bsmiles and sunny days

"Jesus, please help (inmate) get out of jail. Help him not take drugs. Help him not shoot anymore cops. In Jesus' name, amen."   -Leila Sweetest prayer ever! Lvb

This is Little House on the Prairie stuff! Last week my dear friend brought me some eggs from her chickens. One dozen had little bitty eggs plus one giant egg. It was huge! I had to show you. I have heard legends about double yolk eggs but never seen it until now! Lvb

In my quest I found a little trinket of information that I thought you might be interested in. I love gadgets. I am a sucker for them. Being a minimalist also, I rarely find a gadget I can't live without. This past week I found something in a surplus store that I broke down and paid $2.50 for.  It was.... ( drumroll please!) A battery-heated eyelash curler. What a surprise it was that it didn't work. The same day I was reading about how to apply eye shadow and read that you can get the desired effect of a battery-heated eyelash curler by heating your regular eyelash curler with you blow dryer for a few seconds. Guess what! It really works! Just be careful not to burn your eyelid. Lvb

Dale and I went for a walk tonight and returned home in time to do family worship, take four temperatures, pass out five doses of medicine, make two peanut butter sandwiches, and nurse one baby before 9:00. I am feeling much better today. I managed to sleep in my bed all night last night. My back was sore this morning, and I had a difficult time maneuvering my grocery cart through Price Chopper, but by the afternoon I was able to bend and lift without panicking. Hopefully tomorrow I will be in the clear. I am just about to put baby girl to bed. Before I do, here is a quick photo of us before the flu takes us down too! Lvb

It usually takes a year after I have a baby to realize that I have let myself slide into a constant state of sweatpants and ponytails. It's come to my attention early this time around. This photo may have helped to speed things along. No make-up, no hair-do, hand-me-down apparel... The article I read online helped too. It said that if you haven't changed your hairstyle in ten years, it's time for a change, pronto!  It also said that the ONLY wrong hairstyle for the shape of my face is the very hairstyle I have worn for over ten years. Yeow!!! I am ready to make an effort toward self-improvement. Wish me luck! Lvb

The kids sat at the table long enough to endure a history lesson, but from there it was to bed or couch for most of them. I made a second trip to  the doctor after another sleepless night and agonizing morning. I wish I could say I am fine, but there was minimal resolve to my back issue. A few happy events came from all of this suffering. Dale took the day off to drive me to the doctor, which I was so grateful for. And Dana came up to sit with the kids while we were gone, which we were all grateful for. I despise being sick, but I have to say there is something endearing about being quarantined together. Lvb

I rolled out of bed with a terrible backache and moved to the recliner. It was a rough night. Deisha came down first. She snuggled up next to me and said, "I'm sad." She felt feverish so I gave her some tylenol and sprite. As the others made their way down, I realized we weren't going to be able to have school today. I went to the doctor for my back, then came home to clean up and check on my crew. They must be feeling better; Tre is singing, and the others are fighting over who is sicker. The quiet was nice while it lasted, but I am glad they are on their way out. I dont like it when they're down.

This sweet baby... This morning the pediatrician said, "This is a cute baby. I mean it, I have seen a lot of babies. I don't care what anyone says, there are ugly babies. This is a cute baby!" Sometimes I feel a little guilty that she has such a great life. It took me a long time to figure this parenting thing out. I'm certainly not saying I have it all figured out, but when it comes to a happy textbook baby, it's a piece of cake. Happy seven, Little One!

Her eyes were sicky yesterday when she got up, but she insisted that she was fine. She couldn't bear the thought of missing  the first day of co-op. This morning she didn't even get out of bed to tell me that she was too sick to get up. It's awful quiet around here when there's an engine down.

*See Nighttime Craziness She is so funny! Lvb

If you find one of these slithering back and forth in between the flower garden and the front wall of your house after dinner while you are playing with the blue-tailed skink your kids just found and the garter snake the neighbor found while he was mowing that he brought over in a bucket, and you are frantically trying to look it up on your phone because you don't have access to the internet anywhere else, and because the only man present to kill it if necessary is about to put his mower away and turn in for the night, and you have all your children plus some of the neighbor's grandchildren that just happened to drop by about that time crowding around the potentially deadly attraction, and the baby is screaming in your arms because she doesn't have a room in the house yet so her bed's in the living room and can't go to bed until the traffic stops, don't worry. It's not poisonous.

Naughtypants took her bath and got fancied up for lunch. She cracks me up!

At bedtime I clock out. Nine o'clock approaches, and I feel myself leaing toward that punch clock.  Once the kids head up the stairs I take off my hard-working-mommy hat and let my hair down. Typically my work is not done at that point. It's been this way for over a decade, but I'm a diehard optimist. I HOPE that after that last kiss goodnight I can sit down and relax. Last night, after fifteen minutes of random screaming and yelling, I dragged myself up the stairs to deal with it. I got the little girls settled back in to their beds and stuck my head into the other kids' room. The first thing I saw when I opened the boys' room was Micah in the full face Viking mask standing posed like a deer in the headlights, arms flailing. After I scolded the boys for being out of bed I caught a quick glimpse of Tre behind the door wearing a Robin Hood hat and holding a bow and arrow ready to shoot. The girls' room was quiet so I expected them to be nestled into their beds re

Dale refused to have his picture taken for awhile. It was a passing thing that changed after he stated working out. However, for his impressioable young sons it did not change. Sort of. Most recently Tre allowed me to take this one. Micah, in the not too distant history allowed me to take this one. Dale, on the other hand, allowed for this one to be taken a few weeks ago. I'd say he's turned a corner. Yep. That's my man.

"We are reading this book called Cathedrals in school. It is awesome. It's actually a picture book about the construction of a famous cathedral that began in 1252. The language is conversational. The pictures are intricately detailed. The process alone is fascinating. Did you know that it took 100 years to build one of those? I thoroughly enjoy reading this book each night. So tonight I was telling the kids that I would come upstairs to read it to them, and kennedy sort of huffed and said, "Nooooo, it's soooo boring!" After I recovered from the shock of her disinterest, I said, "I think it's fascinating!" She looked at me with total disdain and said, "Of course you do. You're a builders daughter." Oh what joy, what rapture to hear myself defined in such a way! I am a builders daughter, and I love it! Lvb

I'm busy. I don't want to be, I don't like to be, It is rare for me to be, But right now I am. I seem to thrive in spite of the exhaustion. One of my two jobs was temporary, it was just a week of looking after my sweet little neighbor lady. My other job is indefinite. It is housekeeping in a big house three days a week. It should slow down in a month, but for now I am super busy. It's interesting to me how possible it is to get everything done when there is a time crunch, but when I am just drifting it seems impossible to finish even a simple list. I suppose it's the pressure that drives me to be more productive. At the end of the day when I fall into a heap, I am continually surprised at the number of things I have accomplished, which is a nice by-product of the busyness. I would love to be one of those people that takes it in stride, waltzing through the days with grace and ease. I am not. This is a season that I will not tolerate for long. I need the days of drif

Kennedy is fascinated with love right now. It's the hormones, her age, youth camp... It recently occurred to her that this love she is dreaming of from afar is the very thing that drives my relationship with her dad. We are in love, and she just realized it. I can't help but mention that he is more dreamy now than he was when we met. He's more attentive, more patient, he's definitely more handsome... I  adore him. He is constantly trying to be a better man. I miss him when he's gone. This love is one of the richest blessings in this life that God could give.  I'm the luckiest.

I was praying for some extra income. After a month of rice and beans, I had two jobs in two days. The week I started both jobs, our air conditioner retired. I was praying it was just a cry for help in the way of a new filter... Without warning, he just walked off the job. It was 104° that day. Let's do the math, shall we? 2 jobs 6 month old baby 7 kids living on the main floor 110° heat index 5 fans running constantly 2 fifteen-year-old window units 0 meals from the oven 4 three weeks = 1 cranky mommy Dale was gone for a long weekend toward the end. I was on the verge of tears almost every day. I spent a lot of time praying. Today we have a new system, thanks to a spontaneous electrical storm and our friendly abd compassionate insurance adjustor from Country Financial. I am thanking God that: a. Our house didnt burn down, and b. The new filter and desperate plea didn't convice it to stay on. The Lord is good. Lvb

I have finally discovered a way to post on my blog from my phone and it is somehow linked up to Micah's blog! He is freaking out that you might think he wants to get pregnant! Hahahaga! So, so, so funny. I miss blogging so much that I am going to write right here everyday for the next week just to get back in the saddle. Forgive my typos and broken thought patterns. It will be a difficult adjustment, writing with a touch screen! I have lots of pictures to share, but they are slow to load so it may be a rare treat. See you tomorrow! Lvb

Its me micah this adress is my moms blog so dont think any thing stupid. i do not have a baby that was my mom who "wants to get pregnat again" thanx bye -micah