Need a passy?

Why is it, when you need a pacifier, you can never find one?? That has led me to purchase 2-3 new sets of pacys over time. The other day, it was so bad, I couldn't find a one, so I sent the kids on a search, paying a quarter for everyone they found. The only found 2 for me. Then, those were lost again, so I picked up a new set at the store. Now that I have new ones, the old ones have all reappeared. We looked behind the bed the other day....that is Z's favorite place to "hide" them from me. I needed one at bedtime tonight, so I moved the bed, and look at all the colors I had to choose from tonight! haha

I wonder why he throws every one of his pacys out of the crib. What is he thinking when he does this. Does he like the sound it makes when it hits the floor? Does he KNOW that I will end up coming in there to "tuck him in again" so he sheds the pacy, starts crying, and here I come? He wants it in his mouth to sleep...but he has been a stinker lately...trying new things.

He threw his first wall-eyed fit today. It was hilarious. Clay put him in the walker and it made him mad....you should have heard how that boy screamed....it was the highest pitched I have ever heard, was stomping his feet....making the most horrible face.....we couldn't help but laugh at him. He was looking at us like, how dare you! Then Clay handed him a toy, and he just stopped cold turkey. Silly thing. He is always such a good baby, very happy....that fit just kinda came out of nowhere.

I had to add this...when I saw the passy's behind the bed, I sent Noah to get my camera for me. When I loaded my pics to the camera, I see that he stopped along the way to take these of himself. That nut!

Photo by Noah

I don't like too many photos of myself these days. Noah had the camera in his hand just holding it, waiting on dad to take a pic of the 5 of us in our new shirts we made, and Noah said, "hey mom, let me take a picture of you and Zachariah". I said o.k....and I just love this picture!

Birds in the Backyard

I am loving all the new birds we have in our backyard. I guess actually having trees helps out, huh? haha It is so fun, and it seems I am going to be able to do this post from my big computer...so maybe I can post more pictures of the backyard activities soon. Clay took these photos, and as always, his pics are way better than mine!

Look, we have a woodpecker! We are very excited about that. It is a Red-bellied Woodpecker

I just love this one Clay got of the blue jay

It's my birthday!

Today is my birthday. I am 32 years old. That is actually easier for me to say than the day I turned 30. That really depressed me, even though I never thought I would be a person that cares about my age. I have finally gotten over that....and realize that these are probably the best years of my life! haha

Since it is my birthday, I will share some good news that I never talk about on my blog. I have lost about 18 lbs. It has just been a combination of being very busy with kids, not eating out, and just trying to slowly change my eating habits. I have also cut out cokes....well at least keeping coke at home. I guess I started losing weight slowly when baby Z came. Then of course, very soon after that, it got really crazy with 2 more kids added. That is what broke our eating out habit for sure! haha Anyway, it hasn't been a specific diet or anything, and I haven't set any goals for myself....it has just come off slowly, and now that I am wearing clothes that I outgrew 2 years ago, I am very excited! I even had a stack of pants ready to get rid of right before we moved, and I tried them on, and was surprised when they fit me!

I am still having blogging issues. As I type this, my battery is about to die on my laptop..and I still can't get on blogger from my other computer. I really want to get back to posting more regularly, I miss blogging a lot, but I just can't seem to fit it in much these days.

I plan on telling yall about how I make the washing detergent. I actually have to make more up tomorrow....maybe I will take pictures as I do it. I was excited to get so many comments on that last post!

Today has been a good day. Clay had to work this evening, but he got up with the baby this morning so I could sleep later. He made me breakfast, and then took the kids to Dollar Tree to let them spend their own money on a gift for me. I just loved getting my treasures from them! They also made me a lot of cute pictures and love notes! I love being a mom!

The kids and I went out to eat at McDonald's for supper. I fed all 4 of us for just $7, and that included getting 2 apple pies! haha We rented Beverly Hills Chihuaha (I don't think I spelled that right). Anyway, baby is ready for me to rock him to sleep, so goodnight everyone!

Random things

We are getting settled into our new house. I am really liking it. Much more than I ever thought I would. I haven't even missed our old one at all. This house has a lot of storage space, and it makes me happy that I have found a home for all of my junk. Because I have a LOT of junk! I have unpacked all our boxes, all I lack is hanging a couple of more curtains, and some of my pictures. I would have that done, but I just spend so much time trying to decide where I want them hung. Then I never like where I hang them...I am a horrible picture hanger.

I hope to get photos of all the rooms soon. I can't seem to keep a room picked up long enough to get a picture of it! I have been having computer trouble too. My internet is possessed on the big computer....it works just fine, until I try to get on to someone's blog, and then it kicks me off the internet. My laptop's keyboard is possessed. The cursor jumps all around, making me have to find my spot and retype my sentences constantly. So, it has really made me frustrated, and I haven't blogged much or e-mailed.

I have been trying some new things....new things for me anyway. We have really been trying to cut back lately, so I have been making my own laundry soap. I have gone from over $20 a month, to $2 a month on laundry detergent. That has been great! Each time I am washing clothes, it makes me feel proud that I am saving money. We have also been washing dishes by hand. It saves several gallons of water each time I don't run the dish washer, in addition to the gas to heat the water, and the electricity to run it. It seems to run forever. I also have a lot of split/cracked fingers because of it. Luckily, the kids actually enjoy it, and they help me out some. For the days the dishes are just really piled up, or I don't feel like standing there, I also have started making my dish detergent.....(so easy, just borax and baking soda...thanks Becky G for posting it on your blog!) I really like it.

I have been making so many more things from scratch, and making most meals....which is quite the accomplishment for me. It has saved me a lot of money on groceries. Just last week, I spent just $80 at Save-A-Lot, and it ended up being enough groceries for a week and I only had to get a few things this week to add to it. That is HUGE since we eat all 3 meals at home everyday plus snacks....and our kids are eating as much as us these days. I have also found a Sunbeam store...LOVE it. Bread products are so much cheaper there. A loaf of bread that was $2.50 at Walmart, was only $1 there.

I am also excited that our area recycles a lot. In Maumelle, it was only cans and newspapers...here, we can recycle newspaper, magazines, junk mail, glass, plastic, cans, and cardboard. We have greatly reduced the numer of garbage bags now.

This our reclycling for 2 weeks...it got backed up b/c it rained one Friday, and I didn't want it to get wet.

Baby Z's formula cans are the perfect size to put one batch of detergent I have made (I make it in powder form) and the scoop is also the perfect measurement for 2 scoops per load.

Science Fair projects

We participated in a homeschool science fair this year. Clay helped Noah build a telegraph, Leah learned about why Camel's have humps, and Rachel learned about why Hippos sleep underwater. For the girls boxes, we used paper mache and paint to make their habitats. They had a lot of fun, and were really proud of their projects when we got finished.

Science Fair

Today was the homeschool Science Fair. It was great. So laid back, no rules, just fun, and letting the kids show off what they had done. I really liked that. This was the first time we had met with that group, and it was so much fun! Thanks to Suzanne for inviting us!

Here the kids were gathered visiting with their friends when we first arrived. They were just carrying their projects like they were so grown! I am going to post a few more pictures on our school blog if you want to see more.

Leah and her Camel...."why do Camel's have humps?"

Rachel and her Hippos...."Why do Hippos sleep under water?"

Noah and his telegraph

Our friend did the Mentos and Diet Coke experiement. We went outside and he demonstrated for us, and it was so cool!

Loving it!!

We all agreed that this trampoline will be an early combined birthday present for the 3 of them. Their birthdays aren't until the summer, so we wanted them to go ahead and enjoy it during this nice spring weather! They are having so much fun on it, and I love watching them. Clay and I have even gotten on there a few times with them and had a lot of fun.

Noah really enjoys just lying there, and gets mad when the girls want to jump while he wants to read. I must say, it is very peaceful in there. It is like you are in your own little space.

That Rachel is a tough egg to crack! She gets herself so tight, nobody can crack her. Even when I was on there jumping, she was bouncing all around, and I still couldn't crack her. It is so funny.

I love these guys!

As you see, everyone is enjoying our trampoline. The kids know they can't jump, but they are always asking for Zachariah to get on there with them just to lay on it with them. They are very good about being still when he is on there, they just don't want to leave him out. Clay got on there tonight, and I love these pictures of these 2. Especially the first one!

It is a trampoline.

Notice Leah helping above?? Well that lasted all of a minute, and then she abandoned ship. She went in the house and relaxed while everyone else helped. So, once it was together, we didn't tell her it was up, so the other 2 got a head start jumping while we were trying to figure out how to put together the enclosure. She discovered soon enough, and was out there. That girl was jumping, and jumped right off the side of that thing! After that, no more jumping until we go the enclosure on. They are so excited, they love this thing!

Wordless Wednesday

Look what we got today!

Can you tell??

working on projects

We have been busy busy around here. I can't keep up. I am going to try to catch up over time if I can. Right now, we are back in full swing with school. We are going to participate in a homeschool science fair which will be Friday of this week, so we have been working on it this week. Today, we worked on covering boxes with paper mache, and we will paint them tomorrow. The girls are both doing theirs on animals, and we are trying to make the box look like their habitat. Hard to explain, I will post pictures when we get finished.

Clay and Noah built a telegraph out of a Civil War book we are studying from right now. It actually works....it is really cool!