Our new boy

So, I told you all that we recently lost our dog, Darby.  We were going to wait a few years until we were settled in our new house to get another dog.  I guess God had other plans for us.  And who am I to argue?  

So meet our new baby, Hurley.

He's a decent-sized dog, a two-year-old boxer mix.

Who can resist this mushy face?

He's a big lover, but is already protective of the kids, which I LOVE.  Here's his favorite place to lay, though:  ON my feet.

He's a gorgeous reverse brindle and is simply a great dog.  He's a perfect fit for our family, and I'm so glad circumstances worked out to make him ours.  I'm looking forward to many, many years with our new boy!

We're all a bit blue

We had to put our dog down yesterday, so things have been pretty melancholy around here today.

He wasn't old--not quite seven, actually--and he was the most perfect dog we ever could have dreamed of.

Would you believe, of all the things you may have to put a dog down for, we had to put him down because of allergies?  Not our allergies, or our kids' allergies, but his own.  You'd think I have allergies down to a fine science by now.  We tried all sorts of different allergy medications, grain-free diets, steroids shots, etc.  But nothing worked, and it got to the point where he was scratching all of his hair off and making himself bloody.  He was too good a boy and too loyal a companion for us to let him live with that suffering.

So forgive me if I'm not feeling very creative today.

Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day ever!!!  It started out a couple of days before, really.  My wonderfully hubby built a gorgeous "roof" over our back deck, which faces due west (it's not a full roof, but spaced wood slats.  It's GORGEOUS!!!).  Then he bought me some flowers and hanging tomatoes and strawberries to put out there.  Aren't these giant impatiens beautiful?

But the best part came on Mother's Day itself.  I've spoken before about how my grandmother has Alzheimer's.  She knows the various members of our family are her people, but gets very confused about which people we are.  For example, the last time my sister visited her, she was convinced my sister was my dad's cousin's wife (did you follow that?).  But when I walked in on Mother's Day, she looked right at me, broke out in a large smile, and said, "Why, there's Nellie!!"  (My grandma has called me Nellie my whole life.)  It was such a joy to hear those words!!!  She did great through my whole visit with her, even though she couldn't even remember the names of other residents she lives there with and sees all day, every day.  It was such a blessing.  I got this picture of her and I to forever stamp this day into my mind and heart.

I hope your Mother's Day was just as blessed!

The Miscellaneous Things in Life

I love some of the miscellaneous things in life.  You know, the things that make you wish you had your video camera on or make you want to grab a snapshot so you remember that moment.  Things that make you smile or laugh or cry (in a good way).

Things like these drawings of Yoda that my four-year-old son did.

Or all those funny faces tiny babies make.

Or the sweet ones.

Or going for a motorcycle ride on a gorgeous day.

Or my seven-year-old son choosing to do his schoolwork in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Or $1 metal baskets and buckets in fun colors.

Life is good.

Upcoming projects

We are still fighting the flu in our house.  Yes, it's been a week-and-half.  But when there are 8 people it can potentially work its way through, it can take a while.  As a result, I haven't gotten much work done on any projects.  But I have several lined up.

The weather's getting warmer here, and my daughter with the severe latex allergy needs some latex-free lightweight pants and shorts.  A while back, my hubby went through his closet and culled a bunch of clothes.  Among them are several good t-shirts that I plan to turn into shorts and pants for her, using latex-free elastic for the waistbands.  If you cut them out using the bottom hem of the shirt as the bottom of the pant legs, no additional hemming is required!!

I recently saw this adorable thimble necklace on The Wind and the Sail.  So I bought some thimbles and all sorts of cute pins to make my own.

(Photo: The Wind and the Sail)

My oldest daughter's birthday is nearly upon us, and we'll be giving her the sewing machine we bought for her.  I'll be delving back into the world of making pillows, simple aprons, etc.  You know, all those learning-to-sew-in-home-ec type of projects.  =)

I also have my very first giveaway coming up next month!!

So stay tuned for all sorts of fun!

How to treat the flu

My kids have the flu.  It is no fun at all.  They look and feel horrible.

You can always tell my kids are sick by looking at their eyes.  

So we've been trying to make them feel better and help them get over it more quickly.  Some things we do are making sure they get their vitamins (particularly D and C) and giving them elderberry.

When they actually feel like eating something but they still don't feel like leaving the couch, pouches of applesauce have been wonderful!  Easy on the tummy, and easy to eat without the mess!

Of course, handwashing is a MUST!!  Especially when I'm dealing with several sick kids, while still caring for and feeding a newborn.  There are also various herbs, essential oils, etc. people like to use.  I try to stay away from medications such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, unless the fever gets really high (my daughter pictured above was running 104* yesterday afternoon), or if they're in a lot of pain (her head and body were aching horribly).  I prefer to let a lower fever burn as much as possible.

What are your tips and tricks for treating the flu?

What are your best tips and tricks for treating kids who are sick with the flu?

Tax Return Time!!

Tax return time is an exciting time around here.  We always get a decent-sized refund, and it's our opportunity to buy large purchases that we need.

As I type this, my wonderful Mr. Man is out looking at a 15-passenger van that's for sale.  Now that Little Love #6 is here, we no longer fit in our mini van.

My wonderful hubby also ordered me a NICE microscope!!  I've been wanting one for our classroom.  However, I used to work in a medical laboratory.  So any old microscope just wasn't going to work for me.  I needed all the bells and whistles.  I NEEDED an oil immersion lens.  He got me a wonderful one, that just arrived in the mail yesterday.  Now I need to get it all put together!

It's also the time of year I get to order my new school curriculum for next year!  By now, I know what is and isn't working for my kids.  We're pretty well settled on what works for the older two.  We'll see what works for the next ones as time goes on.  But it's so exciting to get new school books in the mail!!  They'll be coming from 3 different companies, so lots of fun boxes to open!!

My oldest has been begging me to teach her how to sew.  To be honest, I don't want her touching my Janome.  =)  I thought about ordering her a mini Janome, but I can't bring myself to spend $200 on one.  So I started looking on Amazon and found the Michley Lil' Sew & Sew LSS-505 Combo Mini Sewing Machine.  The price was right, and the reviews look good.  The main negative is that it doesn't seem to sew well through thick fabrics.  But who starts out learning on denim and canvas?  =)

Anyway, it arrived today!

Her birthday isn't for another couple of months.  But tonight I'll try it out to make sure it works well.  I'll post a product review here.  =)

It also came with a small sewing kit...

...and electric scissors.

Anyway, as long as the machine works well, I'll be thrilled!

So, lots of excitement going on around here.  Fun boxes arriving daily.  Hubby may be coming home with a new (to us) van!  And I have an awesome microscope!!!  Did I say yet how much I love tax return time?  =)

 

Happy birthday to me!!!

Ok, my hubby loves me a ton.  The other day was my birthday.  I wasn't feeling well, but I had a midwife appointment in the morning.  Knowing the appointment would be short, we loaded up the kids and headed there (we can't take the kids inside, however, because they use latex gloves in the office.  So my hubby waited out in the car with them.).  After the appointment (where everything looked and sounded great with baby), we ran to the pet store to get crickets for Itchy (our pet tarantula) and food for our fish.

We LOVE the pet store we went to.  It's owned by a super-nice guy who truly knows and takes good care of his animals.    While there, we picked out a couple of gorgeous orange shrimp and a sweet little boy pleco for our tank.

Doesn't he look like a sweet little old man?  =)  We named him Plucky.

Then, my hubby gave me a wonderful surprise.  He told me I could pick out a snake for my birthday!!  As some of you know, I've been really wanting a sand boa, as I discussed in a recent post.  I went ahead and held a couple of different rosy boas, too, but the sand boa still had my heart.  So he came home with me!!

On the way home, my hubby chuckled and said, "Most women would want a pretty dress for their birthday.  But I got my wife a snake."  What a great man!

I named him Malcolm, but I just call him Mal.  He's sooooo cute and sweet and still so little!

So we now have a couple more very loved members of our family.  Thank you to my sweet hubby for such a wonderful birthday surprise!!

Oh, and we also have a gift card from my sister-in-law to Hobby Lobby for two of my girls.  I can't wait to see what fun crafty stuff we all decide to get!  Have any of you seen anything recently that's simply a gotta-have?

More sickness, contractions, etc.

This has been a rough week.  We were all excited to go to my parents' for Thanksgiving, when my two oldest ended up sick.  It seems like somebody has been sick most of the month this month.  That's one of the things about having a lot of little kids--higher chances of getting exposed, higher chances of someone getting sick, and it takes forever if it goes through everybody in the family.

Praise God, I haven't gotten sick so far.  The sitting and snuggling sick kids has actually not been too bad of a thing, as it makes me sit and relax.  I've been contracting a lot, and I'd really like to carry this baby to term (my last two were preemies).

So, we made the most of Thanksgiving here at home.  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, my hubby grilled steaks for everybody, and he ran to a Redbox to rent Cars 2.

I hope everybody's Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Kids are soooo weird!

The other day, the kids gave me a small insight into their random little minds.

Recently, Little Love #5 celebrated her second birthday!!  The day before, I'd tell her excitedly, "Tomorrow's your birthday!!"  She'd respond by crying and saying, "I don't want my birthday!"  After trying to convince her it was a good thing, she finally told me that I could give her birthday to my oldest daughter.  LOL  Soon enough, she'll realize that this whole birthday things is a pretty good deal.  =)

The other day, the kids and I were all playing outside--or I guess I should say that they were playing, while I sat and read.  They kept bringing me their little "treasures" that they were finding around the yard:  a colorful leaf, a pretty rock, a snail shell...  My 3-year-old son brought me a leaf that he said was "so bootiful."  It was fuzzy with mold!  Then, my not-quite-2-year-old happily brought me her treasure--dry dog poop. At least it wasn't fresh.  As my brother pointed out, "One girl's poop is another girl's treasure."

(I don't have a picture of the poop, thankfully, but sometimes you've gotta wonder what the animals are thinking, too.  This really CAN'T be comfortable!!)

Later that same day, my six-year-old son came up to me, totally serious, and asked me, "Mama, would you rather have a braid in your hair or eat a banana?"  What?!?!?!?  In what way are those two things related?  Oh, wait, they're not.  Sometimes I'd really love a peek into their minds.  Questions like this are just major teasers of what's going on in there.  Other times, I think it's really lucky for us both that I don't know what they're thinking.

I love these young ages.  There's so much random weirdness, so much excitement, and so much hilarity.

I sure love my kids!

I love my pets!

Ok, this is just a random post.  This time of year, there's a big emphasis on being thankful.  One of the things I'm thankful for is my pets.

I've always been an animal person.  I've had tons of different pets over the years:  dogs, cats, gerbils, a rabbit, guinea pigs, fish, hermit crabs, and more.

We currently have the best dog in the world.

He's super-protective (especially when I'm pregnant).  We had a solicitor stop here the other day, and he asked if I'd please let him get down the block before I opened the front door again, so that our dog wouldn't get out.  What a good boy!  He was a shelter mutt we got when he was 10 weeks old and has been a joy for the past 6 years.  

Our cat is another one-of-a-kind.

She came to us from Freecycle when she was 6-weeks-old.  She's now 1.5 years old and is spoiled rotten.

We also have a betta, several guppies, some tetras, and some kuhli loaches in our ever-growing fish tanks.  The whole family loves our fish, getting attached to each one.  Many people don't realize that each has its own personality.

This is the latest addition to our little family.

Dubbed "Itchy" by my 8-year-old daughter, this tarantula was found by my in-laws while they were on vacation.  They caught it and brought it home with them to show everybody, and we brought it home to make it part of our family!  We're not sure yet if it's a male or female (we'll know next time it molts), but we do know it's not fully matured yet.  If it's a female, we could have her with us for the next 30+ years! So we're hoping.  (If it's a male, we could have him for 10+ years).

Anyway, this is the current line-up of our menagerie.  I'm hoping to maybe get a sand boa for my birthday next year, and we'll be getting more fish in the immediate future.    We're all super-attached to our pets--yes, even the fish and spider.  They're all very loved and are truly a part of the family!

What pets do you have that you're thankful for?

What do your counters say about you?

In many houses (like mine), counter space is prime real estate.  So anything consistently taking up precious square inches is either something I LOVE, or something I use a LOT.

One example of a love, which is also used nonstop, is my Longaberger mug tree.  My hubby's aunt sells Longaberger, and I once saw this mug tree in the catalog.  I fell in love with it immediately.  Not much later, I saw that they were about to discontinue it, and was saddened by it.  On my next birthday a few months later, his grandma gave it to me as my birthday gift!!

I also love my mugs hanging on it.  Each one has a story to tell.  I love that this mug tree holds so many LARGE mugs (we like mugs that hold at least 16 oz).  It also keeps them from filling up my few cabinets--another piece of prime real estate in my house.

Another thing on my counter all the time is my Blendtec.  It's also a well-used love.  We use it virtually every day to make green smoothies for the family.

I have another small countertop with outlets inside one of my pantries (thanks to my brilliant father-in-law).  On that counter--always plugged in and ready to go--are my microwave (not a love, but a gotta have) and coffee pot  (definitely a love!).

I also have a cutting board and a few decorative items, some seasonal, some not.

Other appliances are up in the pantry, ready to go when needed, but not plugged in all the time, such as my rice cooker.  Others, like my toaster oven, stay on a shelf in my laundry room until needed--typically, the further from the counter, the less used they are.

So, what takes up the prime real estate in your home?  What are your beloveds, and what are your simply-gotta-have-handies?

Exotic? Um, no...how about unique?

I'm a mutt.  I'm sorry, that's not very PC, is it?  Let's see...I have a rich and diverse cultural heritage.  Does that sound better?  =)  Seriously, though, I'm 1/2 Puerto Rican, 1/16 Cherokee Indian, 100% American, and who knows what else mixed in through the generations.  But I grew up in a very culturally rich home.

My mama always made sure that we knew and celebrated our cultural heritage (though I never got my own quinciñera, so I'll have to live vicariously through my girls for that one), and Daddy supported her in this.  I also strive to celebrate both the American and Puerto Rican cultures in our home.  My dear hubby is also supportive, though he sometimes doesn't quite understand it.  For example, he doesn't quite get why I see the beauty I see and have the love I have for my vejigante, nor why I was willing to be so preoccupied in finding just the right one during our whole visit to Puerto Rico (and why I spent the money I did for it).  But he allowed me to buy it, and he allowed me to spend additional money to mail it safely back home, and he even allows me to hang it in our house (though not in our bedroom--he says it creeps him out.  But our kids love it as much as I do.  Must be a cultural thing.  HAHAHAHA!!). 

Another one he doesn't quite get (and, quite frankly, he often laughs at) is the Puerto Rican mouse.  You see, when my kids lose teeth, the Puerto Rican mouse comes all the way here on his little boat to take the teeth home and build his house with them.  (And the time the tooth was still under my son's pillow three nights in a row, the mouse must have been caught in a storm on the ocean.  That's a long way to come for a little mouse, after all.  He can't always make it in one night.)  I recently overheard my kids talking about the Puerto Rican mouse.  They had come to the conclusion that a mouse doesn't need a huge house, and he's Puerto Rican, so he must only take the teeth of Puerto Rican children.  They were pitying those poor other children whose parents had to make up silly stories like the Tooth Fairy.

Anyway, my poor guy just didn't quite get what he originally signed up for.  When we first started dating and he found out that I'm Puerto Rican, he told me, "I always kind of thought I'd like to end up with someone exotic."  Um...yeah....anybody who knows me knows that I'm anything but exotic.  Weird?  Definitely.  Atypical--especially for a girl?  Without a doubt.  Exotic?  Not so much.  We moved around a lot when I was little, but when we finally settled down, it was out in the country.  I went to school at a back-woods-tiny school, with 12 people in my graduating class.  I love shooting guns and riding motorcycles through the fields at my parents' house, and I have a passion for Star Wars.  My daddy recently told me, "You're so cool!  You're almost a boy!"

But I love my heritage--all parts of it.  And I'm making sure my kids are growing up just as exotic and diverse!

After all, it's all part of who they are!  

What a Week!

We had the most wonderful week!  We traveled 8 hours to visit some friends (of course, it took us longer than that with 5 littles and a pregnant Mama!).  Some other friends traveled much farther and met us there.

Between the three families, we had 18 children!  It was so much fun getting to see friends that we don't get to see often, and the kids were all so well-behaved and got along so perfectly.

We got back home last night, missing our friends but eager to sleep in our own beds.  Now my 3-year-old son keeps complaining that he has nobody to play with.  It's so hard having only four siblings.  =)

My hubby also learned (and became addicted to) the art of pen turning.

(I see a blog post on this in the near future.  I also see the purchase of a lathe.  Oh, the possibilities...)

Now that I'm no longer packing, preparing, traveling, or visiting friends, I'll be getting back to my crafting! I'm hoping to make Little Love #5's Halloween costume tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

And he calls ME gross?!?!?

Ok, so we went shopping tonight, and I came home hungry (of course, I'm in my second trimester, so I'm always hungry).  I wanted a yummy late-evening snack.  I picked up some mac-and-cheese and tuna fish while at the store.  This is NOT normal fare in our house.  We don't buy much of anything in a box.  But the craving came over me, and I couldn't resist.

So, health detriments aside, you have Kraft Mac-n-cheese.  Can you say YUM?!?  Make it up and mix in a can of chunk light tuna.  Can you say SUPER YUM?!?!?  

But my hubby--who lacks the finer things in life, like decent tastebuds--says that I'm gross.  I finally convinced him to taste it once, and he did admit at that moment that it wasn't too bad.  He won't admit that now.  But he dares to call ME gross for eating something so delicious!!

Now, this is the man who is the king of all grossness when it comes to grabbing a snack.  He also came home from the store hungry.  Want to know what he grabbed for his late-evening snack?

That's right.  What you see there, folks, are some frozen sweet potato fries (also not normal fare in this house--he dug them out from the back of the freezer somewhere).  But did you catch that?  FROZEN!!  Not as in, "He pulled out some frozen sweet potato fries so that he could bake and eat them."  No, frozen as in, "HE'S EATING THEM FROZEN!!!!"  He also eats frozen hot dogs.

I love my Mr. Man with all of my being, but he sure is gross.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf--A 6-year-old's Interpretation

Ok, so when my 8-year-old daughter gets hurt, she really lets up a wail.  It can be a paper cut, and you'd think she's dying.  So I recently told her and her 6-year-old brother the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."  My son, in particular, listened with rapt interest.

(Ok, I know that picture is not of a wolf.  It's my 3-year-old with our dog.  But I LOVE that picture, so I thought I'd throw it in here anyway.)

The other day, I was sitting on our back deck while the kids played in the yard.  My 6-year-old was under the deck, playing in the rocks with his 4-and-3-year-old sister and brother, when I heard him tell them, "Let me tell you the story of the boy who cried wolf!"

I perked up, and he continued, "There was a boy out in the field, and he yelled, 'Wolf!  Wolf!'  And all the people came running.  And he said, 'HaHa, you look sooooo funny!'  So they went away.  Then, the next day, he went out in the field and yelled, 'Wolf!  Wolf!'  And all the people came running.  And he said, 'Haha, you look soooooooo funny!'  So they went away.  So the next day, he went out and cried, 'Wolf!  Wolf!'  And nobody came, but two big wolves came and ate him up!  So never go out in the field and cry, 'Wolf! Wolf!'"

My 4-year-old asked with awe in her voice, "Why not?"

To which my 6-year-old, in all his wisdom, reponded, "Because when you go out in the field and cry 'Wolf!  Wolf!' it calls the wolves, so they hear you and come and eat you!"

*Sigh*  So much for that object lesson.  I can only imagine what his little 6-year-old boy's mind does to other lessons I try to teach him...

From...WHAT?!?!?!?

For those of you eager to see the new hair clips I made, that's soon to come.  Some of them are really cute, and some are really pretty, and they're all really fun!  But for right now, I'm going to deviate a bit into some random weirdness...

I love my grandma.  She's 86 years old, though she's sure there's no way that's possible.  She also thinks my grandpa (who died in 1984) is still alive, and she sometimes has no idea who I am, even though she lived with us for 15+ years as I grew up.  Unfortunately, she has Alzheimer's.

(This is Grandma and I this past Easter.)

Alzheimer's is one of those diseases where some days you laugh and some days you cry.  Oh, you could cry every day, but what kind of way is that to live?  And some things are just plain funny.  Like when Grandma recently lost her teeth and offered my aunt some candy, and her teeth were in the candy bowl! The thing about my grandma is that she was always entertaining--just not always when she was trying to be...

Grandma was a saver.  Nothing was ever thrown out.  Not even food.  She would literally pull food out of the trash when my mama threw it away so that she could "rejuvenate" it.  That was her word for it.  You had to be careful eating anything she made.  It's like, once you cook something, it has a limited life after that, right?  Before it goes bad and you throw it away, I mean.  Well, I guess that she figured if you cook it again, that just resets the clock.  For example, she might make a HUGE batch of mashed potatoes on Sunday.  On Tuesday, you may have potato cakes.  On Thursday, you'd have refried potatoes.  Come the following Sunday, you could be eating some soup that has some weird "dumpling" in it that you think might have once resembled a potato.  And that was just food.  Everything was repurposed in her house.

Some of Grandma's things are now in my house.  No, I'm not still cooking the umpteenth generation of her rejuvenated potatoes.  But she's in an Alzheimer's facility now and couldn't take all of her things with her, so I was blessed enough to have inherited some of her belongings.  I got this awesome (and heavy) cast iron pot.  

I also got this gorgeous enamel-over-cast-iron dutch oven.  This thing is so pretty I seriously leave it sitting out on my stove all the time, and I love cooking food in it (though our family is quickly outgrowing it).

I also got a sewing box with a bunch of random sewing things in it.  One of those things was a sewing tape measure that I guess I've never used before.  So I grabbed it the other night to measure ribbons for some of the hair clips I was making.  It was wound up so nicely with a twisty-tie holding it so it wouldn't unroll.  

Nice and thrifty use of a twisty-tie, right?  I mean, what do you usually find twisty-ties on?  Garbage bags?  Food bags?  Then I looked at the twisty-tie and saw this:

Yup.  You read that right.  From Children.  Not By Children, mind you, but From Children.  I have to admit that the first thing that popped into my mind was how my parents always called dried apricots "baby ears" when I was growing up.  Ok, maybe it's just me, but my mind is weird like that.  And don't get me started on the possibilities for any garbage bags that might have come with.

My hubby immediately thought of some foreign sweat shop with children slaving away on whatever product it may have been, so the company could proudly proclaim their labor practices on their handy twisty-ties.

So, what do you think?  What on earth do you think was the original product this twisty-tie was on?  What craziness pops into your head when you see an old twisty-tie that says "From Children"?

Edited to add:  Ok, folks!  The mystery has been solved, though it's not nearly as fun and creative as my imagination!  Thanks to Nikki for her super-sleuthing skills in finding the following link!  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameraforkitty/3740417869/