{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Visit Soule Mama for more {this moment}s or to share your own.

Zoe's Room

...and a couple cute pictures of our baby.

These pictures are the other project I mentioned I was working in the last post. These bird pictures completed the wall space in Zoe's bird themed room. They were super easy and also very cheap to make. I think the cost under $10 for both of them, maybe even closer to five. I bought the canvases when they were half off at Hobby Lobby. That made them $4 for both of them. Here is the link where I got the idea and the directions. I do have to say that my new favorite thing to craft with is Mod Podge.

I'm not sure I have posted photos of her room before, so I thought I would post the other walls too. I've not been into themes with the other kids, so it has been really fun to do it for Zoe. The other kids even comment on how Zoe's room has birds all over it. Next on my list to get for her room are a vintage bird cage and a bird house or two.

Homemade Skirts for the Girls

I haven't been around the blog much at all lately. With all of the kids home for the summer, it seems that the time is just flying and I can't find a minute to sit down and much less to sit, think, and write. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will get back to writing and blogging once school starts again.

For now though, I had a few hours available last week and I found this super easy pattern for skirts. So, I thought I would try my hand at making skirts for the girls. I am not that great of a sewer yet, but this pattern was so easy and it explained things really well, although I did have to ask a few instruction questions to engineer daddy. I seriously made two skirts in a couple of hours and they cost about $5 for both of them. I found this lovely fabric at Hobby Lobby. They have some gorgeous fabric right now. I think I will be going back and getting more fabric for skirts for school.

I thought I would share a few of the things I am working on right now. I am also working on a project for Zoe's room and I will post pictures when it is done too.

Mid-May Daybook

Outside My Window... the sun is shining beautifully, another gorgeous day. We're looking forward to enjoying it.

I'm Listening to... Diego and the chatter of my youngest three as they eat breakfast.

I'm Wearing... pink dingy t-shirt, yoga pants and my hair is pulled back into a pony tail (it is finally long enough and I sport this do often).

I'm Grateful for... the sunshine after a rainy weekend and our small group friends.

I'm Pondering...

"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

--Psalm 16:8

Just this verse may have to be another blog post.

I'm Reading...

Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman (so good, I highly recommend it. Its one of the best parenting books I have read.)

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns (I'm rereading this one with a group of friends. We are doing a book club on it over Facebook. It is pretty neat since we are all spread out across the world.)

I'm Thinking... Thursday should be fun as Steve has taken the day off to stain our deck. My mom will be here and so I will probably help him. Redoing our deck has been a huge project for Steve. He has already spent around 13 hours on it. It will be so nice when it is finally done. Hopefully we can knock it out with two of us working on it.

I'm Creating... a plan/schedule for the summer since the kid's last day is next Wednesday. I know I have to have plan so they don't get bored and pester each other therefore driving me crazy.

Hoping and Praying... for our good friends who lost their mother (in-law) yesterday. They are in our thoughts and prayers continually.

Around the House... a bit of spring cleaning here and there. We are getting an egress window put into our basement so we can move the two oldest boys to the basement bedroom. This should give all of the boys a bit more space.

From the Kitchen... menu...done, groceries...done. Now I just have to do something with the brown/black bananas sitting in my fruit bowl.

Weekly Menu...

Sunday - Egg burritos

Monday - Roast, mashed potatoes, peas and crusty bread

Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas with fresh, homemade guacomole

Wednesday - Grilled Pork Chops, Cheesy Potatoes and brocoli

Thursday - Brats, chips and fresh fruit

Friday - Homemade Pizza or Pasties my mom is bringing

Saturday - Hot Dogs

One of my favorite things... my cup of coffee in the morning, especially when I get to drink it all.

A Few Plans for the rest of the week... all about the deck. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, we will have it mostly completed. My mom is coming tomorrow. Leah's kindergarten graduation is on Thursday as is Andrew's last Chorus concert. It is going to be a busy night.

Picture thoughts...

This is the water slide the kids came up with on a hot day last week.

Bedtime

Look what we found when we went up to bed the other night...

Apparently, Nate thought this was a better place to sleep than in his bed.

Pillows

I found this fabric at the fabric store a couple of weeks ago and I fell in love with it. When I bought it, I didn't have any idea what I would use it for. I just knew I wanted it for something. The other day, I was out walking and I noticed a couple of houses had benches on their front porches and they had decorative pillows on them. It then occurred to me, my answer was PILLOWS, for the chairs on my porch. And since I'm not the best at sewing yet, pillows would be something easy for me to do.

That afternoon, I got to work. I measured, cut and pinned. Once the kids were done with homework, I sat down at the sewing machine to do the sewing. Just as I started, Cason showed up and asked if he could help. He reminded me that grandma told him he was a better sewer than I was. How could I say no to someone with such claims. Let me say that he did an excellent job. That night I ran to the store to get the stuffing. I stuffed them that night and sewed them up tight yesterday.

This is what my porch looks like now. A bit more decorative for summer, I think. Thanks for your help, Cason. We make a great team.

St. Louis

St. Louis, Here we come!! Two vans full of us. We decided to take a road trip to St. Louis at the end of the kids Spring Break. We invited Grandma, Papa and Uncle Mark to come along. The more the merrier and a merry time we did have.

Busch Stadium, where the St. Louis Cardinals play

Since it wasn't raining and the weather was perfect, our first stop was the St. Louis Zoo. We've been wanting to visit this zoo for a while now. We have heard it was really nice. It is also FREE which is a HUGE plus when you are paying for nine people wherever you go. We had a great time there and spent until dinnertime exploring and viewing all of the animals. Did I say the weather was gorgeous?

For dinner we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. It was yummy, but would have been better if one of the kids didn't get sick as we were sitting waiting for our food. :( That evening we took the kids swimming for a while. I'm sure they would all say that was their favorite part of the whole trip. Funny how kids are.

The SEVEN of them

Zoe

Taking a wee rest

Checking out of the hotel. Mind you, we only went for one night and this is what luggage looks like for nine!

After we checked out of the hotel, we did a bit of shopping at a mall close by. We had a birthday present to buy for daddy at the Apple store, his birthday was that day. We ate lunch at the mall and then headed down to the St. Louis Arch (aka The Jefferson National Monument Memorial).

We left St. Louis around five to head home. Thankfully, we beat the storms and tornados. About an hour and a half after we left, tornados hit St. Louis pretty badly. God was watching over us and we didn't run into any storms on the drive home. We all had a great time and it was fun to do the trip with Grandma, Papa and Uncle Mark.

Dad, Leah, Tristan, Anna, Grandma and Uncle Mark were the only ones brave enough to travel to the top of the Arch.

Daddy and his brown eyed girl

His Love Compels

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:14&15

On this Easter Monday, I meditate on how loving our Father is that he would send his Son as a sacrifice for me, for us, for you. It is His love that compels me to list the blessing that he has so lavished upon me. Not one of these gifts compares to the sacrifice He made to call me his own. And, so I continue to count my blessings...

(#'s 21-30)

* God's great love for me in that He sacrificed his only Son for me.

* Watching the kids have a joyous time roller skating.

* Passion for God poured over from others.

* Quiet afternoons

* Sundays

* Listening to the chatter as they happily play together.

* The coolness after a storm.

* Time with family on Easter Sunday.

* Walks at dusk.

* Baby's first steps.

Easter Daybook

Outside My Window... its dark out as we put a close to this Easter Sunday.

I'm Listening to... silence, ahhh.

I'm Wearing... my pjs I'm ready for bed.

I'm Grateful for... time with family today and most importantly, God's great love for me that He would sacrifice his Son for me. Inconceivable, really.

I'm Pondering...

"Then He opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures." Luke 24:45

(from our Easter sermon this morning)

I'm Reading...

Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns (I'm rereading this one with a group of friends. We are doing a book club on it over Facebook. It is pretty neat since we are all spread out across the world.)

I'm Thinking... of lists; things to do, things that need to get done, etc. I just need motivation to actually write them down.

I'm Creating... nothing at the moment, I take that back... a blog post. That is a lot since I haven't been here in a couple of weeks. Sick kids, Steve out of town, kids on Spring break, and a little family trip to St Louis, these are most of my reasons for my absence. All of these, plus a little writers block. What would you like me to write about? Ideas? Please?

I'm Hoping and Praying... for more consistency in my prayer and Bible times this week, for a wonderful time with a good friend from high school, motivation to get things done around here.

Around the House... tomorrow is cleaning day, before our friend arrives. I will also need to fit grocery shopping in too.

From the Kitchen... I feel the need to bake, but then I would eat it and I have not been eating well the last few days, and I feel it. Also, the Easter candy has been hidden away (they really didn't get too much, but I still have to put it up or I have a few that would eat it all in one sitting.)

Weekly Menu... ummm, this is one of those lists yet to be written. Maybe in the morning.

Sunday - Beans and wieners, pb&J, cucumbers, grapes, and melon

Monday -

Tuesday -

Wednesday -

Thursday -

Friday -

Saturday -

One of my favorite things... a nice, quiet walk by myself after the kids were in bed.

A Few Plans for the rest of the week... spending time with our friend, Kindergarten round-up on Thursday, oh yeah, and the Royal Wedding on Friday. I will be home in front of the tele on Friday :)

Picture thoughts...

Andrew in Oliver

A couple weeks ago, Andrew's fifth grade class put on the musical Oliver Twist. Every year the fifth grade classes at his school do a play. This one was picked just before Christmas. The kids had to audition for parts. They sang solos and read lines. Their class, also, did all the work from the parts, lights, sound, set, programs, etc. They all worked so hard and they did an excellent job.

Andrew played the part of Mr. Bumble, the mean orphanage runner. We weren't sure how Andrew would do in playing the mean part, since he always has a smile on his face. He did great though. He even had the opening lines of the play which added a bit of pressure.

I've been waiting to post this because I wanted to put a clip of Andrew singing his duet. But, since we still haven't gotten around to it, I wanted to post this anyways.

We are so proud of Andrew and the courage he had in doing Oliver. He and the entire fifth grade did an excellent job and they have a lot to be proud of.

Project Simplify #4 - Refrigerator/Pantry

Well, another week and I'm a bit more organized. This week's task for Project Simlify (the refrigerator and pantry) was pretty doable. I broke the areas into a couple different projects to make them fit in during my days. When I had a half hours or so, I would get to work.

On Wednesday, I conquered the refrigerator. It desperately needed it as the last time I completely emptied it and cleaned it was when we moved in a year and a half ago. Every few weeks or so, I do wipe down the shelves, though. I even had a little four year old helper and her help was greatly appreciated. She is a hard worker and she did an excellent job.

On Thursday morning, I cleaned out the pantry. I got a couple bins from Walmart to better organize the shelves. As time goes by, we'll see how the arrangement works. A bit of trial and error so to say. Later Thursday, I did the other two cupboards. I put the bottles away, since the baby is now off the bottle. I also cleaned out old spices and began a new shopping list.

As I make my way through the house with Project Simplify, I am finding myself being filled with motivation and working on other areas of the house as well. I worked a bit in the garage the other day too. I hope to finish that tomorrow. I love a good challenge. How about you?

Pantry before

Cupboard #1 before

Cupboard #2 before

Frig before

All of the food out of the frig. Notice my little helper in the background :)

Ahhh, a clean refrigerator...how refreshing.

No more bottles or baby food

Pantry after

Cupboard #1 after

Go here to see how others organized and cleaned out their refrigerators and pantry.