Thankful Thursday

1. Thankful for fall!!! I love fall! I love jackets! And I love not being pregnant in the heat!

2. Thankful that baby girl seems to be healthy. They did an ultrasound last Friday to check how big she is (others were 9.9, 9.6, and 9.2) and she was 9lbs and 99.6% on height. No surprises there.

3. Thankful that she should be here by Monday!!!! I'm going to be induced on Moday the 28th. She may arrive before then, but either way, I know we'll have a baby girl here by Monday. I'm so ready.

4. Thankful my parents are heading down this weekend to help out! What a blessing. I think they are even planning on taking the kids on some field trips that coincide with what we are studying in home school.

5. Thankful my husband has 2 weeks of paternity leave!! How sweet is that?!? He'll take a week off when the baby arrives and then have another week after that at some point. He's promised he'll help out with the home school as needed.

6. Thankful that we have 34 days of school already done. We started early this year so we could take off a couple weeks if needed. The kids have already settled into a really good routine and enjoy the structure in the day. They may not want to take off. :)

7. Thankful that our credit card company is not making us pay for the charges from Spain on our card. Apparently someone has been having a great time in Spain. Wish it had been me.

8. Thankful we have a break from the rain. Don't get me wrong, I was thankful for the rain. But after a week of having the kids in the house we were all starting to lose our sanity. It wasn't pretty. It's so nice to be able to send them outside for their "fun breaks" again.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Hope you have a Thankful Thursday!!! Next Thursday I'll not be pregnant anymore!!!!! And my sweet baby girl will be here!!!!!! I am so ready!

3 Birthdays and a Baby

So, my sister and Mrs. Troop have both requested pics of birthday cakes. I'm just a little behind in posting them seeing as how one was in December, one in June and the last one a couple weeks ago.

But here they are.

And can I just preface in saying that I am not a professional so NONE of these had better show up on cakewrecks.com! :)

I'm just saying.

Okay, my daughter wanted a Pocahontas birthday. Actually she wanted to BE Pocahontas for her birthday. We studied about Pocahontas last year in U.S. history and I found a complete Pocahontas outfit at a garage sale (in excellent condition I might add) for $3 and she has been in love with the Indian Princess ever since. I think it has something to do with the fact that my girl is a nature lover and is most impressed that Pocahontas knows all the names of every animal in the forests.

Grandma and Grandpa made it down for the party and Grandma made Indian headbands for all of us! It was lots of fun!

I had much grander plans for the cake but this was all I had in me. Fortunately the birthday girl was thrilled!

My oldest turned 8 in June. Unfortunately for me, we had spent our "rest time" during the hottest time of our beach vacation watching cake decorating competitions. When asked what he wanted he specifically said "a fondant 3-tier topsy turvy cake in a bass theme".

Okay there, Bobby Flay.

I honestly wasn't going to do it. I mean, some people don't even have 3-tier wedding cakes.

But there was part of me that had really been wanting to try a topsy turvy cake. And I had just found a recipe online to make my own fondant.

So I gave in. I rationalized that if something happened to me in childbirth, that at least he would always be able to look back on his 8th birthday and know that his mama loved him enough to make a 3-tier fondant topsy turvy bass cake.

(it's truly amazing what one can rationalize when one is pregnant)

It didn't turn out absolutely perfect (topsy turvy is a little more ambitious than I was planning on) but he loved it.

The final cake was a Thomas cake. I have seen a kit online to make a 3-D Thomas cake and thought it couldn't be that hard. I have to admit, it was a little more tedious than I had planned. And the proportions were not exactly correct, but once again, the child was thrilled and for that moment, the world stopped and I was the best mom ever. :)

I still have the kit, by the way, which contains the plastic face and other parts, if anyone wants to borrow it.

As far as the baby goes, I'm about ready for her to be here. I think I've got like 3 more weeks but I'm not for sure I'm going to make it. Pretty sure my OB won't let me go ahead and be induced this Friday, but I'm thinking about asking!

I'm also thinking about investing in a Stadium Gal. If I could just get a good night's sleep, I think I'd feel better. But I keep having to getting up and then the baby wakes up and starts kicking and moving for the next hour and can I just tell you that it's awfully hard to go back to sleep when someone is kicking you.

Anyways, I also wanted to thank everyone who said a prayer for me last week. I think the shingles are clearing up and I'm starting to feel better.

And that's all I've got!

Have a Thankful Thursday!

Emergency Telegram

emergency telegram from Lone Star State STOP around 4 more weeks until baby is due STOP diagnosed this week with patch of shingles on my back STOP the adult re-occurance of chicken pox STOP which is only supposed to occur in adults over 60 and hardly never in pregnant women STOP great fun STOP actually, not so much STOP send help STOP send laundress STOP and a couple maids STOP send cherry slush from Sonic STOP and prayers for quick recovery and that this won't affect the baby STOP thanks much! STOP

Feelin Good

So it's been a rough couple weeks.

I've had a pretty constant low to mid grade migrane and I've seemed to have so many aches and pains that tylenol just hasn't been cutting it.

And just the fact that I'm 8 months pregnant in Dallas in summer.

But today, the headache seems to be gone and it's amazing how much better one feels when there is not an underlying constant pain!

The kids are all in a great mood and are excited about homeschool (we started a week and a half ago).

And I got my Bible reading in for the day.

And I'm feelin good!

It's a great feeling!

Just thought I would share.



Hope you are feelin good today too!

Here I Am

Well, I guess I've not been on here awhile. Like a month and a half while.

But, since a several of you have e-mailed me or face booked me or called to make sure I have not run off to Petite St. Vincent Island, I decided to confirm that I am indeed still here.

Although I wouldn't mind a little trip to Petite St. Vincent Island.

Not at all.

But that is neither here nor there.

Well I guess it's there.

Anyways..... I have to say that this 4th pregnancy thing is wearing me out. I honestly don't know how my dear friend Mrs. Troop did it with 8! Because at about this point (which is 7 1/2 months pregnant) I'm getting about 1/2 done in twice the amount of time.

Which would be why I have not been blogging.

Plus the fact that we have gone on a couple trips in the month of July and it takes me like 2 days to pack and a week to recover completely.

So here is a brief summary of July.

We found more baby rabbits.

I'm sure you're shocked. I know I was.

At the first of July we went on a road trip to Oklahoma and Missouri. Don't worry, we didn't forget the fishing poles.

Camping at an annual 4th of July family reunion on the banks of a river on my Grandpa's farm in Missouri.

And can I just say that camping whilst 6 months pregnant with the 4th child is not the easiest thing to do? My sweet Father bought us one of those double high queen size blow up air mattresses just for this occasion. Not for sure I would have made it without it.

We barely got it in the tent but my husband said it was going in even if we had to cut a special hole in the tent.

The problem was that the "queen" size was a little over exaggerated and the only way I am comfortable is sleeping on my side.

The other problem is that I had to flip sides about every hour because my hips were hurting. And they were more like 2-point flips.

So about every hour I had to flip-flip and of course the blow up air mattress moved every time I moved and then I had to make sure that I didn't fall off the air mattress while flipping.

My poor husband.

Between that and a 2:00am run to the outdoor out house through the damp grass and hay with the flashlight as my only source of light, I didn't sleep so well that night.

But we had a great time the rest of the weekend visiting with family.

Playing in the river with cousins.

At the end of the month, my sister and her family were in the area (they live in Idaho) so we all met up in a central location at a Ranch in SE Oklahoma.

This was the ranch house we stayed in.

Pic of the whole family.

Fishing in the rain.

Paddle boating with Uncle Ben and cousin Eli.

More fishing.

Horseback riding. In the rain.

This girl kept swinging her hat through the air saying, "Yee Haw! Yippe ki yay!". She brought her cowgirl vest, handkerchief and cowgirl hat just for the occasion.

Coming back from the ride. Rain soaked.

So that is what we have been up to.

I've also been doing a Beth Moore Bible Study at church. The one on Esther. And I am completely loving it! Has anyone else done that one?

Anyways, hope you all had a great July!

Birthday Ideas

Star Wars Jedi Training Birthday Party

Star Wars Diet Coke Can R2D2 Cake

Expert Lego Builder Birthday Party

Princess Pampering Party

Castle Cake

Pocahontas Cake

Thomas the Train Cake

3 Tiered Topsy Turvy Fondant Covered Bass Themed Cake (as requested)

Themed Family Night

This year in our homeschool we studied U. S. History and U. S. Geography. For the theme of our family night, I let the kids pick a state and we would dress up and decorate like we were in that state.

They picked Alaska.

They made paper snowflakes and hung them from the lights and made paper "snow" chains and decorated the room. We drug out every white sheet we had to make snowdrifts and then the kids raided their rooms and brought down every stuffed animal they had that they thought would live in Alaska. We had many bears, a moose, a seal, a killer whale and some puppies who were actually supposed to be wolves.

They put their hats and scarves on and we read some books on Alaska.

After we finished the book on how to make your own igloo, we got some tiny marshmallows and royal icing and made our own.
They're beauties, eh?

Then for dessert, I made a Baked Alaska. I have always wanted to try one but never had the occasion. My personal opinion is that whoever invented this was bored. :) But I have to say, my kids and husband absolutely loved it!

We then took our snow drifts to the living room and watched a movie about Alaska that I checked out from the library. It was a fun evening! I didn't spend very much money and I let the kids plan and use their imagination. They had the very best time!

Themed family night.

It's a good thing.

Cinnamon Cupcakes

So let me just preface by saying that my dessert of choice has to have something chocolate in it. I just don't think there is much else that is worth the calories.

When we were in Georgia, the person in charge of welcoming us to the neighborhood brought by some cinnamon cupcakes. They were pretty and they looked yummy but I didn't think too much of it until I tried one.

They were incredibly, wonderfully delicious.

Recently I have come to a place in my life (6 months pregnant) where I decided that I would like to make them (needed to possess and eat them to satisfy this craving that I started having for these cupcakes that I had only eaten one time in my life but suddenly could not continue with life as I know it until I had eaten another). I diligently searched the Internet with different search engines and different word combinations until I came to this website called..... How to Eat A Cupcake. And there it was, except she called it a Cinnamon Toast Cupcake. So I thought I would make them and see if they were close.

And they were wonderful.

Everything I had hoped for.

I modified her icing recipe because I wanted it a little stiffer to make the cute swirls on top. And the basic cupcake recipe is so simple that they really could not be any easier!




Cinnamon Cupcakes
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla pudding
1 ¼ cup milk
¾ cup oil
3 large eggs
1 TBSP cinnamon

mix all ingredients together and bake for 15 – 18 minutes (or until knife comes out clean) at 350°
let muffins cool completely before icing

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pkg cream cheese (cold – I use 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Brand)(yes, I'm a cream cheese snob)
5 TBSP butter (or smart balance)(cold)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Beat cold cream cheese and cold butter together until creamy. Yes, I know it's a little bit of a pain but it is the only way to keep the icing to the consistency that you can pipe it out in a cute swirl pattern. Add rest of ingredients and beat just until mixed well. Ice cupcakes with large star tip and large tube. I had to make one and a half batches of the icing recipe to do the swirls on top, but if you are just icing them plain, there should be enough.

Keep refrigerated.

You can come back and thank me once you've made them.

And I know you will. Make them that is.

And you will probably name your next daughter after me out of eternal gratitude.

They are that good.

Enjoy!!!

Thankful Thursday

(on Friday)

Much to be Thankful for!

1. Thankful for VBS this week! The kids had a blast and learned so much. I LOVE the "Boomerang Express" Vacation Bible School Curriculum!

2. Thankful that VBS was only 4 days! It was great but I was a teacher for the 2nd grade and it was exhausting. There were 3 classes of 2nd grade and around 72 kids! They kept us busy. I think 4 days was enough. :)

3. Thankful for the beautiful flowers God created for our enjoyment! I planted this clematis early this spring and it has grown 3 ft and puts on a constant show of flowers. It makes me so happy!

4. Thankful that the snake that was living in the hose reel has not been seen for over a week. (have I mentioned that I really dislike snakes?)

5. Thankful for piano and violin recitals that went well. The kids had a good time and a good experience and that was what we were hoping for.

6. Thankful for a 7 year old who wants to be a helper to his daddy and mow the yard.
7. Thankful that my daylilies are blooming!!! I always worry just a little when we move that not all of them will come up the next year. But so far, so good!

8. Thankful my daughter's fine motor skills are good and that she is able to use scissors well.

9. Thankful that when she decided to give herself a haircut using her scissor skills, she only cut this much. (longest piece there is about 4 inches) (isn't that special?)(that turkey)

10. Thankful that the big storm with the funnel cloud passed over our house without any damage and that we were all safe in the closet under the stairway with 47 stuffed animals. Good times.

Hope you had a Thankful Thursday!!!

VBS

Well, I signed up to work at VBS this week.

Not for sure what I was thinking.

I'm already plum worn out just maintaining my daily life. Needless to say, it's been a long week already.

Anyways, I am helping teach in the 2nd grade class. For 3 1/2 hours. So after hanging around 23 2nd graders who are contantly talking and then riding home with my 3 who were excited from VBS and constantly talking, and then making lunch for said 3 children who were standing in the kitchen with me constantly talking and then eating with the children who had to tell me every single detail of their day and were constantly talking, my child talking tolerance meter was pegged out.

I just needed some silence.

Just a couple minutes.

So I announced "OKAY! Let's have some quiet time where nobody talks to mommy. For like an hour!"

My daughter smiled and replied, "That's fine Mommy, I'll just talk to the baby."

[calgon take me away]

Sea World

We had the absolute best time at Sea World in San Antonio! My parents met us for the San Antonio portion of our trip. It was the perfect day. Just a little overcast so it wasn't too hot and no one got burned. We went on a Thursday while the schools were still in so there were no crowds. It was nice.


I'm not for sure if we could pick what our absolute favorite part was. The first thing we did was go to the bottle nose dolphin tank where we could buy dead fish and then feed them to the dolphins. The kids loved this and would have just stayed here all day and skipped the rest of the park (of course they had no idea what else was out there).

We then visited the Lorikeet exhibit where Grandpa bought nectar so we could go in and feed them.
The dolphin show was fun.

The kids rode the Shamu roller coaster several times!

But our very favorite had to be the Shamu show. We actually made it for both performances. The first show had 3 killer whales which was fun, but the second show had 5 killer whales and it was very impressive. They did all sorts of jumps and tricks. The most amusing part was when they all came over to one side to splash the audience. I'm sure it would not have been as amusing to us if we had been in the splash zone, but the people were warned.

My kids are already asking when we are going to go again. I think next time we might plan for 2 days at the park because we barely made it to every show, rode a couple kiddie rides, saw all the exhibits and ate lunch and still didn't make it to any of the big rides. One day is not quite enough.

If you are ever in San Antonio, we would highly recommend going to Sea World. It was great fun!

Thankful Thursday

It's been a busy week! So much to be thankful for!

1. We found out yesterday we are having a GIRL!!!!!

2. Ben and the kids got to come in and see the ultrasound and the baby looks perfect. 10 fingers, 10 toes, everything right where it should be. What a miracle!

3. They moved up my due date! Thankful for that! It is now October 3rd but probably late September. With my history of big babies (9.9, 9.6, 9.2) and the fact that this one measures at the 96th percentile, my OB said earlier would be better. Throw me in the briar patch!

4. My sister had her baby boy yesterday!!! My nephew was 9lbs 6oz. Her biggest baby. He was healthy and there were no complications. And he is adorable!!!

5. We had the AWANA award night yesterday. I am so thankful for the AWANA club! My kids have memorized so many Bible verses (which takes a lot of participation on the parent's part, but it is so worth it)

6. Thankful for all the rain and the cooler weather. I know it will get hot in Texas soon enough so I'm enjoying this weather while I can!

That's all I've got for now! Have a Thankful Thursday!!!

Happy Birthday To My Favorite Man In Scrubs!

Dolphin Watch Nature Tour

One of our favorite activities on Port Aransas was to go on a Dolphin Watch Nature Tour.

Here we are waiting to get on the boat.


This picture is here purely to document that I was indeed on this vacation. And that my hair type does not agree with humid, salty wind.

We actually asked a man on the boat to take a picture of our family together at the front of the boat. You could see the water and the harbor and I thought it would look nice. He pointed to his wife (who was sitting down) and said "She takes better pictures than I do", so I gave the camera to her. She didn't stand up. And she didn't center it. It was so sad that it was really just funny. All you saw was in the picture was our family on the very right edge of the picture, the rail of the boat and the sky. And SHE was the one who took better pictures. Next time I'll ask someone who has a nicer camera than me. That is surely a sign of someone who could take a good picture!

We were on this boat. This is actually a picture off their website. You can click on the picture to get to the link.

So we finally started off.

We saw TONS of dolphins!
Jumping dolphins.

Several dolphin mothers and their babies.

But the touch tank was where my kids wanted to be.
When we got on the boat, they already had some crabs, fish, starfish, and a seahorse in the tank from the last boat ride.
Halfway through our trip, they threw out the nets and let them drag behind the boat.

They pulled them up and then dumped the contents in a bucket.

They then took the bucket back to the touch tank and took each sea animal out and told everyone all about them. It was very interesting and very educational. The crabs with claws were thrown back in along with any other dangerous animals. They took the barbs off of the little stingray and told us they would grow back and then threw him in the tank.

The kids were then able to pick up and touch any of the animals and fish in the touch tank. There were quite a few crabs with sea anenomes on the backs of their shells and my middle loved to touch all the anenomes and pick up the crabs.

There were squid, several unique fish, a sting ray, and several varieties of starfish and crab that were added to the tank.

There ended up being quite a few minnows who apparently don't survive out of water long. They took them to the back of the boat and let the kids throw them to the seagulls.

The kids had a blast doing this!

As soon as they were done, the kids went back to the touch tank. They absolutely loved getting to see all these animals up close!

This is one outing that we would highly recommend if you are ever in Port Aranasas, TX!