trying something new - pigtails

loving the pigtails

Indian Food

Well, I LOVE Indian food.  I used to eat it when I worked for a company in St. Louis.  Then in Springfield there was a place Seth and I would go.  But, here in rural southern Illinois there is nothing.  I found a recipe for Indian Butter Chicken done in the crockpot.  It is soooo yummy.  We've cooked it a few times.  I fixed it last night and even found a simple Naan recipe to go with it.  The kids sort of ate it and Seth and I loved it.  We called it our Indian date eventhough we were at home with the kids!

thankful for
--a crockpot
--my wonderful husband going to Wal Mart during his lunch to get me coconut milk for the meal
--the kids liking rice, our meal potential has now exploded!
--leftovers - had the food for lunch today and will still get it again later this week!

Orlando 2010

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trash day thoughts!

Yesterday was trash day. I LOVE trash day. I just feel clean once all the trash is taken from the garage and put out at the end of the driveway. It always makes the garage feel more organized because it always seems we have some stray boxes that go out.

Anyway, the kids help with the trash. They help me get the trash from the bathrooms and the diapers from the Diaper Genie. This week Luke helped even more. He hopped on his 4 wheeler and loaded up the extra bags in the garage and took them to the end of the drive while Seth took the garbage can out. Later he backed the 4 wheeler up to the door and we tossed on one more bag and the diapers. He drove them out for me. Later, he went out and brought the can back to the garage. What a great helper!!

Luke is getting so big and he LOVES to work and help. He is so proud to been of service and I was glad I didn't have to go out and leave the 3 kids inside for a minute. (They always seems to get extra excited when I step out for a second!!)

Thankful for:
--my husband who always takes the garbage can out
--Luke for doing the other trash
--Claire for running down the hall to grab a trash bag from a bathroom

some thoughts for today

I think we having a growing boy. Luke's lunch: 8 chicken nuggets, 1/2 a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 1/2 a can of fruit, chips and milk!

Conversation with Claire today during John's bath:
me - "don't play in the water"
Claire - "pretend"
me - "pretend means not real"
Claire - "pretend real" - smile!

John is taking an afternoon nap. He didn't yesterday and I have a feeling we will be down to 1 nap sooner than I really want. Something about our boys and their lack of need for sleep!

shaker

John loves rattles! He is our first to like them. In fact he loves to shake anything that makes noise right by his ear. He will pick up the toy, which is sometimes a dump truck, and shake it. He then moves his hand up and shakes it next to his ear. He will just sit there a smile while he does it. What a blessing to see him content in simple things. It is also neat to seem him enjoy something the other two didn't. What a joy to watch him grow into a little boy and not a baby!

the love of reading

We love to read! We love books! We rarely watch TV or movies. We would rather read. Sometimes we sit and read our own books. Other times Seth will read to me. We typically read non-fiction and it is usually theology. I do love biographies so I try to throw one of those in.

I enjoy some fiction, the old stuff. I tried a newer book recently, but I just couldn't get going. And since I have to give up sleep to read anything, I decided it wasn't worth it. I also like to have a couple books going at a time. Right now I'm finishing up "Holiness of God" by Sproul. I also just started "Little Women" and a history overview of the Scottish Reformation time period.

The kids love books too. Luke has loved reading since he was born, or so it seems! Lately he doesn't mind it but would rather be working on something. Claire is in love with reading. I have to tell her many times that we have to stop. Who would have thought I would tell my kids "we can't read right now"!

We go to the library and check out a bunch. I finally created a list from some blog posts and from the Five in a Row curriculum so I could go in with good books to get instead of trying to find some with the kids.

I have also read most of the Narnia series to Luke. We are about 1/2 through the last book. I'm sure he doesn't remember a lot, but he is only 4! I haven't read them to Claire yet. I can't wait to read them again to the kids. Seth has been reading "Treasure Island" to us (mainly to Luke). They are going to start "The Swiss Family Robinson" next. Claire hasn't been into the "big" books yet. She will sit through some long ones but they have pictures. I'm not sure how to get her started since it is harder to get her and Luke to sit together for a long one!

I love that we are passing our love of reading on to our children. I pray that they will love words so they can love the Word. Reading is so important because that is what God gave us, His Word, and the kids must learn to love it.

Thankful for
--snuggling with Claire and reading some of her favorite books tonight
--reading the Narnia books with Luke
--reading the truck book and the animal books to John
--the Kindle, which helps limit the number of books we need to physically own since we have limited shelf space!

sickness again

Well, Luke and John are sick again. John woke up sick Thursday afternoon. Luke woke up in the middle of the night Sunday. Luke has had the stomach bug which is his norm. He slept most of the day Monday and is napping again now. He has eaten today and seems much better. John is coughing and runny and stuff. He seems better and is napping well. I'm hoping his is a tooth thing but who knows. Now I'm just waiting for Claire to get sick.

Thankful for:
--kids who are well
--Luke resting on the couch
--John eating well even though he is sick
--Claire being concerned for her brothers
--getting to be home bodies!