I think I got the best present this year...Eden Joy.

Grace

God has given me the grace to:

>Mother 6 children even though I don't know how I get through the day and do anything right. He always fixes it up for me.

>Run on little sleep and enjoy my new precious daughter, Eden, who is currently getting quite plump. What a gift He has given me in nursing her longer than any other baby.

>Recognize a good man when I see one. Stuart is a dedicated, hard-working husband and father.

>Be open to His plans for me...even though I have no clue how things will work out.

>Find contentment in the little things--at least I have a messy house. It's much better than being alone and a whole lot more fun!

>Remember, it's all just "stuff" anyway. You can't take it with you when you die and you won't care when you're in the presence of your Savior. Amen!

Family Fun

Check this out! If you are a homeschooler I think your family would enjoy this game! We just ordered it and are looking forward to playing it together. Go to http://www.homeschoolopoly.com/index.htm to check it out!

We are busy getting ready for Christmas and will take a break from schooling after this week. We're going to be baking cookies tomorrow and having lunch with my friend, Chris, who also has 6 children. Wow, there will be 12 children at my house tomorrow. The funny thing is that it's not complete chaos. These are wonderful children! I need to send Christmas cards and finish shopping. It's hard to get it all done with a nursing baby. It limits my time out and I'm still so tired in the morning. She's so cute, though!

I just found out that Creative Memories will be offering framing early next year! I can't wait to get more information on that. I am eagerly awaiting my first story book. I'll take a pic of it and show it to you when it comes in. I have a personal web address now and you can order directly from it and have things shipped to your doorstep. It's www.mycmsite.com/nanpalmer. Check it out!

Praise Reports

Good news to report! Eden now weighs 11 pounds! She has gained 1 pound since her check-up two weeks ago. Yes, that is ALL nursing. I am so thankful that God has anwered my prayers in this area. Two other praise reports. Dan needed some new jeans and I really didn't want to spend money on clothes right now. Well a friend of mine dropped some clothes off recently that her son had outgrown and there were several pairs of jeans in there perfect for Dan and Max! Also, our fake Christmas tree is rather sad. I had wanted to buy a new one this year, but it was not in the budget. Last night my brother called me and said he had a brand new one in the box and did I want it? It's 7 feet tall and pre-lit!! WOOT! God is so good!

This will just crack you up!

Watch this video from Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-74NtTj3e8

We were talking about evangelism in church this summer and they showed this clip. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Enjoy!

Thought for the day

A good friend of mine reminded me of this lately and it impacted me, so I thought I would share with you:

God has given us enough hours in a day for the things He deems worth doing.

Also, I suggest you take your family to see the new movie The Nativity Story. It looks amazing! Go to http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/thenativitystory/ to see the trailers. We are planning on going--just need a sitter for Tommy and maybe Eden. Have a blessed Friday! It's December, yea!

I would be doing a lot better if I could get more sleep... I can really appreciate how difficult it is to have 4 children under the age of 8 years old now that my older kids are not home. This is my first day on my own with all of them. Now the baby is crying, so I can't finish this post. I love all of them, but I'm having trouble coping with the craziness. If you think about it, please pray for me. I don't like this right now. I will say it again--if I had more sleep I'm sure it would be better. I am thankful to God for my beautiful children. Okay, now I'll say it 50 times. (Who cares about the mess all over the house, right?!?)

Visitors

We had friends come for a visit today! Celeste (yes, my daughter's namesake) and Brian along with their 2 daughters ages 4 and 5. It was so nice to catch up and visit for many hours over bbq and then later some pizza. The kids had a good time playing outside and in! Celeste says I haven't blogged much lately, so I thought I'd write a quick one. I included a picture of Celeste and me that was taken back in April. We've been friends since college. We met in December of 1987. It's been about 19 years now. Hard to believe!

Also, I WON BINGO on Women @ Home last week!!!! WOOT! I can't wait to see what my prize is...Pat is mailing it to me. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Have you tried mineral make up? I found it hard to believe those infomercials, but with staying up at night with the baby I was tempted to try it and it REALLY does work! Love it! Try it at www.bareminerals.com. (I get no kick-backs for my promotion.) Did you know that there's not much on at 4 in the morning? We have DISH and it pretty much goes to infomercials at that point. Hopefully, baby Eden will start sleeping through that feeding soon...

Eden Joy is 8 weeks old

Things

Okay, I know it's been a long time since I posted. My excuse is adjusting to life with a new baby and trying to organize 6 children. That has been quite a task! I did get a bit of time to myself last weekend. I went to a Creative Memories workshop and got to work on Eden's album, Tommy's album, and our family album. Also, I became a consultant! I used to be one back in 1999-2001. Things are so cool now! They have an awesome computer program to manage your photos called Memory Manager. Also, there are new digital storybooks for people who don't want to scrapbook, but would like to make an album...you just do it on the computer and then order the book from CM. They make great gifts, too! Contact me for more info on these things. Check out their products at www.creativememories.com.

Celeste is all excited because she will be able to drive at night next week. We need to practice more with her. Jamie and Celeste are going to visit their Dad in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. I will miss them and their help with all the little people. It should be interesting! My family is coming here--except for Jamie, my brother. We hope to see him at Christmas. Our calendar is already getting busy for the month of December.

Okay, time to go feed Eden again and get going with my day. I will try to post a more recent picture of her. She weighs around 9 1/2 pounds now. She is SO petite. She's starting to smile and coo. So cute!