12

Last week we celebrated Kaelan's 12th birthday.  She is such a blessing in our lives and is growing up to be a hard worker who is  very thoughtful of others.  Kaelan and I spent the afternoon together for her birthday.  We went out for lunch and then did lots of shopping.  We spent a good while at a local bookstore selecting a handful of good collector quality books.  She chose two Anne of Green Gables books and Heidi.  Then I surprised her with a trip over to Walmart to get a personal CD player so she could listen to  some audio books and teachings on her own.  We also threw in a little grocery shopping and shopped for a bridal shower.  It was good to have that one-on-one time with Kaelan.  It can be rare in a busy large family!

Devin treated Kaelan to a new outfit, Lauren gave her some perfume and the boys gifted her with money that she is determined to save.  She also received cards and monetary gifts from her grandmothers and a friend.

Our birthday celebrant gets to choose the dinner menu and Kaelan requested a meatless pasta dish that Devin created a while back using jarred (!) spaghetti sauce and alfredo sauce.  We also had a salad from the garden and garlic bread.

My baby girl is growing up!

All of the girls started making their own birthday cakes starting at about the age of 10.  They also do the cakes for the boys, Jeff and I and even the grandchildren at times.  Kaelan made a two layer white cake with a layer of chocolate mint ice cream.  It was delicious!!

Delicious cake!

Kaelan also got a watch that she had picked out the week before.  Now she has no excuse to be late!

Happy birthday, Kaelan!  We love you so much and are so thankful for the wonderful woman that you are becoming!  We pray that you will continue to seek the Lord in all that you do!

Big B Little B

Don't forget to go to the following link to vote for Busy Hands Busy Minds for best homeschool blog!  

http://hsbapost.com/best-homeschool-mom-blog-2010/

What begins with "B"? 

Biggest big brother and littlest brother, too!

Romping in the leaves

Add another little brother

And lots of blessed bouncing fun!

Jordan's birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  He is now 18 years old!!

And, like any good book lover, he got more books for his birthday.  This time Jeff Shaara's early American history books covering the War for Independence and the Mexican American War.  He also got  a couple of his beloved flannel shirts.  And he got to go to Jackson for a photography workshop that was right up his alley.

Caedmon tried on a new hat!

After dinner at a local Mexican restaurant we came home for a cookie cake and ice cream.  A yummy night for all!  (And please, just ignore the laundry that some neglectful child didn't put away!)

Birthday Boys

September third is Jeff's birthday.  While I cooked dinner, Kaelan and Jackson set the table and prepared the dining room.  Jackson wore this suit all day with a white undershirt and bared feet.  And yes, he is a funny kid!   On the small whiteboard, Kaelan wrote the menu:  Roman roast with mushrooms and spinach rice.  We had a mango-lemon-orange cake for dessert.

September fifth was Aaron's 14th birthday.    Aren't they handsome!   They could have dressed up a bit for the occasion, though!  

Aaron requested a fried fish dinner, so that's what we had!  I went with a fish house theme and served on paper plates.  We had fried fish, baked fish, fries, and seasoned green beans with cream sodas all around.  A delicious blueberry cobbler was served for dessert.

Sweet Caedmon!

Aaron received a new Columbia fleece from Devin and Jordan.  He has grown a lot in the last year!

Looking over the birthday goodies with Kaelan.  Aaron received a beautiful hard bound book of missionary John Paton, two Ballentyne adventure books and lots of art supplies. 

I am so very thankful for the man that my husband is and for the man the my son is growing into.  Aaron has on his Dave Ramsey t-shirt, but the message is true.  Every year he is changed a little more.

Of Remodeling, Reactions and Reasons to Celebrate

It has been a while since I have taken the time to blog.  I am trying to maintain a full school load with the children while in the midst of major home remodeling.  We are FINALLY getting the boys' bathroom rebuilt after gutting it due to water leaks almost 3 years ago.  Yes, we are slow about some things.  Thankfully we have 3 bathrooms so we have not been too terribly inconvenienced all this time.
"Worker men" have been here for several days each week for the last three weeks and Jeff took off three days.  It is extremely hard to get a 6 year old boy to sit down and work on letter sounds and counting with mom when there are nice men with jackhammers in your bathroom cutting through the concrete.  He has learned a lot these last few weeks about plumbing and shower building.  


We have lived in this house for 12 years and Jeff has decided this is the time to get all of the remodeling done and the broken things fixed.  He is a man on a mission!  The older boys are now old enough to be a tremendous help to him.  The boys' shower has built built and tiled.  It now has a nice glass door.  The walls are painted.  The floor is tiled, but still needs grout.  Then we do the baseboards, the door,  molding, toilet, vanity, mirror and cabinet.  Half of those items are in my dining room.  Boxes of all kinds have been shoved in the boys' bedroom and it was too cluttered for them to clean it up.  Yesterday we removed all remodeling paraphernalia, thus eliminating their excuse for cleaning their room.  Tomorrow, it WILL be cleaned from top to bottom.  There is so much dust from drywall that everything is gritty.  I have slowly been cleaning the living areas as we finish up the messy work in the bathroom.

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In other news, we have been hit again with some strange illnesses.  I have suffered from dishydrosis for several years.  This is a severe form of eczema that occurs on your hands and feet.  Incredibly itchy blisters of which there is NO cure.  After a recent flair up I went to another dermatologist and had a steroid shot and was prescribed two different steroid creams.  After another visit I am now on oral steroids.   Women are more prone to this form of eczema and those who have eczema and asthma are more likely to get it.  It is not painful, but extremely itchy and frustrating.  Stress also causes flair ups.  Seven children, homeschooling, dealing with multiple food allergies, major remodeling and a type-A personality=stress.    In addition, my IBS has also been flaring.  I have had IBS for years, but after the removal of my gall bladder last year, it has worsened.  Some days I cannot leave home.  One perk, however, is that I continue to lose weight!  Got to find something good about it!

Aaron, Jackson and Caedmon continue with their usual eczema problems that need daily attention.  Caedmon has had two food allergy reactions that really scared us in the last two/three weeks.  I will no longer live the house without his Benadryl, Epipen and nebulizer.    Jordan is my only child who does not have asthma and/or eczema, but a couple of weeks ago he broke out in a very strange rash ALL over his body.  It looks like very small patches of eczema, but there are hundreds of them.  Jeff finally took him to the doctor Wednesday.  She just looked at him and was speechless.  Had no idea what the rash is!  Gave him a long-acting steroid shot and Benadryl ointment.  Repeat visit this morning added a staff infection to his diagnosis.  Now he will also be on an antibiotic for a couple of weeks.  Please pray for the rest of our eczema kids who have some spots that could be easily infected.  Staff is contagious!

I have been going back to visit my chiropractor the last couple of weeks as my back and neck have been bothering me (stress?).  He has told me for YEARS that we need to get off of gluten.  He is big on the blood type diet and we are all B and apparently gluten will cause skin and digestive issues for those with B type blood.  In light of all that I wrote above I think I need to investigate more and try a gluten free diet.  My problem with gluten-free is that two of my children are also allergic (deathly) to eggs and most gluten free recipes contain eggs.  Any body with any experience with gluten free and/or diets for blood types?  Would love to talk with you!!

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And,  today is Jeff's birthday!  Both of us are sliding ever so closer to 50.  We are planning a nice birthday dinner for him tonight.  I asked him last night what he would like and he requested a Roman roast.  We got this recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines when we were studying ancient Rome.  You take a nice roast and cook it on the cooktop in a Dutch oven.   I inserted sliced cloves of garlic in the roast, covered 1/3 with white grape juice and let cook slowly all day.  Half way through the cooking process, I added mushrooms cut in half.  We will serve this with spinach rice, roasted broccoli and carrots and a green salad.   We were trying to make his favorite apricot nectar cake for him, but two of our local Walmart stores are no longer carrying apricot nectar!  I bought mango nectar instead which I think will taste great.  I hope to get the dining room at least dusted and swept well for the evening meal.  Kaelan will be in charge of setting a celebratory table in honor of her father.  The kids pooled their money together to buy the BBC's Return to Cranford today, so it seems we will have an evening in Cranford  tonight.  A pleasant end to what I hope will be a nice celebration for my hard-working husband who is such a wonderful example of a Godly man for our children.

Sunday is Aaron's 14th birthday!  So hard to believe my fourth born child is so old.  Aaron is growing into an extremely hard worker.  He loves to read (ALL of my kids love to read), is becoming more serious about his Bible study, loves to eat and is a clown.  We will be spending the day with Jeff's parents on Sunday.  Aaron requested bratwurst and saurkraut with all the trimmings for his birthday meal, so the grands are getting the grill ready for his special day now.

I hope to have pictures of the bathroom as soon as it is completed and birthday pictures as well.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Birthday, Recitals, Gardening and Frugal Shopping All in One Post-Whew!

We have had lots going on since my last post.  Kaelan turned 11 on the 19th.  She had fun with another young lady as an overnight guest.  She made her own birthday cake, a delicious lemon ice box cake.   Kaelan and Devin had decided they wanted a bedroom makeover for their birthdays (Devin's is in June), so for Kaelan's birthday they got new dust ruffles, comforters and pillow shams.  For Devin's birthday they will get matching sheets and window treatments.  That will be the extent of their bedroom makeover. ; )

Kaelan and my sister, Tracy, who shares the same birthday

Kaelan also received three new Homestead Blessing DVDs-sewing, cooking and dairying

Kaelan with her Lemon Ice Box Birthday Cake that she made herself

(all of my girls started making their own cakes after the age of ten---their choice!)

The day after Kaelan's birthday  was the piano recital.  My sister who shares a birthday with Kaelan just happened to be in the area and was able to join us and my mil was here for a few days as well.  Aaron and Kaelan did a terrific job and we enjoyed a late night dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants afterward.

Aaron played two minuets by Bach and did a fantastic job!

The next day was the violin recital for Devin's students.  This was her first recital as a teacher and she did a great job.  Kaelan is one of her students and she did a terrific job.  My children are really turning into great musicians.  All of my former college professors would be proud!!  

Kaelan and Hannah Duley played a duet at the violin recital.  Kaelan had fun getting together to practice with Hannah.

                                  Devin with some of her students.  Not all of them were able to
                                  play in the recital.                                          



Our work in the garden continues.  We have corn and beans up in our 4 x 4 beds.   We are trusting the Square Foot Gardener knows what he is talking about!!

Bush beans coming up.  There are 9 plants in each square foot.  Sounds crazy, but we are hopeful!!

This is one of two raised beds of corn, four plants per square foot.

This past week I was able to get out to do a little shopping.   The Lord truly blessed my grocery shopping efforts on Tuesday.  I came across lots of reduced produce, whole chickens, chicken breasts, buttermilk and milk at Kroger.  At Sam's I got reduced stew meat and a huge roast.  The stew meat was cooked with the reduced mushrooms and made into  fabulous beef tips in mushroom gravy.  Twelve chicken breasts were turned into three meals of seasoned chicken strips for wraps and salads, two quarts of seasoned chicken stock and two quart bags of shredded chicken.  We also did lots of baking this week of our usual homemade bread, pizza, pizza muffins, pesto roll, pizza roll, four chocolate chess pies, two buttermilk pies, three buttermilk pound cakes and two loaves of banana bread.  God gives us so many good things to eat.  My freezer is thankfully VERY full.  Feeling blessed about that!!

Jeff and I had a night out this week and I asked if we could go to Kohl's.  They have great clearance sales at Kohl's and I hadn't gone to check out clearance racks in months.  I needed a good fix and some of the children needed an item or two.  Most of what we purchased was 80 or 90% off with the exception of two nice Ralph Lauren shirts ($12. 50 each) and some much needed shoes for Jeff to wear to the office which unfortunately were not on clearance and were not even on sale. : (    We got over $500 of clothing for around $130.  Chaps dress shirt for Jackson for $5, Van's jeans for Aaron for $4, Chaps dress pants for Aaron for $3.60, various long-sleeve tees for Aaron, a light- weight trench coat for Devin for $8 (which she loved---YEAH for me!!), two summer tops for Kaelan for under $3 each and two sweaters for me for $3 and $4 dollars.  Jeff very rarely goes shopping with me, so he was very impressed with how much we saved.  Of course, we could have saved more had we not gone in the store in the first place, but I really like dressing my children well for very little money.  I have posted before about my clearance rack dressed kids and I am always very thankful for the Lord leading me to find just what is needed and sometimes, like with Devin's trench coat, desired.   I try to check out the clearance racks at several department stores 2 or 3 times a year.  It has been a money-saver for our family.

I am getting way too long here and will share our adventures at a tag sale with pictures later.  Hope you all take time out to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who have given their lives to defend our rights as American citizens.  We will spend time with friends celebrating tomorrow, but tonight we had our grilled burgers and salads and are now preparing to settle in the den and watch Gary Cooper in Sergeant York.