Our October Hayride!

Kain riding IN the hay on our hay ride...Gage visiting with a goat...Brody returning "home" where he belongs. Look how happy he is...Aubriel FINALLY having lunch since she was SO hungry...Ozzye making new friends with some of our old ones...Just a funny series of pictures...

Now Gage behind the camera...
Another funny series of pictures, later in the day...
Ending the day in Daddy's arms...
What could be better?

Getting Ready for Halloween

Here we are trick or treating at the De Pere businesses on Sat.Tonight we did our pumpkins...

Coffee Beans Don't Taste Like Chocolate Chips

That is what Brody learned this morning. Yet, another reason why having more kids is fun. This is just not something "green" parents allow their children to do. When Brody reached for the coffee bean that had spilled onto the counter and said "yum chocolate chip" I decided not to stop him. The mother of a few probably would have been more likely to snatch it up but the mother of 5, who has had numerous children snatch food out from under them or even off of their own plate, chooses to take pictures of it instead!

He just put it in his mouth and the crunching has begun...Now he realizes it does not taste like chocolate at all...Now he is wondering what horrible thing he has just consumed...And now he is frantically looking for a napkin to scrap the inside of his mouth with...

3 Year Old Pictures

Last week I took Brody in for his 3 year old portraits and she has them list on her website. I love them as usual. I think they turned out great despite the fact he is one of our more challenging kids to photograph... kind of like how Gage was. Both of them never seem to stop smiling (or at least Gage did when he was younger) but holding their attention long enough to get a picture is the real trick but Kathleen is simply amazing with them!

The Loss of a Mother

5 years ago today my best friend lost her mother. If it was simply the holding of my friend's hand I had to endure I probably could. But when she left this world my friend lost her best friend and I lost a mother as well... or at least I can't imagine it could hurt any more. This women was simply amazing. I think it was recorded that she had over 600 of her nearest and dearest friends show up to say their good-byes. She was one of those people that everyone couldn't help but love. The kind that people could say they were better people for simply being around her but it was really true.

I met her when I was 12 (I think) soon after my own mother started home schooling me. My friend was in her last year of home schooling getting ready to go into high school and I was just starting out on my home schooling adventure. Both her and her mother ended up influencing me greatly along my path of natural health and healthy eating as well. My favorite birthday gifts came from her in the form of homemade bread and pickles.

My friend and I ended up losing touch quite often as she went away to school and I started a family. But her visits home and her mother's kitchen would always bring us back together with many of our other friends. It was like all of us were "coming home again" when we would walk through the door and gather around the table with her friends as well as our own. I think this "family bond" is what kept our friendship the kind that can survive months without talking and then you can pick up the phone like no time has gone by at all. That is probably the best thing her mom ever did for me... she created a bond between us that I believe anything can withstand.

Which is probably why I feel so bad. Not just for both of our loss in the "mother" each of us had in her but for the fact that all day today I couldn't bring myself to simply pick up the phone and tell my friend that not only was I thinking of her but her mom as well. Instead I kept myself "busy" with the kids so I could tell myself like I do so often that I just didn't have the time. But that wasn't true at all. The truth is I wouldn't even know what to say. It is hard enough to say something to those you can see hurting but what do you say to the person that is probably hurting even more than you are when you are so over come with your own sadness? So there it is. I couldn't call because I felt selfish. I am a mess today and have no idea how I could be the shoulder for her to cry on that she probably deserves and/or needs. But the reality is I do need to call her because I miss her... I miss her like I miss her mom and the difference is I CAN still call her.

Maybe I will in a few more days when I am done crying over my flat loaf of bread I am going to try making yet again!

All my love and comfort to those that knew and loved "Lady L" (my other mother) and most of all to her!

The Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pictures from the younger boys' and my trip to the pumpkin patch. The others were in school of course.Here they were later in the day when Aubriel was...Here!

Five Wishes...

I just finished a book called Five Wishes: How Answering One Simply Question Can Make All Your Dreams Come True. It is a very quick read and since it kept my interest so well I never even got a chance to add it to my list of "books I am currently reading." I really enjoyed it. I am still putting together my own "five wishes" however ironically enough another book I had waiting to read has helped me dive into one of my wishes though.

So for my AP (attachment parenting) group I am in they picked the book Living Simply with Children for their book club. So for the first time I decided I was going to find the time to join in on this book. I have had the book sitting here for a while just waiting to pick it up and read it so after I finished Five Wishes I did. I am really enjoying the book. It is helpful to me defining what my values truly are since so often I find myself getting lost in other people's rather than staying true to my own. I think that is quite easy in the society we live in. We set our values hopefully in line with our spirit and most often live our life according to them but once and while we find ourselves (or at least I do at times) second guessing many choice we make based on our personal set of values when we hear so much about what our lives should be like. It is encouraging to read about ways that we can keep ourselves in line with what is most important to us and finding ways of worrying less about what others believe.

So for my first wish....
My life is a complete and total success (read the book!) because I live by and raise my children by my own personal set of values which includes slowing down and enjoying the wonderful moment I am in at any given time!

Don't You Love How You Always Get Just What You Need?!

Last month a dear friend of mine sent this to me in an email (whom I miss so very much too)...

Which one are you? A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one a rose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst,you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. May we all be COFFEE!!!!

I love it! And of course as always it came at the perfect time and was just what I happened to need at that point in my life!

Halloween Sneak Peak...

So the kids have been planning for months now what they would like to be for Halloween. Kain and Gage knew right away... Kain is planning on being Indiana Jones and Gage is going to be a Clone Trooper. Aubriel went back and forth for a while between a Princess and a Witch but I think she has finally settled on a Princess. I had plans to make Ozzye a Kangaroo since he will be in my babyhawk catching a ride on me. The kids of course think I need ears and a tail but we will see how much time I have between now and then. Then there was Brody... We had no clue what to make him and every time we asked him he would just laugh or run away or tell us what we suggested was too scary. Then I remembered soon after he was born my Grandma gave my Lederhosen that she got to put on a doll when she was in Germany but they were too big so she thought Brody might wear them some day. I of course thought she was nuts, when on earth would I EVER put my child in these? But the joke is on me because little did I know the kind of kid Brody would be when he could fit into them. So I Pulled them out of his drawer tonight and tried them on him... He seemed happy to be in them although he did say he was now a baby. The best hat I could find for him is Gage's Peter Pan hat from a few years ago. Which kind of makes him look like one of Santa's Elves or something. I really wanted him to be something we could put a lease on him, like a puppy or something but this is too cute to not use, plus the other kids are getting too old for me to dress. Although they are putting up a good fight for Bro telling me he is NOT going to be a "schnitzel boy"!

A Football Farewell

Kain played his last football game of the season tonight. I wish I could say they won but they didn't. It was not a great season for them... I think they may have only won one game but all of them played their hearts out. As it turns out they were the most "green" team in the league with 16 of their 20 players being new to Pop-warner this year.

Here are the other kids getting ready to watch their brother play... You can tell who are my children that hate to be photographed and which ones love it.Aubriel is trying to get the other two to look at me and smile.
Although they didn't get any touchdowns, Kain did catch a pass. Although mom was too busy cheering to get a picture of it but Dad got it on video... so this is all I have of the game.After the game the couch passed out awards to all of the kids. Kain was so proud to receive one of the "Best Hands and Speed" awards! It was cute because he announced the award before he called the kids up for it and as soon as he said it all of his team mates started chanting, Kain, Kain, Kain...He told him he is sure he is going to be a great wide receiver somewhere some day... the only thing he can find wrong with Kain is that he doesn't not live in the same district as his son's high school.I have to say I am sad to see if come to an end. We have a few more games of Gage's left which I love to watch as well but much like Kain last year in flag football it is frustrating to see your children take the game far more seriously than the other kids. Kind of like today at Gage's game when one of his team mates tackled his own guy because he had the ball! It was kind of cute but has been such a joy to watch Kain play ball this year with other kids that love the game as much as he does. We will have to see if his brother is feeling up to joining him next year since Kain has decided there is nothing that could stop him from doing it again! I hope he gets a couching staff as wonderful as the one he had this year!Our happy baby again! He was a champ considering how cold it was out there.Brody fell asleep on Gage and he was trying to get away so I couldn't get a picture of him and Kain snuggling with their little Bro.